as early as 1740, as alto clarinets, but this use of the term is uncommon. Use in musical ensembles Soon after its invention, Georg Abraham Schneider composed two concertos (Op. 90 and op. 105) for Müller's instrument and orchestra. Generally, however, the alto clarinet has not been commonly used in orchestral scoring. It is used mostly in concert bands and plays an important role in clarinet choirs. A few jazz musicians, Hamiet Bluiett, Vinny Golia, J. D. Parran, Petr Kroutil, Joe Lovano and Gianluigi Trovesi among them, have played the alto clarinet. In his Treatise on Orchestration and Instrumentation, Hector Berlioz said of the alto clarinet, "It is a very beautiful instrument which ought to take its place in all well-established orchestras." Notability The alto clarinet band part remains in 20th and 21st century wind band literature. Band directors looking to add color to a large clarinet section will often move clarinet players to this instrument. Many times the alto clarinet serves an important role in the harmonic scoring of the clarinet section within the broader scope of the concert band. There is a notable alto clarinet solo in Percy Grainger's wind-band piece Lincolnshire Posy. An important orchestral example is Igor Stravinsky's Threni, which calls for an instrument in F instead of the usual E, and with extension keys to fingered low C (therefore indistinguishable from a basset horn). Stravinsky calls for the usual alto clarinet in E in the Elegy for J.F.K. (1964). Joseph Holbrooke seems to have liked the instrument. He wrote an elaborate part for alto clarinet in his Symphony No. 2 Apollo and the Seaman. In the wind band and clarinet choir the alto clarinet can add tonal strength to the ensemble, not only because it can play lower notes, but because some of the most beautiful notes (written C to F) in the upper register of the alto clarinet have the same pitch as the weaker-toned middle-register notes (written F to B) of the B soprano clarinet. Ensemble music The alto clarinet fell somewhat out of favor outside of marching bands, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It has become mildly more popular with contemporary composers, and especially those writing music for clarinet choir. Solo music for alto clarinet The solo repertoire for alto clarinet is quite limited, with much of it consisting of transcriptions of works originally for basset horn. A number