History of the Clarinet

3rd Century BC

The history of the clarinet starts from around the late 1600s. Its roots, however, are in the early single-reed instruments or hornpipes used in the Middle East and Europe since the Middle Ages, such as the albogue, alboka, the Greek instrument aulos, the Egyptian Zummara and double clarinet.

The early models made around 1700 were played with reeds placed against the upper lip. They were tied to the mouthpiece with twine. Today, ligatures hold the reed to the mouthpiece with the reed against the bottom lip.

17th Century

The clarinet is generally believed to have been invented in Germany in the late 17th century by Johann Christoph Denner, a Nuremberg instrument maker. A similar instrument called the chalumeau was already in existence, but Denner added two keys, including the innovative register key, which increased the range by over two octaves. The fact that the name "clarinet" originally meant "small Clarinet" was probably also related to this characteristic of the clarinet. Denner also improved the mouthpiece and enhanced the shape of the bell. The clarinet's lower register is still known as the "chalumeau register." It was an evolved version of the chalumeau. Denner was the first to make the chalumeau with two keys and increased its range by 2 octaves. The clarinet was made out of wood.

18th Century

The original Denner clarinets had two keys and could play a chromatic scale. Still, various makers added more keys to improve tuning, easier fingerings, and a slightly more extensive range. Denner's son, Jakob, followed his dad's path in creating instruments with two keys.

He also gave the clarinet a flared bell, instead of the cylinder one on the chalumeau, to help project the sound. It was also given a barrel-shaped bulge below the mouthpiece.

Clarinets were soon accepted into orchestras. Later models had a mellower tone than the originals, typically with eight holes and five keys. Mozart liked the sound of the clarinet such that he wrote much music for it.

19th Century

By the time of Beethoven, the clarinet had become a standard fixture in the orchestra. The subsequent significant development in the clarinet's history was the modern pad's invention. Early clarinets covered the tone holes with felt pads.

However, the pads had to be kept to a minimum due to leaked air, so the clarinet was severely restricted in the notes could be played with a good tone.

A Russian-born clarinettist and inventor, Iwan Müller 1806, developed and added the ligature as part of the clarinet to hold a reed onto the instrument. He also installed the thumb rest so that the angle between the clarinet and the body didn't have to be so big. In 1812, he developed a new pad covered in leather or fish bladder.

This was completely airtight, so the number of keys could be increased enormously. He designed a new clarinet with seven finger holes and thirteen keys. This allowed the clarinet to play in any key with near-equal ease. Many enhancements were made to Mueller's clarinet during the 19th century, such as the Albert and Baermann systems (Clarinet Key work and Fingering), all keeping the same basic design.

The final developments in the modern design of the clarinet used in most of the world today were introduced by Hyacinthe Klosé in 1839. He devised a different arrangement of keys and finger holes, which allow simpler fingering. This arrangement was inspired by the Boehm system developed for flutes by Theobald Boehm.

The new system took time to gain popularity as it required the player to relearn how to play the instrument. Gradually it became the standard, and today the Boehm system is used everywhere except Germany and Austria. These countries still use a direct descendant of the Mueller clarinet known as the Oehler system clarinet. Also, some contemporary Dixieland and Klezmer players continue to use Albert system clarinets, as the more straightforward fingering system can allow for easier slurring of notes.