Musician Performs on a Beautiful Five-Key Basset Clarinet With a Rich Sound Perfect for Mozart

In The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment‘s wonderful ongoing series about unusual and classic instruments, musician Antony Pay performs a bit on a 5-key basset clarinet. He then explains that this unique woodwind instrument creates the rich, beautiful sound for which Mozart was writing.

This is the clarinet that Mozart would have expected to hear when he wrote for it… Our Principal Clarinet Antony Pay takes us through the staple instrument of the time – the 5 key clarinet, and shows us the type of basset clarinet he believes enables you to play Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto best.

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.