It is the purpose of this thesis to present a study of music written for the clarinet during the period from 1600 to 1800. The first part is a history of the clarinet showing the stages of development of the instrument from its early predecessors to its present form. Part one also explains the acoustics of the clarinet and its actual invention. The second part deals with composers and their music for the clarinet. No attempt is made to include all music written for the instrument during the prescribed period; rather, the writer's intention is to include chiefly those works by composers whose musics has proven to be outstanding in clarinet literature or interesting historically. The order in which the works themselves are taken up is chronological, by composers, with comment on their styles as to form, harmonic content, melodic content, rhythmic content, problems in phrasing, or any other general technical problem. All of these elements are illustrated with examples taken from the music.

Typescript. Bibliography: leaves 129-130. Includes discographies.

This thesis included a chronological register of historical bass clarinets dating from c. 1750 to the twentieth century. Using this register as an outline, the early history of, and the development of the physiognomy of the bass clarinet were narrated. An effort was made to point out the discrepancies that exist between major sources which mention the bass clarinet. It was hoped that this thesis would serve as a starting place for future research concerning the bass clarinet. (Eighteen illustrations.) / text

The purpose of this study is to trace the development of a comparatively young orchestral instrument, the bass clarinet, and its use in the symphony orchestra. The first chapter concerns the development of the bass clarinet from the earliest imperfect specimen to the modern day instrument. The second chapter discusses physical characteristics that are peculiar to the bass clarinet. The third chapter deals with the particular methods of using the bass clarinet in orchestral literature by various composers, from its introduction into the orchestra by Meyerbeer through the present.

It is the purpose of this thesis to present a study of the development of writing for the clarinet in chamber music during the period from Mozart (1756-1791) through Brahms (1833-1897). The first part is a brief history of the clarinet showing the stages of development of the instrument from its beginning to its present form and also surveys the field of chamber music in general, with special attention to the chamber music for the clarinet, and to the performers for whom many of these works were written.

No description available.

Valentin Roeser’s Essai d’instruction à l’usage de ceux qui composent pour la clarinette et le cor is the earliest treatise on instrumentation and the first theoretical study of the clarinet. Comparisons are drawn with other eighteenth-century instructional materials, e.g. Francoeur’s Diapason général, La Borde’s Essai sur la musique, and Vanderhagen’s Méthode nouvelle et raisonnée pour la clarinette. A history of the chalumeau and two-keyed clarinet is presented, along with a biographical sketch of Roeser and an English translation of the first section of the Essai. Appendices include a checklist of Roeser’s writings and a list of eighteenth-century music using the chalumeau.

Factual evidence concerning the ancestry of the clarinet has been a perpetual topic of debate among musicologists and organologists. Scholars have widely agreed that the clarinet, first documented in 1710, emerged from the baroque invention of the chalumeau (invented circa 1690), which in itself was an improvement upon the recorder. Considering the chalumeau's short lifespan as the predominant single reed instrument in the early eighteenth century, the chalumeau inspired a monumental amount of literature that includes vocal and instrumental genres written by distinguished composers. Vivaldi is considered to be the most significant composer that wrote for both clarinet and chalumeau; he wrote for both instruments simultaneously throughout his life whereas his contemporaries seemingly replaced the chalumeau with the clarinet. This project will discuss Vivaldi's proximity to the chalumeau and the clarinet and will provide an in-depth analysis of relevant works by the composer to determine how he, unlike his contemporaries, treated the chalumeau and the clarinet as separate and equally viable instruments. Following a brief history of the chalumeau and clarinet in Italy and a relevant biography of Vivaldi (Ch. 2), this document will discuss the integral Vivaldi compositions that include clarinet and chalumeau and the role of the clarinet or chalumeau in each work (Ch. 3). Chapter 4 solves the mystery of why Vivaldi continued to compose for the chalumeau while his contemporaries replaced the chalumeau with the clarinet.

In an appendix section, three notable arias have been transcribed for two clarinets, voice, and piano. A further evaluation of Classical period opera orchestration will aid modern performers and musicologists in their understanding of what clarinets and clarinetists were able and expected to do.

No description available.