bassett horn
A member of the clarinet family in F, with an extended lower range and a warm, dark tone, favored by Mozart for its expressive qualities in his Masonic and operatic music.
In Depth
The basset horn is a member of the clarinet family pitched in F, sounding a fifth below the standard B♭ clarinet. It has an extended lower range (typically to written low C) and a distinctive warm, dark tone that is mellower and more veiled than the clarinet's. The instrument's name is misleading — it is neither a bassett (a small bass) in the modern sense nor a horn, likely deriving from the name of its inventor or the German "Bassetl" (small bass). Mozart was the basset horn's greatest champion, writing extensive parts for it in his Masonic works (including the Masonic Funeral Music and the Gran Partita), the Requiem, and the operas La Clemenza di Tito and Die Zauberflöte. He wrote for a pair of basset horn players, Johann and Anton Stadler, particularly the virtuoso Anton Stadler for whom he also composed the Clarinet Concerto. After Mozart's death, the instrument fell into relative obscurity until the 20th-century early music revival. Mendelssohn, Strauss, and some modern composers have also written for it.
Mozart loved the basset horn so deeply that he wrote more music for it than any other composer in history — its dark, veiled tone perfectly matched the mystical Masonic symbolism that fascinated him in his final years.