NOTATIO

To set the context, I have a score with instrument names in French.
While I suspect my question is most likely not really feasible, I'm curious about it nonetheless.

Considering clarinet in B is pretty standard, as is bass clarinet in B ,
Might it be acceptable to NOT include the transposition of the instrument on the left margin of the score?

The reason I ask is that in French, just to be annoying, some instrument names are quite a bit longer than in English.
A "clarinet in B " in English could equally be marked "B Clarinet",
however in French the very word Clarinette already starts off with more letters, AND we have to include the preposition "in" when indicating the transposition, so it becomes "Clarinette en Si "

I'm encountering a minor spacing issue with the names for clarinet and particularly for bass clarinet taking up an inordinate amount of space to the left of the staff.

So, ma question est: would it be moderately clear if I only wrote "Clarinette" and "Clarinette basse" in the score?
Or is it really verboten to forego the transposition when naming the instrument's staff?

If it adds any context:
The score is a transposed score, but has no key signature as it's relatively modal and "shifty" as to its tonal centre.
And the individual parts WOULD have the full instrument name/transposition in the upper left corner of those parts.

You could possibly get away with this for the Bass Clarinet as Bass Clarinets in A are very rare. However, I think it is necessary for the Clarinet parts as A Clarinets are quite common.

There is a well-known story about a composer (Pulitzer award winner) who failed to notice that the principal clarinetist played the entire rehearsal of his piece on the wrong instrument.

well, there's no danger of any musicians playing on the wrong instrument if they read their parts.... I would include the transposition in those.
just not in the score.

There is a well-known story about a composer (Pulitzer award winner) who failed to notice that the principal clarinetist played the entire rehearsal of his piece on the wrong instrument.

In high school, I switched from Bb clarinet playing the Bb bass clarinet part to an old bass clarinet from the back of the instrument closet. Weeks passed before the 1st trombonist (a senior) noticed it was out of tune. Sure 'nuff, the Band Director had handed me an Eb Alto Clarinet! Who knew?

I was only an eighth-grader, but our Music Director should have known the difference.

I don't think it's acceptable to leave out the transposition. If you want to save space, you can place the transposition above the staff, as in Ades's The Tempest Symphony:
Alternatively, you can put the transposition in parantheses: "Clarinette (Bb)".

Durand does not include the transposition key in works by Debussy and Ravel except at the beginning of the score. So this use is at least sanctioned by a major French publisher.

Bass Clarinets are standard in Bb (A Bass Clarinets are considered extinct), so you can indicate Clarinette basse safely for that. For the soprano Bb/A clarinets, I would include the transposition in the initial page of score, and if the transposition does not change, you can leave it out thereafter. If you swap between Bb and A clarinets, you can either place it over the staff like Vogel indicated above, or place it under the staff name in parentheses.

Schonbergian wrote: 12 Feb 2026, 18:07 Durand does not include the transposition key in works by Debussy and Ravel except at the beginning of the score. So this use is at least sanctioned by a major French publisher.

I thought we were talking about the first page of a score. Yes, it is acceptable to omit the transposition in subsequent pages.

Although I always show transpositions as part of full instrument names at the beginning of the first system of a score (or where appropriate, movement etc), I usually add a page facing the first page of music which includes an orchestra list showing transpositions. Is it practical for you to have such an information page in your score? That would make things unequivocally clear for any potential score reader.

eg Here is the page that is expected to face the first page of music in a new edition of my second cello concerto currently in preparation.

Yes, there is a page with quite specific instrument listing in the group of pages before the score proper starts.

I guess that putting the "en Si B" on a second line, as suggested by Hautbois, which would mean:

Clarinette
(en Sib)