Clarinet in C
Details
- Origin: London, England
- Date: c. 1835-62
- Maker: Clementi & Co.
- Collection: E 164
Description
6 flat, round, brass keys, lower 3 in ring mount, upper 3 in block mounts. Made of boxwood, ivory ferrules, plastic bell ring (not original). 5 sections. Rosewood mouthpiece (not original). “SI Pauls Church YD/London/T.E. Purday / Late / Clementi & Co / C” stamped on bell. “T.E. Purday / London” stamped on other four joints.
It is likely that the T.E. Purday firm made this instrument, and it was sold by Clementi & Co. Clementi & Co. regularly contracted with individuals and firms to make instruments, applying the Clementi & Co. name at the end of the manufacturing process. For example, Thomas Prowse was the maker of Charles Nicholson’s improved flutes (see our Western European flutes to read more about this), but Clementi & Co sold these instruments and stamped their name on it.
The evolution from four-key classical clarinets to the 13-plus key clarinets of the early romantic era was quite significant. Players, composers, and makers participated in a great deal of experimentation, trial and error, and innovation. The four-key clarinet was a transitional instrument from about 1750-80, being replaced by the five-key clarinet, and later the six-key clarinet. In the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, English clarinet makers exported five- and six-key clarinets across Europe and America. Thus, most remaining boxwood clarinets come from English firms.
In the nineteenth century, clarinets appeared mainly in wind bands (or Harmoniemusik) and military bands. Harmoniemusik’s main function was providing background music at dinners, social events, and public and private concerts. Harmoniemusik was initially commissioned from royal courts, but musicians later started ordering new music themselves, forming groups such as the Société des instruments à vent in Paris. Leader, the flautist Paul Taffanel (seated far left) “inspired many contemporary composers to write for his wind ensemble”. [4]
In England, bands consisting of clarinets and horns often played between acts at plays, or at pleasure gardens in London.
Arne’s opera, Artaxerxes, containing songs including clarinets and horns, were played in 1762 at Ranelagh. In the same year Music in Four Acts and several of Handel’s favorite songs and works were performed. The following pleasure garden announcement might’ve been quite common to see at the time:
Between the acts the French Horns and Clarinets will play favourite pieces in the Garden. [3]
Sources
Rice, Albert R. The Clarinet in the Classical Period. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2011.
Bainbridge, William. Observations on the Cause of Imperfections in Wind Instruments, Particularly in German Flutes. London, 1823.
“The Pleasure Gardens of 18th-Century London.” OUPblog, July 15, 2013. https://blog.oup.com/2013/07/pleasure-gardens-of-18th-century-london-music/.
Floricor Editions. Harmoniemusik. Accessed June 15, 2022. https://www.floricor-editions.com/index.php/harmoniemusik.
