Brief History Of The Clarinet Essay

The history of the clarinet begins in 1690, Nuremberg, Germany, when a man by the name of Johann Christoph Denner, with the help of his son, Jacob, invented the clarinet. J.C. Denner was well-known and highly respected for the woodwind instruments that he made back in that time period. The clarinets that they were making/selling only had two keys and were mostly made from brass and the use of springs. The clarinets that we know and love today come from an instrument called the Chalumeau. After having experimented with chalumeaus for a long while, J.C. Denner managed to build an instrument, that would both the higher and lower register without ruining the intonation (accuracy or pitch) . In order to do this, he added two other holes near the duodecim key. The other problems that arose with that, the player would be able to fix using his embouchure.

The clarinets had two keys, which later on became three and this new and improved instrument already had a wider tone range than both oboes and trumpets in that time. Musicians now had the ability to play dramatically and loudly yet still be able to accomplish difficult jumps between notes and runs that no one had achieved yet, which would otherwise be impossible on any other instrument. Therefore the “clari” of that time, replaced the new high trumpets and later on was named the “clarinet”.

The clarinet wasn’t known as just an improved Chalumeau anymore, the two keys that were added to it made it a new instrument altogether. The result of that addition was phenomenal and changed the music back then and now for the better.

The clarinet was heard in orchestras very soon after that and a composer by the name of Vivaldi, wrote/re-wrote three concerti grossi in 1740, and Händel composed an Overture in 1748, where he demanded there be clarinets in