The History and Development of the Clarinet Devin Geraghty Music Seminar 3/31/16
1 As a relatively young instrument, the clarinet has played an important role in music since the eighteenth century and its versatility has allowed its impact to touch many different genres. This paper will examine the development of the clarinet through performance venue, reed position, and physical aspects. Performance venue and how the clarinet was used played a large role in how the clarinet developed. In his book, The Clarinet, published by Yale University Press in 2008, Eric Hoeprich discusses the chalumeau, the first instrument to resemble a clarinet. Hoeprich speculates that the chalumeau came about at the start of the eighteenth century. The range was limited to an octave and three notes, so four different types were made to expand the range: the bass, tenor, alto, and soprano chalumeau. Due to the relatively new use of the instrument, composers did not notate which chalumeau to play during a piece, but rather left it up to the performer. Its earliest popularity is seen in the Hapsburg court and with nobility, such as Emperor Joseph I who composed for soprano chalumeau. The collection of instruments were used extensively by Giovanni and Antonio Maria Bononcini in their operas often to double vocal lines or accompany the flutes and recorders. By the nineteenth century, the chalumeau dies out and the clarinet is born. Clarinets were being purchased by aristocratic figures and the clarinet was widely introduced to the public through travelling virtuosi. Virtuosic players would travel town to town and thus encourage town and church members to add the clarinet to their repertoire of instruments. Rice states that the baroque clarinet was used extensively in Europe during the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century, particularly in the military band. The classical clarinet eventually replaced it in the mid nineteenth century. In his article, The clarinet in England during the 1760 s, published in Early Music in
2 2005, Albert R. Rice validates the necessity for multiple clarinets and discusses the origins of clarinet playing. Rice traces clarinet playing back to the military band. One of the first documented wind bands, the 1 st Battalion Royal Artillery, is created in Germany in 1762 by Lieutenant Colonel W. Phillips. Due to the lack of funding, the members of this eight-man group were required to be proficient on multiple wind instruments. Rice notes the increasing importance of the clarinet with William Herschel s use of the clarinet in his symphonies. One of the first uses of clarinet in opera was done by Johann Christian Bach in his orione, o sia Diana vendicata in 1763. Rice notes that even though the use of the clarinet increases, it still is not viewed as a stand-alone instrument and is particularly used for added color and texture (Rice 55-56). The position of the reed and mouthpiece was a very controversial subject between two of the leading clarinet playing countries. In this article, Regarding the clarinet : Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung, 1808, published in Early Music in 2009, Eric Hoeprich addresses reed placement and its effect on the sound of the clarinet. The bulk of Hoeprich s paper compares the method of French playing to that of German playing. He notes that while it was the norm to play with the reed above in France, the German s preferred playing with the reed below. Hoeprich observes that articulating with the reed above is very difficult if not impossible because the tongue cannot be used to strike the reed. He speculates that the French players may have articulated less and slurred more because of this. Hoeprich also notes that playing with the reed below has significant differences from reed above when looking at the angle the instrument is held. Playing with the reed above forces the player to hold the clarinet at a much larger angle away from the body in order to produce sound. One of the major disadvantages in the reed
3 above playing is the inability to play softly (Hoeprich 89-93). Reed position, however, is not the only factor in creating a good sound. Hoeprich quotes, The most important thing for the clarinetist is a good reed, for only this will enable him to form a good tone on his instrument and to play certain passages with ease, which otherwise could not be played at all, or only with great difficulty (Hoeprich 93). The majority of development can be seen in the physical changes of the instrument itself. The first semblance of the clarinet can be seen in the chalumeau, but drastic changes have occurred over the years. Eric Hoeprich describes, unlike the Baroque clarinet, the chalumeau has two keys which cover tone holes drilled diametrically to each other (Hoeprich 45). He notes that there are also uncovered holes spanning the length of the instrument. Hoeprich notes that due to the lack of keys, the intonation of the instrument was very flexible and thus very difficult to keep in tune. Today there are only six surviving chalumeaus, so little can be inferred about the instrument. In his book, The Baroque Clarinet, published by Oxford University Press in 1992, Albert R. Rice analyzes the physical aspects of the baroque clarinet and how it spread so quickly through Europe. The baroque clarinet has three keys and approximately a three-octave range. Rice notes that written works of the time period exhibit a style of writing characterized by repeated notes, incomplete arpeggios, fanfare motifs, a limited range, and restricted use of the lower register (Rice 79). Although advances were being made in the design of the clarinet, intonation was still a large problem due to the lack of keys. Rice notes that Caleb Gedney is one of the leading clarinet makers of the mid eighteenth century. He speculates that Gedney s clarinets had five keys although none of his clarinets have survived in modern day collections. As composers began implementing
4 trills into their music, the fingerings became increasingly difficult on the five key clarinets. Thus in 1765, George Miller began working on a six key clarinet to make the trilled intervals from A-B, Bb-C, and C-D obtainable. Rice acknowledges, Thomas Arne was the earliest British composer to write for the clarinet (Rice 57). Arne s quartet, Thomas and Sally, adds to the necessity of a trill key with his trill from A-B. Rice observes that because of the lack of keys in this period, a plethora of different keyed clarinets are necessary. On a five-keyed Bb clarinet, Eb and Ab are almost impossible to play in tune, so a clarinet in C must be used to play those pitches. In this period it is evident that the clarinet was set back by its lack of keys. Not only would it have been hard to achieve certain tones on a single instrument, but also the range of that instrument is much smaller than what we see on a modern clarinet (Rice 56-63). It is impractical to use multiple instruments on a single clarinet part but this was a necessity at the time. In Albert R. Rice s, Müller s Gamme De La Clarinette and the Development of the Thirteen-key Clarinet, the work of Iwan Müller is examined to get a better understanding of the process and drive behind developing the clarinet. He argues that Müller s work sparked the development of a relatively limited instrument. He states, Müller had an enormous influence on later makers particularly in the design of pillar mounting, the F/C key, salt-spoon key heads with stuffed pads, and the metal ligature (Rice 183). He also makes the point that Müller s clarinet is the product of a need for functionality and efficiency. He reasons that Müller s clarinet was designed to be omnitonic and it increased the technical capabilities of the instrument so that the player could dispense with a whole set of clarinets and play compositions in any tonality on one instrument (Rice 182). Rice examines Müller s design and compares it to the
5 subsequent clarinet makers of the time, spanning as far as the twentieth century. He concludes the Müller clarinet was a model for several German and Austrian firms, such as Stengel, Mollenhauer, Kruspe, and Oehler, which developed a distinctive clarinet (Rice 183). Rice s main source of evidence is a fingering chart discovered at the Bibliothéque Nationale (Figure 1). This chart gives insight into the specifications of Müller s clarinet and how his revolutionary omnitonic tonality is achieved. Although this chart is indeed Müller s, Rice can only speculate on the date of its creation. Rice says, The chart could date from 1811 to 1814, but 1812 is a more likely date for use in his presentation (Rice 181). Rice also states, no instruments survive with Müller s mark, so it seems likely that he employed others to make instruments that he designed (Rice 182). Hoeprich further delves into the subject of multiple keyed clarinets. Müller s thirteenkeyed clarinet had rendered multiple different keyed clarinets obsolete. Hoeprich notes that the continued use of these different keyed clarinets were due to aesthetics rather then practical reasons. Hoeprich analyzes other aspects of the German clarinet when he states, In comparison with the French instruments, the bore is relatively narrow, with little conicity at the lower end, aiding in producing a dark, velvety sound with plenty of resistance (Hoeprich 98). Hoeprich also comments on the differing designs of mouthpieces. He states that they preferred a slightly narrow profile, while it was the French who preferred wider mouthpieces (Hoeprich 98). The comparison between the French and German style is an interesting one that gives insight into the origins of the modern day clarinet. While the modern day clarinet is surely comprised of combinations of both, we are able to gain a better understanding of why things were done differently in different areas of the world and can trace back modern practice to isolated events. In
6 The Physics of a New Clarinet Design, published in The Galpin Society Journal in 1996, Arthur H Benade and Douglas H. Keefe explore the physics behind what makes up the best sounding clarinet and how to achieve that. Benade and Keefe first delve into the tuning of a clarinet. They state, The overall tuning of a clarinet is influenced by both the open and closed tone holes, the cross-sectional area of the main bore of the clarinet, the position of the register hole, and the design of the bell. It is also influenced by the player s embouchure and the reed/mouthpiece design (Benade, Keefe 114). They observed that in order for a clarinet to sound pleasing, the tuning error per note should not exceed 10 cents. When calculating the elongation factor, where E = 1 + D! 2 D! = (!! )!!!!, 2s = the inter hole spacing, a = radius of the bore, and b = radius of the tone hole they discovered that a cylindrical bore yields a 3:1 ratio while a conical bore yields a 2:1 ratio. This means that a conical bore will be slightly more out of tune than a cylindrical bore as lower notes are achieved. They discover that most notes in the chalumeau register are off by no more than 10 cents, but the throat tones are often off by more than 20 cents. Benade and Keefe note that musicians often adapt to their instruments and think a note sharp or flat relative to equal temperament (Benade, Keefe 122). They state that although this change in lip tension creates a note that is more in tune, it takes away from the best tone that note could have. Their intentions of designing a new clarinet are so that every note is as in tune as possible, thus taking as little away from the tone of
7 the note as possible. They note that this process is difficult because there are three different registers to take into account. If one were concerned only with the clarion register, it could be of any shape that was even vaguely cylindrical, and the scale could be brought into tune by the selection of tone-hole positions and sizes (124). Figure 2 gives a comparison in intonation between the NX (hypothetical clarinet) and the leading clarinets of the late twentieth century. When looking further into what disturbs sound, Benade and Keefe discover that the linearized conservation-of-momentum equation states that the time-derivative of the particle velocity is proportional to the space derivative!" of pressure, and this governs the scale of the complicated flow term. This!" then means that complex flow effects the immediate neighborhood of the tone-hole entrance into the bore, the exit of the tone hole into the room and, quite significantly, the region under a pad that has been opened (126). Thus the spacing between holes and the size of the hole is very important in creating a clear and beautiful sound. This also meant that the use of pads should be limited so as not to disturb the sound. Although the modern day clarinet has a flaring bell, Benade and Keefe speculate that a conical bell would create an extra good note with the addition of pseudo-hole. They state, It is a familiar fact that in the modern clarinet the notes E and B have a tendency to blare if players do not control their embouchure (130). This blaring can be reduced if not eradicated by the use of a conical bell. Although there are many different ways to construct a clarinet, this article gives an argument for the construction of the best sounding clarinet; a careful balance between pitch and sound (Benade, Keefe 113-37). Although the clarinet has only been around for about 300 years, a very small amount of time compared to the majority of instruments, it has undergone many changes.
8 The evolution from a piece of cane with holes drilled through it to the perfected instrument that we have today was a long and tedious process. Mozart s Clarinet Concerto in A major, K.622, played an important role in the history of the clarinet as it was the first major piece featuring the clarinet. The piece was written for virtuosic basset clarinet player Anton Stadler. Stadler was the second chair clarinetists in the Viennese imperial court orchestra, not due to a lack of playing ability but rather because he preferred playing the lower tones in the second part. Mozart chose to write the piece for the rare basset clarinet instead of the conventional A clarinet of the time because Stadler was a good friend of his and one of the best players in the area. After the piece was completed in 1791, Stadler debuted the piece in the Prague Theatre. Shortly after the performance Stadler lost the piece, leaving us without a manuscript copy. In 1802, one of Mozart s friends recreated the piece but for the A clarinet. Musicologists and experts on Mozart have used the recreated piece along with previous original manuscripts from his Basset Horn Concerto in G, K.621 to reconstruct the basset clarinet part (Lawson 492). Mozart s clarinet concerto is a three-movement work consisting of Allegro, Adagio, and Rondo Allegro sections. The opening movement, Allegro, is in a 4/4 meter and is in sonata allegro from. It opens with the orchestra in A major, the tonic of the piece. The first theme, as seen below, doesn t come until the clarinet s entrance in measure 57.
9 There is a modulation to E major, the dominant, before the development section. It is interesting to note that instead of a notated cadenza, Mozart simply writes a fermata over a dominant chord, allowing the performer to either play a cadenza or continue the piece without one. In the recapitulation, the piece returns to the tonic and concludes with a codetta. The second movement, Adagio, is in a slow 3/4 and is in rounded binary form (ABA). The opening A theme, as seen below, is in D major, the subdominant. The B section has greater rhythmic intensity and ends with a dominant fermata. The final A section concludes in D major. The third movement is entitled Rondo Allegro and is in rondo form (ABACA). The returning A theme is in A major and can be seen below. Each time the main theme returns, it does not return in its entirety. In the C section, there is a modulation to F# minor that eventually returns to A major in the closing A section. A performance of the piece can be viewed below.
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18 Bibliography Benade, Arthur and Keefe, Douglas. The Physics of a New Clarinet Design. The Galpin Society Journal, 49 (March 1996): 113-142. Hoeprich, Eric. 'Regarding the clarinet': "Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung", 1808. Early Music, 37, no. 1 (February 2009): 89-99. Hoeprich, Eric. The Clarinet. Great Britain: Yale University Press, 2008. Lawson, Colin. "The Basset Clarinet Revived." Early Music, 1987., 487-499, JSTOR Journals, EBSCOhost Rice, Albert. Müller s Gamme De La Clarinette and the Development of the Thirteenkey Clarinet. The Galpin Society Journal, 56 (June 2003): 181-184 Rice, Albert. The Baroque Clarinet. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. Rice, Albert. The Clarinet in England during the 1760s. Early Music, 33, no. 1 (February 2005): 55-63.