Clarinet: history, video, interesting facts, listen

Musical instrument: Clarinet

The clarinet is an extraordinary virtuoso instrument, with a very flexible and noble sound, resembling a long cylindrical tube. It is not by chance that in the symphonic fairy tale "Peter and the Wolf" S. Prokofiev assigned him the role of a cat, thereby emphasizing its velvety and soft sound, like the furry legs of an animal.

The clarinet got its name due to the piercing sound in the upper registers, which resembled the sound of a trumpet, because in translation its name means "small trumpet". He has no equal in the purity of sound and ease of performance, it requires a very small air flow when playing, and this is important for any performer on wind instruments.

The history of the clarinet and a lot of interesting facts about this musical instrument can be found on our page.

Sound

When they want to colorfully describe the characteristic sound of the clarinet, they recall the wonderful work of PI. Tchaikovsky, his overture - fantasy "Francesca da Rimini", where the touching voice of a musical instrument sadly tells about the tragic fate of a girl.

Still great V.A. Mozart, very indifferent to the instrument, said that the sound of the clarinet is very similar to the human voice. The area of ​​his expressiveness is very large, he is subject to much, for example, to depict dramatic events with his gloomy and deep sound, or to be bright, resilient and even playful, as in a charming arpeggio from a suite to the ballet of P.I. Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker or the shepherd's legends of Lela from the opera The Snow Maiden by N.A. Rimsky - Korsakov.

The clarinet is not only one of the most melodious, but also the most virtuosic of the woodwind instrument group, it can perform various performing tasks.

Clarinet range It is almost four octaves and is conventionally divided into three registers: the lower one, called chalumeau, is gloomy and gloomy in sound; medium - clarino, light and transparent; top - sharp and flashy.

The use of various registers of this instrument depends on the nature of the music that the composer wants to portray.

The clarinet has another great advantage — it offers a flexible change in the dynamic line — from intense amplification of sound to significant attenuation. The clarinet can play on the slightly audible "pianissimo", but is also able to impress with bright sound.

A photo:

Interesting Facts:

• Mozart was the first of the outstanding composers to write a piece of music specifically for the clarinet.
• Julia Roberts, a famous American actress, played the clarinet in a school orchestra.
• The clarinet in the early 1900s was a very popular jazz instrument, and it became especially important in this genre in the 30s and 40s of the last century in the era of big bands in the swing era.
• World-renowned music bands and musicians such as The Beatles, Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, Tom Uates, Billy Joel and Jerry Martini willingly used the sound of the clarinet in their own musical compositions.
• Every year, under the auspices of the International Association of Clarinetists, a festival is held, which is called "ClarnetFest". In 2017, it will be held in Orlando, Florida, USA from 26 to 30 July.

• One of the most popular clarinet parts is considered to be the solo of George Gershwin’s Blue Rhapsody. During the rehearsal of the play before the premiere in 1924, the soloist decided to experiment and played a chromatic move from the bottom note to the top on the glissando, Gershwin liked it very much, and since then, the solo sounds like that at concerts.
• In the 70s of the last century, there was an increased interest in genuine performance of works of the 18th and 19th centuries on the instruments of that time. In 1972, the ensemble "The Music Party" was organized, which played authentic music on ancient clarinets. The creator of such an ensemble was a British musician Alan the Cracker.
• The unique instrument, owned by the legendary Benny Goodman, was sold at auction for $ 25,000.
• The longest note played on wind instruments in the same breath was played on clarinet by Philip Palmer (Great Britain) on November 27, 2006, and it lasted 1 minute 16 seconds.
• Woody Allen (film director) refused the Oscar film awards invitation because of the concert where he played the clarinet.
• Steven Spielberg, the world famous director, can be seen playing the clarinet in the orchestra in his famous film "Jaws".

Design

The clarinet is a cylindrical tube, length which is about 70 cm. One side has a small extension - a whip-like mouth. The other is a mouthpiece in the form of a beak, to which one cane is attached (a reed plate). The instrument consists of the following components: a mouthpiece, a ligature, a keg, an upper knee, valves, a lower knee, a bell. The valve mechanism, which has many interconnected connections, is rather complicated, the number of valves in it varies and depends on the type of clarinet, sometimes they can be up to 20. Clarinet weight (soprano) is 850 gr.

Clarinets are made from high-grade grades of mingo, cocobol and African ebony, which grow for a long time and have a solid, well-resonating structure. It is also possible to make this instrument from boxwood, rosewood, and sometimes synthetic materials, but such instruments are most often used for educational purposes and in outdoor concerts.

Clarinet production is rather conservative, most of the work is done by highly skilled craftsmen by hand. Most innovations in the construction of the clarinet are about 100 years old, experiments are now being conducted only with a mouthpiece and reeds.

Clarinet Varieties

During the evolution of the clarinet appeared quite a large family. At various times, almost 20 varieties have been constructed, many of them have not found proper use, but some are actively used to this day.

First of all, it is necessary to single out the two most important representatives, these are clarinets in patterns B and A, they are also called big or soprano clarinets. In addition to these basic instruments, attention should also be paid to other types of clarinets. They are classified as follows, from the highest-sounding to the lowest.

• Sopranino, (build - F, G, As) - is rarely used.
• The clarinet is small (piccolo), the Es-line is distinguished by a piercing sound. His sharp and loud piccolo timbre is often in demand in the works of composers: G. Berlioz, R. Wagner, N. Rimsky-Korsakov, D. Shostakovich, R. Strauss.
• Clarinet "C", line: C - currently used for educational purposes.
• Basset, build: A, B - we can hear it in the opera "The Magic Flute" by W. A. ​​Mozart, but at the present time it is rarely consumed.
• Basset horn - build: A, Es, F, G - clarinet alto register. It is slightly larger than the soprano clarinet, the sound is balanced and stately. According to the sound characteristics it is located between a regular and bass clarinet. Now used in ensemble music.
• Alto and contralto - used for the performance of early music.
• Bass clarinet, build - B. The largest representative of the clarinet family, which has two types: the French and the German system. It has a peculiar shape that resembles a smoking pipe: the mouthpiece is planted on a curved spire and a bell is folded upward. The bass clarinet was firmly established in the big symphony orchestra, where the main function it performs is to enhance the bass line. Composers sometimes trust him with solo moments when it is necessary to depict an episode of an alarming, dramatic nature. Sometimes acts as a solo instrument.
• Double bass clarinet, build: B, A - the sound is the most intense and monumental. The range includes sounds that are an octave lower than that of the bass clarinet, its length is about 3 meters. It is used in ensemble music.

Application and Repertoire

Clarinet is one of the most interesting instruments, the range of its application is huge: symphony, chamber, pop and brass bands; jazz, rock, folk Klezmer ensembles.

Thanks to its beautiful timbre, the clarinet deserved the great love of composers. In symphonic music one can find numerous examples of his solo episodes. L.V. Beethoven, V.A. Mozart, F. Schubert, F. Mendelssohn, C. Weber, D. Puccinni, D. Verdi, J. Sibelius, M. Glinka, R. Schumann, P. Tchaikovsky, N. Rimsky-Korsakov, A. Rubinstein, A. Glazunov, S. Rachmaninov, I. Stravinsky, R. Strauss, M. Ravel, S. Prokofiev, D. Shostakovich and other greatest authors of musical masterpieces decorated their works with expressive soloing parts of the clarinet, both clear and perky, and tragic, intense nature .

Clarinet is the most important instrument in jazz and Jewish klezmer. He penetrated very vigorously into the national music of various countries: Spain, France, Bulgaria, Romania, Sweden, Greece, Brazil, and found very wide application there, including as an indispensable instrument at weddings and village festivals.

The clarinet is very popular as a solo instrument. Inspired by the brilliant performances of clarinet virtuosos, many composers composed their works specifically for this instrument. Among them: C. Debussy, C. Weber, C. Saint-Saens, A. Copland, P. Hindemith, B. Bartok, I. Stravinsky, A. Khachaturian, C. Nielsen, A. Copland, D. Millau, D. Finci, S. Vasilenko, M. Weinberg, U. Piston, D. Corigliano, C. Penderetsky, B. Tchaikovsky, A. Berg, B. Martinou, D. Millau, A. Onegger, F. Poulenc, A. Hovaness, A. Message and others.

Artworks

C. Debussy - Rhapsody for clarinet and orchestra (listen)

P. Hindemith - Concerto for clarinet and orchestra (listen)

B. Tchaikovsky - Concert for clarinet and chamber orchestra (listen)

K.M. Weber - Concerto for clarinet and orchestra №1 (listen)

Famous Performers

Only violinists and pianists can outperform the clarinet soloists.

During the development of clarinet art, many prominent performers appeared. A particularly significant contribution to the development of the instrument and the repertoire for him was made by the German virtuoso Ivan Muller. Among the clarinet musicians performing classical music, the following should be noted: G. Bertman, V. Sokolov, S. Rozanov, A. Stadler, V. Gensper, E. Brunner, I. Mozgovenko, S. Bessmertnova, I. Olenchik, V Permyakova, A. Berezina, V. Genslera, P. Sukhanova.

Names of famous jazz clarinetists - S. Beshe, D. Dodds, D. Nun, P. Russell, B. Bigard, A. Shaw, V. Herman, E. Daniels, L. Shields, V. Herman, but undoubtedly the king among musicians this genre is benny goodman.

The Jewish klezmer also has its remarkable clarinetists, among them: N. Brandwein, G. Feidman, D. Krakauer, G. Goldenstein.

Story

The clarinet is a relatively young instrument, invented in Germany at the end of the 17th century by the famous Nuremberg woodwind master I. Denner. His special passion was the improvement of the design and sound of various instruments, but the invention of the clarinet was the main and fundamentally new achievement of the master. It was developed on the basis of chalumeau - an old French instrument, which was one of the types of pipe and was widely used in French orchestras. Shalyumo-instrument known since ancient times, from the 3rd millennium BC, is a simple cylindrical tube without a bell with seven holes for sound healing. The range of chalumeau was equal to the octave. The main revolutionary innovation Denner was a valve on the back wall of the instrument, a device through which it became possible to extract two octaves. Thus, while improving the Chalumeau, I. Denner actually transformed it into a new instrument, with a flare and a wider range, the sound of which resembled the sound of a trumpet called Clorino. Actually, this determined the name of the new instrument: in Italian, clarnetto is a small clarino, and in Russian a clarinet.

The case of I. Donner was continued by J. Donner, who developed a tool with an expanded socket and two valves.
In the eighteenth century, the clarinet design improvement continued, masters throughout Europe were engaged in this. Austrian Paur, Belgian Rottenburg, Englishman D. Hale, Frenchman J. Lefevre gradually added the third, fourth, fifth and sixth valves, thereby forming the classical model of the tool.

The use of clarinet began in the middle of the 18th century, but it was only in 1800 that it made its way into the symphony orchestras making its way with considerable difficulties.

From the same time, the golden age of the clarinet begins, many wonderful musicians appear, perfecting not only the techniques of performance, but also the constructional features of the instrument. It should be emphasized I. Müller, who invented the ligature - a special mount for the cane mouthpiece.

In the nineteenth century, the modernization of the clarinet was continued by the French G. Klose and L. Buffe, who applied the mechanism invented by T. Boehm to the instrument. This device was previously used only on flutes and was called the ring valve system. The clarinet model with such mechanics later became known as the “Böhm clarinet” or the “French clarinet”.

In Germany, master I. Ottensteiner and clarinetist K. Berman created an instrument with a different valve mechanism, which was further improved by master O. Ehler, this type of clarinets began to be called "German" or "Austrian". For a long time these instruments were recognized all over the world, but since the second half of the last century there was a turn, and many musicians began to prefer the clarinet of the Bemö system.

Over the years of its existence, the clarinet has become one of the most sought-after instrument in musical culture. Composers of all times were attracted by the expressive capabilities of this musical instrument, as well as its technical potential. Clarinet was one of the last to complete the formation of a symphony orchestra. In addition, thanks to its attractive and elegant timbre, it has become a romantic symbol in the art of music and won the recognition of the audience.