2.2 Clarinets  (Page 2/2)

History

The clarinet developed around 1700 from the chalumeau , a simple single-reed instrument that had few keys and outwardly resembled a recorder. The Denner family of instrument makers, in Nuremburg, Germany, was responsible for some of the important changes in the earliest clarinets.

Early clarinets were not as versatile and easy-to-play as the modern instrument; fingering was particularly difficult because the instrument overblows at the twelfth rather than the octave (see above ). Instruments from this period come in many different sizes and keys, including non-transposing C clarinets. A clarinet player would have several different instruments. Each piece of music would be played on the instrument that played best in that key ; for example B flat clarinets play best in flat keys, while A clarinets are better for sharp keys. (Many brass players at that time had similar difficulties.)

Military bands included clarinets before orchestras did, but by the end of the eighteenth century, orchestral music consistently included clarinets.

In the early 1840's, the Boehm key system, which was already in use in flutes, was added to the clarinet. The resulting instrument was so easily playable in so many different keys, that it no longer seemed necessary to have so many different transposing instruments. The B flat clarinet, with its rich-toned lower register and powerful upper register, became the most popular clarinet. In the twentieth century, it was also widely used in popular music, particularly jazz.

Repertoire

The clarinet's versatility has made it popular in jazz and folk musics as well as in standard orchestral and chamber music, and the clarinet section is the backbone of the modern wind ensemble. Here are some easy-to-find suggestions for listening to clarinet.

• The folk music most closely associated with clarinet is klezmer.
• Some famous clarinet moments include the opening of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and the beginning of the Shaker Hymn section of Copland's Appalachian Spring .
• Solo clarinet is also featured at the beginning of Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espanol .
• Many composers, including Mozart, have written popular clarinet concertos, and a clarinet is part of the standard woodwind quintet.
• Most dixieland jazz will include a clarinet.
• Famous jazz clarinet players include Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw.

Practical information for composers and arrangers

The standard modern clarinet is a B flat transposing instrument . Clarinet parts must be written one whole step higher than concert pitch (with the appropriate key change) in order to be read by most clarinet players. This is a holdover from the days (see above ) when players had clarinets in several different keys. Rather than make them learn different fingerings for each instrument, composers simply named the clarinet to be used and transposed parts so that the standard fingering would work.

The clarinet is a very versatile instrument with a large range, a great variety of timbres available, and an ease of play that allows very fast fingering, and great expressivity.

To write effectively for clarinet, you should understand the instrument's range. The very top octave of the instrument is piercing, squeaky, and difficult for inexperienced players to control; it is best avoided unless you know your player can handle it or you want a very specific sound or effect. Oddly enough, the other range that presents difficulty is right in the middle of the staff. This range contains the instrument's "break". The sound here is not as powerful and fingerings in fast passages can be awkward.

The clarinet therefore has two main, very useful ranges, with very different timbres, in which the player can easily play with a full, powerful sound and quick fingers. In the low ( chalumeau ) range, the instrument has a dark, rich timbre; in its medium upper ( clarinet ) range, the clarinet has a clear, insistent sound that can be extremely expressive.