Bass clarinet Nos. 4, 7, 8, and 11, and Leoš Janáček's Sinfonietta. All of these works exploit the instrument's dark, powerful lower range. Prokofiev wrote parts for the instrument in his Symphonies Nos. 2–7 and in his ballet "Romeo and Juliet". Sergei Rachmaninoff used the instrument to great effect in his Symphonies Nos. 2 and 3 and in his symphonic poem, "Isle of The Dead". Igor Stravinsky also wrote complex parts for the instrument throughout his career, most prominently in his ballets "The Firebird" (1910), "Petrushka" (1911) and "The Rite of Spring" (1913). The bass clarinet has a solo at the opening
The Rite of Spring a series of flute trills that usher in the "Spring Rounds", in which a slow and laborious theme gradually rises to a dissonant fortissimo, a "ghastly caricature" of the episode's main tune. Brass and percussion predominate as the "Ritual of the Rival Tribes" begins. A tune emerges on tenor and bass tubas, leading after much repetition to the entry of the Sage's procession. The music then comes to a virtual halt, "bleached free of colour" (Hill), as the Sage blesses the earth. The "Dance of the Earth" then begins, bringing Part I to a close in a series of phrases