Clarinet d'amore


The clarinet d'amore or clarinet d'amour is a musical instrument, a member of the clarinet family. In comparison with the B and A soprano clarinets, the clarinet d'amore had a similar shape and construction, but was larger, usually pitched in G. However, it had proportionally smaller tone holes and bore, and a pear-shaped or sometimes globular bell similar to that of the cor anglais; these features gave the instrument its distinctive timbre.
It first appeared around the middle of the 18th century and was popular in central Europe, but was regarded as obsolete by the mid 19th century. It has been conjectured that the basset horn, which at the time shared the features of low pitch and small bore, was developed from the clarinet d'amore.
Modern developments include a recording project led by Vlad Weverbergh of music by Henri Joseph de Croes for historical clarinets d'amore and the development of an extended modern clarinet d'amore in G by Richard Haynes, and Schwenk & Seggelke.

Works for or including clarinet d'amore