E-flat clarinet
Encyclopedia
The E-flat clarinet is a member of the clarinet
family. It is usually classed as a soprano clarinet
, although some authors describe it as a "sopranino" or even "piccolo" clarinet. Smaller in size and higher in pitch than the more common B clarinet, it is a transposing instrument
in E, sounding a minor third higher than written. In Italian
it sometimes referred to as a quartino, generally appearing in scores as quartino in Mi.
The E clarinet is used in orchestra
s, concert band
s, marching band
s, and clarinet choir
s. It plays a particularly central role in clarinet choirs, carrying the high melodies that would be treacherous for the B clarinet. Solo repertoire is limited.
The E clarinet is required to play at the top of its range for much of the time to take advantage of its piercing quality. Fingerings in that register are more awkward than on the lower part of the instrument, making high, fast passages difficult.
Although the E is somewhat of a rarity in school bands, it is a staple instrument in college and other upper level ensembles. Unlike the B soprano clarinet which has numerous musicians performing on each part, the E clarinet part is usually played by only one musician in a typical concert band. This is partially because the E clarinet has a bright, shrill sound very similar to the sound of the piccolo
. It commonly plays the role of a garnish instrument along with the piccolo, and duo segments between the two instruments are quite common. The E clarinet is often heard playing along with the flutes and/or oboes.
Important soloistic parts in standard band repertoire for the E clarinet include the second movement of Gustav Holst
's First Suite in E-flat for Military Band (for two E clarinets), also his piece 'Hammersmith' (similarly for two E flat clarinets), Paul Hindemith
's Symphony in B-flat for Band
, and Gordon Jacob
's William Byrd Suite. The E clarinet is also a featured player in modern wind band repertoire, such as Adam Gorb's Yiddish Dances, where it takes on a solo role for much of the five-movement piece.
D clarinets were once commonly employed by some composers (e.g., Mlada (Rimsky-Korsakov)
) to be used by one player equipped with instruments in D and E — analogous to a player using instruments in B and A. In modern performance (especially in North America and western Europe outside German-speaking countries), it is normal to transpose D clarinet parts for E clarinet.
A composer's choice of E vs. D clarinet is often hard to discern, and can seem perverse. The choice does not always put the music in the easiest key for the player. For instance, the original version of Arnold Schoenberg
's Chamber Symphony no. 1 is for E clarinet while the orchestral version is for D. Maurice Ravel
's Daphnis et Chloe
is scored for E clarinet, producing some very difficult passages in B major which can be played on a D clarinet in C major. Another famous example is the D clarinet part of Richard Strauss
's Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche
.
Orchestral compositions and operas with notable E or D clarinet solos include:
Other orchestral compositions and operas making extensive use of E or D clarinet include:
's A due for two E clarinets. The extended techniques of the B clarinet, including multiphonics, flutter tonguing, and extreme registers, have all been imported to the E.
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
family. It is usually classed as a soprano clarinet
Soprano clarinet
The soprano clarinets are a sub-family of the clarinet family.The B clarinet is by far the most common type of soprano clarinet - the unmodified word "clarinet" usually refers to this instrument...
, although some authors describe it as a "sopranino" or even "piccolo" clarinet. Smaller in size and higher in pitch than the more common B clarinet, it is a transposing instrument
Transposing instrument
A transposing instrument is a musical instrument for which written notes are read at a pitch different from the corresponding concert pitch, which a non-transposing instrument, such as a piano, would play. Playing a written C on a transposing instrument will produce a note other than concert C...
in E, sounding a minor third higher than written. In Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
it sometimes referred to as a quartino, generally appearing in scores as quartino in Mi.
The E clarinet is used in orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
s, concert band
Concert band
A concert band, also called wind band, symphonic band, symphonic winds, wind orchestra, wind symphony, wind ensemble, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of several members of the woodwind instrument family, brass instrument family, and percussion instrument family.A...
s, marching band
Marching band
Marching band is a physical activity in which a group of instrumental musicians generally perform outdoors and incorporate some type of marching with their musical performance. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments...
s, and clarinet choir
Clarinet choir
A clarinet choir is an instrumental ensemble consisting entirely of instruments from the clarinet family. Typically it will include E♭, B♭, alto, bass, and contra-alto or contrabass clarinets, although some pieces are scored for a smaller set of instruments....
s. It plays a particularly central role in clarinet choirs, carrying the high melodies that would be treacherous for the B clarinet. Solo repertoire is limited.
The E clarinet is required to play at the top of its range for much of the time to take advantage of its piercing quality. Fingerings in that register are more awkward than on the lower part of the instrument, making high, fast passages difficult.
Use in concert and military bands
Towards the end of the eighteenth century the F clarinet took this role until the E clarinet took over beginning sometime in the second decade of the 1800s.Although the E is somewhat of a rarity in school bands, it is a staple instrument in college and other upper level ensembles. Unlike the B soprano clarinet which has numerous musicians performing on each part, the E clarinet part is usually played by only one musician in a typical concert band. This is partially because the E clarinet has a bright, shrill sound very similar to the sound of the piccolo
Piccolo
The piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
. It commonly plays the role of a garnish instrument along with the piccolo, and duo segments between the two instruments are quite common. The E clarinet is often heard playing along with the flutes and/or oboes.
Important soloistic parts in standard band repertoire for the E clarinet include the second movement of Gustav Holst
Gustav Holst
Gustav Theodore Holst was an English composer. He is most famous for his orchestral suite The Planets....
's First Suite in E-flat for Military Band (for two E clarinets), also his piece 'Hammersmith' (similarly for two E flat clarinets), Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...
's Symphony in B-flat for Band
Symphony in B-flat for Band
Symphony in B for Band was written by Paul Hindemith, an influential German composer known for writing music in a variety of genres, including orchestral, opera, chamber, ballet, vocal and many more. The piece was completed in 1951 and premiered on April 5 of that year by the U.S. Army Band...
, and Gordon Jacob
Gordon Jacob
Gordon Percival Septimus Jacob was an English composer. He is known for his wind instrument composition and his instructional writings.-Life:...
's William Byrd Suite. The E clarinet is also a featured player in modern wind band repertoire, such as Adam Gorb's Yiddish Dances, where it takes on a solo role for much of the five-movement piece.
Use as children's clarinet
While most E clarinets are built and marketed for professionals or advanced students, an inexpensive plastic E clarinet dubbed the "Kinder-Klari" has been produced for beginning children's use. It has a simplified fingering system, lacking some of the trill keys and alternate fingerings.D clarinet
The slightly larger D clarinet is rare, although it was common in the early and mid-eighteenth century (see the Molter concertos below). From the end of that century to the present it has become less common than the clarinets in E, B, A, or even C. An Ouverture by Handel for two clarinets and horn was probably written for two D clarinets.D clarinets were once commonly employed by some composers (e.g., Mlada (Rimsky-Korsakov)
Mlada (Rimsky-Korsakov)
Mlada is an opera-ballet in four acts, composed between 1889 and 1890 by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, to a libretto by Viktor Krylov that was originally employed for an aborted project of the same name from 1872.-Performance history:...
) to be used by one player equipped with instruments in D and E — analogous to a player using instruments in B and A. In modern performance (especially in North America and western Europe outside German-speaking countries), it is normal to transpose D clarinet parts for E clarinet.
A composer's choice of E vs. D clarinet is often hard to discern, and can seem perverse. The choice does not always put the music in the easiest key for the player. For instance, the original version of Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
's Chamber Symphony no. 1 is for E clarinet while the orchestral version is for D. Maurice Ravel
Maurice Ravel
Joseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
's Daphnis et Chloe
Daphnis et Chloé
Daphnis et Chloé is a ballet with music by Maurice Ravel. Ravel described it as a "symphonie choréographique" . The scenario was adapted by Michel Fokine from an eponymous romance by the Greek writer Longus thought to date from around the 2nd century AD...
is scored for E clarinet, producing some very difficult passages in B major which can be played on a D clarinet in C major. Another famous example is the D clarinet part of Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
's Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche
Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche
Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks , Op. 28, is a tone poem by Richard Strauss, chronicling the misadventures and pranks of the German peasant folk hero, Till Eulenspiegel. The two themes representing Till are played respectively by the horn and the D clarinet...
.
Solo and chamber literature for the E (or D) clarinet
Solo literature for these instruments is sparse. The following are notable:- Johann Melchior MolterJohann Melchior MolterJohann Melchior Molter was a German baroque composer and violinist.He was born at Tiefenort, near Eisenach, and was educated at the Gymnasium in Eisenach. By autumn 1717 he had left Eisenach and was working as a violinist in Karlsruhe. Here he married Maria Salome Rollwagen, with whom he had eight...
: Six Clarinet Concerti (D; among the earliest extant clarinet concerti). - Concerti by Jerome Neff and William Neil.
- Ernesto CavalliniErnesto CavalliniErnesto Cavallini was an Italian clarinetist and composer.Born in Milan, Cavallini studied at the Milan Conservatory under Carulli. He performed at the Conservatoire Concerts in 1830 with his brother, violinist Eugenio Cavallini. He became the principal clarinetist of La Scala under Giacomo Panizza...
: Carnival of VeniceCarnival of Venice (song)The Carnival of Venice, is a folk tune popularly associated with the words "My hat, it has three corners." A series of theme and variations have been written for solo trumpet, as "show off" pieces that contain virtuosic displays of double and triple tonguing, and fast tempos.Many variations on the...
variations, Fantasia on a Theme from Ultimo Giorno Di Pomeii, and (with Giacomo Panizza) I figli di Eduardo 4th (all for E♭ clarinet and piano). - Henri RabaudHenri RabaudHenri Rabaud was a French conductor and composer, who held important posts in the French musical establishment and upheld mainly conservative trends in French music in the first half of the twentieth century....
: "Solo de Concours" for E clarinet. - Amilcare PonchielliAmilcare PonchielliAmilcare Ponchielli was an Italian composer, largely of operas.-Biography:Born in Paderno Fasolaro, now Paderno Ponchielli, near Cremona, Ponchielli won a scholarship at the age of nine to study music at the Milan Conservatory, writing his first symphony by the time he was ten years old.Two years...
: Quartetto for B and E clarinets, fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, and oboeOboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
, with pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
accompaniment. - Giacinto ScelsiGiacinto ScelsiGiacinto Scelsi , Count of Ayala Valva was an Italian composer who also wrote surrealist poetry in French....
: "Tre Pezzi for E Clarinet" - William BolcomWilliam BolcomWilliam Elden Bolcom is an American composer and pianist. He has received the Pulitzer Prize, the National Medal of Arts, two Grammy Awards, the Detroit Music Award and was named 2007 Composer of the Year by Musical America. Bolcom taught composition at the University of Michigan from 1973–2008...
: "Suite of Four Dances for E Clarinet" - Manuel Lillo TorregrosaManuel Lillo TorregrosaManuel Lillo Torregrosa is a Spanish composer born in 1940 in San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante. He joined the Banda Sinfónica Municipal de Madrid in 1959, and became E-flat clarinet soloist for them...
: "Vivencias" Concert n 2 for E Clarinet and Band - Arnold SchoenbergArnold SchoenbergArnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
: Suite, op. 29 (E, B, and bass clarinetBass clarinetThe bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet...
, violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
, violoncello, piano). - Anton WebernAnton WebernAnton Webern was an Austrian composer and conductor. He was a member of the Second Viennese School. As a student and significant follower of Arnold Schoenberg, he became one of the best-known exponents of the twelve-tone technique; in addition, his innovations regarding schematic organization of...
: Drei Lieder fur Singstimme, Es-Klarinette und Gitarre Op.18.
Orchestral and operatic music using the E (or D) clarinet
Parts written for D clarinet are often played on the more popular E clarinet, with the player transposing or playing from a written part transposed a semitone lower.Orchestral compositions and operas with notable E or D clarinet solos include:
- Hector BerliozHector BerliozHector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts . Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works; as a...
: Symphonie FantastiqueSymphonie FantastiqueSymphonie Fantastique: Épisode de la vie d'un Artiste...en cinq parties , Op. 14, is a program symphony written by the French composer Hector Berlioz in 1830. It is one of the most important and representative pieces of the early Romantic period, and is still very popular with concert audiences...
(E) - Maurice RavelMaurice RavelJoseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
: BoléroBoléroBoléro is a one-movement orchestral piece by Maurice Ravel . Originally composed as a ballet commissioned by Russian ballerina Ida Rubinstein, the piece, which premiered in 1928, is Ravel's most famous musical composition....
(E) - Richard StraussRichard StraussRichard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
: Till Eulenspiegels lustige StreicheTill Eulenspiegels lustige StreicheTill Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks , Op. 28, is a tone poem by Richard Strauss, chronicling the misadventures and pranks of the German peasant folk hero, Till Eulenspiegel. The two themes representing Till are played respectively by the horn and the D clarinet...
(D) - Igor StravinskyIgor StravinskyIgor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
: The Rite of SpringThe Rite of SpringThe Rite of Spring, original French title Le sacre du printemps , is a ballet with music by Igor Stravinsky; choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky; and concept, set design and costumes by Nicholas Roerich...
(D and E) - Dmitri ShostakovichDmitri ShostakovichDmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
- Symphony No. 6Symphony No. 6 (Shostakovich)The Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 54 by Dmitri Shostakovich was written in 1939, and first performed in Leningrad on 21 November 1939 by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra under Evgeny Mravinsky.-Structure:Symphony No...
(E), The Age of Gold (E) Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (E) - Gustav MahlerGustav MahlerGustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
- Symphony No. 1Symphony No. 1 (Mahler)The Symphony No. 1 in D major by Gustav Mahler was mainly composed between late 1887 and March 1888, though it incorporates music Mahler had composed for previous works. It was composed while Mahler was second conductor at the Leipzig Opera, Germany...
in D MajorD majorD major is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature consists of two sharps. Its relative minor is B minor and its parallel minor is D minor....
(E)
Other orchestral compositions and operas making extensive use of E or D clarinet include:
- Béla BartókBéla BartókBéla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
- Bluebeard's CastleBluebeard's CastleDuke Bluebeard's Castle is a one-act opera by Hungarian composer Béla Bartók. The libretto was written by Béla Balázs, a poet and friend of the composer. It is in Hungarian, based on the French fairy tale "Bluebeard" by Charles Perrault...
(1&2 double E), Miraculous Mandarin (E and D) - Leonard BernsteinLeonard BernsteinLeonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
- CandideCandide (operetta)Candide is an operetta with music composed by Leonard Bernstein, based on the novella of the same name by Voltaire. The operetta was first performed in 1956 with a libretto by Lillian Hellman; but since 1974 it has been generally performed with a book by Hugh Wheeler which is more faithful to...
, West Side Story, On the Town, Divertimento for Orchestra, Slava! A Political OvertureSlava! A Political OvertureSlava! A Political Overture for Orchestra is a short orchestral composition by Leonard Bernstein. It was written for the inaugural concerts of Mstislav Rostropovich's first season with the National Symphony Orchestra in 1977... - Aaron CoplandAaron CoplandAaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
- El Salon Mexico - Edward ElgarEdward ElgarSir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...
- Symphony No. 2Symphony No. 2 (Elgar)Sir Edward Elgar's Symphony No. 2 in E major, Op. 63, was completed on 28 February 1911 and was premiered at the London Musical Festival at the Queen's Hall by the Queen's Hall Orchestra on 24 May 1911 with the composer conducting... - Leoš JanáčekLeoš JanácekLeoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...
- SinfoniettaSinfonietta (Janácek)The Sinfonietta is a very expressive and festive, late work for large orchestra by the Czech composer Leoš Janáček... - Gustav MahlerGustav MahlerGustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
- Symphonies Nos. 1Symphony No. 1 (Mahler)The Symphony No. 1 in D major by Gustav Mahler was mainly composed between late 1887 and March 1888, though it incorporates music Mahler had composed for previous works. It was composed while Mahler was second conductor at the Leipzig Opera, Germany...
(2 Es), 2Symphony No. 2 (Mahler)The Symphony No. 2 by Gustav Mahler, known as the Resurrection, was written between 1888 and 1894, and first performed in 1895. Apart from the Eighth Symphony, this symphony was Mahler's most popular and successful work during his lifetime. It is his first major work that would eventually mark his...
(2 Es), 3Symphony No. 3 (Mahler)The Symphony No. 3 by Gustav Mahler was written between 1893 and 1896. It is his longest piece and is the longest symphony in the standard repertoire, with a typical performance lasting around ninety to one hundred minutes.- Structure :...
(2 Es), 4Symphony No. 4 (Mahler)The Symphony No. 4 by Gustav Mahler was written between 1899 and 1901, though it incorporates a song originally written in 1892. The song, "Das himmlische Leben", presents a child's vision of Heaven. It is sung by a soprano in the work's fourth and last movement...
, 5Symphony No. 5 (Mahler)The Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor by Gustav Mahler was composed in 1901 and 1902, mostly during the summer months at Mahler's cottage at Maiernigg. Among its most distinctive features are the funereal trumpet solo that opens the work and the frequently performed Adagietto.The musical canvas and...
(D), 6Symphony No. 6 (Mahler)The Symphony No. 6 in A minor by Gustav Mahler, sometimes referred to as the Tragische , was composed between 1903 and 1904 . The work's first performance was in Essen, on May 27, 1906, conducted by the composer.The tragic, even nihilistic ending of No...
(4th movement for D), 7Symphony No. 7 (Mahler)Gustav Mahler's Seventh Symphony was written in 1904-05, with repeated revisions to the scoring. It is sometimes referred to by the title Song of the Night , though this title was not Mahler's own and he disapproved of it. Although the symphony is often described as being in the key of 'E minor,'...
, 8Symphony No. 8 (Mahler)The Symphony No. 8 in E-flat major by Gustav Mahler is one of the largest-scale choral works in the classical concert repertoire. Because it requires huge instrumental and vocal forces it is frequently called the "Symphony of a Thousand", although the work is often performed with fewer than a...
, 9Symphony No. 9 (Mahler)The Symphony No. 9 by Gustav Mahler was written between 1909 and 1910, and was the last symphony that he completed.Though the work is often described as being in the key of D major, the tonal scheme of the symphony as whole is progressive...
, 10Symphony No. 10 (Mahler)The Symphony No. 10 by Gustav Mahler was written in the summer of 1910, and was his final composition. At the time of Mahler's death the composition was substantially complete in the form of a continuous draft; but not being fully elaborated at every point, and mostly not orchestrated, it was not... - Carl OrffCarl OrffCarl Orff was a 20th-century German composer, best known for his cantata Carmina Burana . In addition to his career as a composer, Orff developed an influential method of music education for children.-Early life:...
- Carmina Burana (Orff)Carmina Burana (Orff)Carmina Burana is a scenic cantata composed by Carl Orff in 1935 and 1936. It is based on 24 of the poems found in the medieval collection Carmina Burana... - Sergei ProkofievSergei ProkofievSergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century...
- Symphonies Nos. 4Symphony No. 4 (Prokofiev)Symphony No. 4, Op. 47/112 is actually two works by Sergei Prokofiev. The first, Op. 47, was written in 1929 and premiered in 1930. The second, Op. 112, is a large-scale revision from 1947...
, 5Symphony No. 5 (Prokofiev)Sergei Prokofiev wrote his Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major in Soviet Russia in one month in the summer of 1944.-Background:Fourteen years had passed since Prokofiev's last symphony....
, 6Symphony No. 6 (Prokofiev)Sergei Prokofiev wrote his Symphony No. 6 in E-flat minor in 1947.-Background:The symphony, written as an elegy of the tragedies of World War II, has often been regarded as the darker twin to the victorious Symphony No... - Maurice RavelMaurice RavelJoseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
- Daphnis et ChloéDaphnis et ChloéDaphnis et Chloé is a ballet with music by Maurice Ravel. Ravel described it as a "symphonie choréographique" . The scenario was adapted by Michel Fokine from an eponymous romance by the Greek writer Longus thought to date from around the 2nd century AD...
, Piano Concerto in GConcerto in G (Ravel)Maurice Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major was composed between 1929 and 1931. The concerto is in three movements, and is heavily influenced by jazz, which Ravel had encountered on a concert tour of the USA.-Background:...
, Piano Concerto for the Left Hand - Dmitri ShostakovichDmitri ShostakovichDmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
- Symphonies Nos. 4Symphony No. 4 (Shostakovich)Dmitri Shostakovich composed his Symphony No. 4 in C minor, Opus 43, between September 1935 and May 1936, after abandoning some preliminary sketch material...
, 5Symphony No. 5 (Shostakovich)The Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47, by Dmitri Shostakovich is a work for orchestra composed between April and July 1937. Its first performance was on November 21, 1937, in Leningrad by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra under Yevgeny Mravinsky...
, 7Symphony No. 7 (Shostakovich)Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7 in C major, Op. 60 dedicated to the city of Leningrad was completed on 27 December 1941. In its time, the symphony was extremely popular in both Russia and the West as a symbol of resistance and defiance to Nazi totalitarianism and militarism...
, 8Symphony No. 8 (Shostakovich)The Symphony No. 8 in C minor by Dmitri Shostakovich was written in the summer of 1943, and first performed on November 4 of that year by the USSR Symphony Orchestra under Yevgeny Mravinsky, to whom the work is dedicated....
, 10Symphony No. 10 (Shostakovich)The Symphony No. 10 in E minor by Dmitri Shostakovich was premiered by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra under Yevgeny Mravinsky on 17 December 1953, following the death of Joseph Stalin in March that year...
, The Tale of the Priest and His Workman Balda - Richard StraussRichard StraussRichard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
- Ein HeldenlebenEin HeldenlebenEin Heldenleben, Op. 40, is a tone poem by Richard Strauss. The work was completed in 1898, and heralds the composer's more mature period in this genre...
, Eine AlpensinfonieEine AlpensinfonieEine Alpensinfonie , Op. 64, is a tone poem written by German composer Richard Strauss in 1915. Though labelled as a symphony by the composer, this piece forgoes the conventions of the traditional multi-movement symphony and consists of twenty-two continuous sections of music...
, Also Sprach Zarathustra, Sinfonia Domestica - Igor StravinskyIgor StravinskyIgor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
- The FirebirdThe FirebirdThe Firebird is a 1910 ballet created by the composer Igor Stravinsky and choreographer Michel Fokine. The ballet is based on Russian folk tales of the magical glowing bird of the same name that is both a blessing and a curse to its captor....
(D), The Rite of SpringThe Rite of SpringThe Rite of Spring, original French title Le sacre du printemps , is a ballet with music by Igor Stravinsky; choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky; and concept, set design and costumes by Nicholas Roerich...
Recent Usage
After 1950, works using E clarinet are too numerous to note individually. However, among those where the instrument is featured beyond what would be considered normal in recent music are John Adams's Chamber Symphony, where two players play E and bass clarinet and "double" on soprano and Adriana HölszkyAdriana Hölszky
Adriana Hölszky is an Romanian-born German music educator, composer and pianist who has been living in Germany since 1976.-Biography:...
's A due for two E clarinets. The extended techniques of the B clarinet, including multiphonics, flutter tonguing, and extreme registers, have all been imported to the E.