Understanding The Origins and Transformation of The Clarinet

In the modern world, various types of clarinets can virtually be found in every orchestra and ensemble around the globe. Whilst this instrument might be seen as a common one in beginner classes everywhere, it is one that very few have come close to ‘mastering’ due to its natural capabilities in a wide range of various styles and dynamics. The clarinet is also often described as having similarities to the human voice which might explain its popularity with so many composers and performers. Whether it’s being used in part of an ensemble of highlighted in a solo work, the clarinet has appealed to thousands. The clarinet, however, is actually a relatively young instrument in comparison to others. From its first version only having three keys, the clarinet has been perfected throughout the centuries as performers and inventors alike have attempt to contribute to the crafting of this instrument. The result of this evolution is the modern clarinet that is vastly different than some of its ancestors.

Before the clarinet or any early form of it, there were single reed pipes that date back to as early as 3000 BC. Whilst these pipes didn’t physically resemble the iconic look of a clarinet from 2016, they were the simplest form of an instrument with a reed and the occasional finger holes. The Egyptians even had a double pipe that had a removable reed that you could insert at the top which resembles our concept of reeds today. Around the Middle Ages (500-1500), pipes called ‘chalumeau’ came into existence but was misleading due to the fact that this term was used for many instruments as a roundabout way of calling something a horn. Although there was a version of the chalumeau with a tapered mouthpiece and a single reed, most musicians in this time preferred double reeds because of their control, thus leaving the development of the clarinet to take longer.

The word ‘chalumeau’ has been argued to come from the Latin word “kalamus”, meaning small reed. Other historians tend to argue that its origins are from the Greek word “calamos” which has come to be a general term for any small pipe. The argument of the origins aside, the chalumeau was a close ancestor of the clarinet. Whilst it only had a range of a 12th it made its appearance in many operas or was also used as an alternate to the oboe or similar sounding flute and recorder. One of the most predominate composers for the chalumeau was Christopher Graupner with over 80 cantatas. A large argument that is had is on whether the clarinet is something of its own unique stylings or whether it’s an improved chalumeau considering that at the beginning of the clarinet existence the words chalumeau and clarinet were often interchanged.

The first clarinet was invented in 1690 in Nuremberg, Germany by Johann Christian Denner. The instrument was named for the Italian word for trumpet, ‘clarion’. This early edition of the clarinet was a wooden cylinder with seven tone holes and two diametrically opposite keys which were placed about the highest tone hole and had a range of about three octaves. Compared to the chalumeau, this improvement now had a separate reed, speaker key (like an octave key), and extended range. With the addition of the two keys the clarinet was allotted to a much more pure sound and a higher accuracy with overblown notes and the ability to play a 12th above the lower register with similar fingerings.

Following the invention of the clarinet, there were a few years of improvements made to it in terms of intonation leading up to the first instruction book for clarinet was published in 1706 and was entitled, “The Complete Book for Mock Trumpet”. The early works for clarinet were limited, of course, to the five keys that the clarinet could play in but this didn’t hold back the global spread of this instrument at the end of the 18th century as it expanded across most of Europe and some parts of America. Beethoven was one of the first composers to include the clarinet in his symphonies along with Vivaldi, who wrote two concerto grossi for two clarinets and one oboe in 1740. In 1759, the Mannheim Orchestra was the first to employ two clarinetist which was a monumental step towards making the clarinet become a more notable instrument and to lead to more orchestras adapting them. In 1780, there were adjustments made to the standard of bore and dismeter of the clarinet which allowed the upper register to speak easily which caused more composers to utilize this in their compositions. This lead to Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto being written for Antonin Stadler (a famous clarinet player in the time period of Vienna) for basset clarinet.

An instrumentalist named Ivan Muller developed a new clarinet with an additional seven keys in 1812, thus bringing the clarinet to the next level. Before he had done so, there were various clarinets all pitched to different keys because of the chromatics and semitones on the clarinet, it was impossible to play in multiple keys on one clarinet. Muller’s innovation changed the felt pads to leather filled with wool to help with tone and precision of the clarinet. After his innovative improvements to the clarinet were rejected from the Conservatoire in Paris because it took away from the ‘special musical character’ that single key clarinets processed, he toured Europe as a solo artist to show off his clarinet.

The next great minds in the clarinet world were Auguste Buffet and Hyancinthe Klose. Around 1838, Klose began to look into a system based off of Theobald Boehm who developed moveable rings (originally for flute) that fingers can close over a tone hole that would simultaneously move another key on the instrument to improve the tone and precision. After studying this system, Klose contacted Buffet and had the prototype presented in Paris in 1839. This prototype had seventeen keys and five rings to control twenty-four tone holes.

In 1842, Adolphe Sax added a right-hand finger rings on the lower joint of the original 13-keyed clarinet thus taking the first step towards the modern German-styled clarinet. Later, there were additional improments to the Muller-style clarinet by making various keys longer and adding more keys for more fingerings to be available by Car Baermann. After all of these improvments had been made, Oskar Oehler, a German clarinetist, added an extra vent piece to just about every single key on the clarinet to improve the acoustics of the instrument as a whole. The Boehm model clarinet is a very common model of clarinet in the United States whilst Oehler’s altered clarinet is favored in parts of Europe solely on the sound that it produces.

Similar to the early single-key pitched clarinets in the 19th century, various clarinets today are set in different keys but are allotted to play in all with all the fingerings remaining the same. The smallest clarinet is the A flat sopranino clarinet and is the smallest of the family. Few ensembles consistently use this clarinet and it is mostly found in military bands. Other less common clarinets are those that are pitched in C and D. The E flat soprano clarinet is used to extend the range of the B flat instrument and was first used in Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique in 1831. The most common clarinet is the B flat soprano clarinet. The next common would be the A clarinet which is about an inch longer than the B flat and us usually played in a key with many sharps whilst the B flat is used for keys with more flats. The next clarinet would be the Basset horn that is pitched in F and has a curved neck. Though there were many attempts at creating a bass clarinet, todays bass clarinet was adapted by Adolphe Sax in 1838 and plays one octave below a B flat clarinet. The last clarinet would be the contra-bass clarinet that is pitched one octave below a B flat bass clarinet. Whilst this isn’t every clarinet that was ever experimented with or created, it is a good list of common clarinets that one could find in clarinet choirs, ensembles, or orchestras.

Clarinets had been deemed the most imperfect woodwind instruments throughout history because of the many hurdles that they have had to overcome along the way but I believe that it was well worth the wait. Whilst the clarinet as an instrument seems to be a never-ending train of change and innovation, it has come very far from just a pipe with a reed and into a much more complex instrument. The clarinet has yet to meet perfection but it is well on its way.