In his last opera La clemenza di Tito, Mozart assigned a basset clarinet in B♭ in the aria Parto parto, ma tu ben mio, meco ritorna in pace by Sesto (mezzo-soprano) an outstanding solo role in an approximately 8-minute dialogue with the singer, the musical climax of this act, if not the whole opera.

On period instruments following the Riga design a low B may be obtained by closing a keyless hole on the "L" joint with the knee or thigh.

However, beginning in the mid 20th century, interest in performing on original instruments prompted the basset clarinet's revival.

However, the clarinet can have a bell, which is slightly upwards and forwards aligned via an angled intermediate piece (see photo above in the infobox).

In the case of historical instruments as well as those of the German system, the additional deep tones C, C sharp, D and E flat are fingered with the right thumb, likewise in the case of instruments of the French system made by German manufacturers (e.g. Herbert Wurlitzer and Leitner & Kraus).

Among makers of basset clarinets using the French (Boehm) system are Buffet Crampon,[10][11] Stephen Fox, Backun Musical Services, and Selmer.

[12] Some makers of both French and German (Oehler) systems: Herbert Wurlitzer, Schwenk & Seggelke and Leitner & Kraus.

Classical clarinetists who have recorded albums using basset clarinet include Colin Lawson, David Shifrin, Antony Pay, Sabine Meyer, Richard Haynes[14] and Kari Kriikku.

Also Martin Fröst, Sharon Kam, Shirley Brill, Annelien Van Wauwe and Sebastian Manz play the Mozart-concerto on a basset clarinet.

With the North Carolina Symphony on April 10, 2008, Collins premiered Elena Kats-Chernin's Ornamental Air, which takes the form of a concerto for basset clarinet.

[15] The American clarinetist Charles Neidich, the Italian Luca Lucchetta, the Belgian Vlad Weverbergh and the Swedish Stefan Harg, all committed to historical performance practice, play Mozart on replicas of Stadler's basset clarinet.