Clarinet
Towards the end of
the 17th century, the firm of JC Denner in Nuremberg,
experimenting with recorders and shawms, developed a new
instrument to occupy a range above the shawm. Eventually, this
instrument with a tone like a small natural trumpet acquired the
name 'clarinet' (little clarino) and it can be used as a trumpet
substitute, and may be heard in Vivaldi's oratorios and
concertos, pitched in the trumpet key of C. By the end of the
18th century, shawms became obsolete, and larger clarinets were
developed to replace them. The smooth lower notes of the clarinet
are still referred to as the chalmeau register, chalmeau being an
alternative name for the shawm.
By the mid-18th
century, clarinets were current throughout Europe and were in
particular popularity in Paris, sometime replacing oboes in
orchestral works. Vivaldi's concertos had treated clarinets like
trumpets, allowing them out only in pairs, but by 1740, solo
clarinet concertos were being composed by JM Molter, J Stamitz
and Mozart. Mozart much admires the clarinet's tone, and once
lamented, "If only we had clarinets in Salzburg!"
Steady advancement in
the number of keys improved the clarinet's range and tone, and by
1840, it was ripe for its final major stage of development.
Basing his improvements upon Boehm's work on flutes, the
instrument-maker Louis-August Buffet introduced many
modifications which, with later refinements, resulted in the
clarinet of today. Its range of tonal production is
extraordinarily broad, a fact exploited by many recent composers.
The range of the clarinet's family is also wide, from the tiny
octave clarinet of the mid-19th century to the subcontrabass
instrument of about 1930.
Midi: Mozart's Clarinet
Concerto in A
The
clarinet is suited to the expression of sorrow even when it plays
a merry air. If I were to dance in prison, I should wish to do so
with the accompaniment of the clarinet. -- Andre Gretry
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