Christopher Rosevear asked:

>Has anyone any idea why Prokoviev wrote a cor anglais part for the Romeo
>and Juliet ballet that goes down to written low A flat below middle C, one
>and a half tones below the range of the normal cor anglais? (I have a B
>flat extension, but that still leaves me short!)

This misunderstanding might have occurred if you were reading the Corno
Inglese part from the *score* as opposed to the extracted (transposed)
part for the instrumentalist.  Be aware that most of Prokofiev's scores,
including that one, were written and published in "concert pitch" or in the
key of "C".  That means all transposing instruments are shown in the score
the way they actually sound.  Prokofiev preferred this practice no doubt
because it saves time as it is less work for the composer.  The copyist
then has the added burden of transposing as he extracts the individual
parts from the score.  Even though the Corno Inglese part in the Romeo
and Juliet score is shown in Alto clef, it is still in fact written in
concert pitch 'where it sounds', (clef and transposition have nothing to
do with each other).  So the A flat below middle C you saw in the score
was actually at concert pitch and therefore would not be unreasonable for
the Corno Inglese to play.  As I'm sure you must know, sounded "E" below
middle C is obtainable on the Corno Inglese (that's a written "B" below
middle C), as the instrument sounds a perfect fifth lower than written.

Best Regards, Scott Lasky [log in to unmask]