[1] _Hist. MSS. Comm.: MSS. of the Duke of Buccleuch_, ii. 31.
[2] _Correspondence and Diary_ (1828), ii. 286.
CLARENDON, CONSTITUTIONS OF, a body of English laws issued at Clarendon
in 1164, by which Henry II. endeavoured to settle the relations between
Church and State. Though they purported to declare the usages on the
subject which prevailed in the reign of Henry I. they were never
accepted by the clergy, and were formally renounced by the king at
Avranches in September 1172. Some of them, however, were in part at
least, as they all purported to be, declaratory of ancient usage and
remained in force after the royal renunciation. Of the sixteen
provisions the one which provoked the greatest opposition was that which
declared in effect that criminous clerks were to be summoned to the
king's court, and from there, after formal accusation and defence, sent
to the proper ecclesiastical court for trial. If found guilty they were
to be degraded and sent back to the king's court for punishment. Another
provision, which in spite of all opposition obtained a permanent place
in English law, declared that all suits even between clerk and clerk
concerning advowsons and presentations should be tried in the king's
court. By other provisions appeals to Rome without the licence of the
king were forbidden. None of the clergy were to leave the realm, nor
were the king's tenants-in-chief and ministers to be excommunicated or
their lands interdicted without the royal permission. Pleas of debt,
whether involving a question of good faith or not, were to be in the
jurisdiction of the king's courts. Two most interesting provisions, to
which the clergy offered no opposition, were: (1) if a dispute arose
between a clerk and a layman concerning a tenement which the clerk
claimed as free-alms (frankalmoign) and the layman as a lay-fee, it
should be determined by the recognition of twelve lawful men before the
king's justice whether it belonged to free-alms or lay-fee, and if it
were found to belong to free-alms then the plea was to be held in the
ecclesiastical court, but if to lay-fee, in the court of the king or of
one of his magnates; (2) a declaration of the procedure for election to
bishoprics and royal abbeys, generally considered to state the terms of
the settlement made between Henry I. and Anselm in 1107.
AUTHORITIES.--J.C. Robertson, _Materials for History of Thomas
Becket_, Rolls Series (1875-1885); Sir F. Pollock and F.W. Maitland,
_History of English Law before the Time of Ed. I._ (Cambridge, 1898),
and F.W. Maitland, _Roman Canon Law in the Church of England_ (1898);
the text of the Constitutions is printed by W. Stubbs in _Select
Charters_ (Oxford, 1895). (G.J.T.)
CLARES, POOR, otherwise _Clarisses_, Franciscan nuns, so called from
their foundress, St Clara (q.v.). She was professed by St Francis in the
Portiuncula in 1212, and two years later she and her first companions
were established in the convent of St Damian's at Assisi. The nuns
formed the "Second Order of St Francis," the friars being the "First
Order," and the Tertiaries (q.v.) the "Third." Before Clara's death in
1253, the Second Order had spread all over Italy and into Spain, France
and Germany; in England they were introduced c. 1293 and established in
London, outside Aldgate, where their name of Minoresses survives in the
Minories; there were only two other English houses before the
Dissolution. St Francis gave the nuns no rule, but only a "Form of Life"
and a "Last Will," each only five lines long, and coming to no more than
an inculcation of his idea of evangelical poverty. Something more than
this became necessary as soon as the institute began to spread; and
during Francis's absence in the East, 1219, his supporter Cardinal
Hugolino composed a rule which made the Franciscan nuns practically a
species of unduly strict Benedictines, St Francis's special
characteristics being eliminated. St Clara made it her life work to have
this rule altered, and to get the Franciscan character of the Second
Order restored; in 1247 a "Second Rule" was approved which went a long
way towards satisfying her desires, and finally in 1253 a "Third,"
which practically gave what she wanted. This rule has come to be known
as the "Rule of the Clares"; it is one of great poverty, seclusion and
austerity of life. Most of the convents adopted it, but several clung to
that of 1247. To bring about conformity, St Bonaventura, while general
(1264), obtained papal permission to modify the rule of 1253, somewhat
mitigating its austerities and allowing the convents to have fixed
incomes,--thus assimilating them to the Conventual Franciscans as
opposed to the Spirituals. This rule was adopted in many convents, but
many more adhered to the strict rule of 1253. Indeed a counter-tendency
towards a greater strictness set in, and a number of reforms were
initiated, introducing an appalling austerity of life. The most
important of these reforms were the Coletines (St Colette, c. 1400) and
the Capucines (c. 1540; see CAPUCHINS). The half-dozen forms of the
Franciscan rule for women here mentioned are still in use in different
convents, and there are also a great number of religious institutes for
women based on the rule of the Tertiaries. By the term "Poor Clares" the
Coletine nuns are now commonly understood; there are various convents of
these nuns, as of other Franciscans, in England and Ireland. Franciscan
nuns have always been very numerous; there are now about 150 convents of
the various observances of the Second Order, in every part of the world,
besides innumerable institutions of Tertiaries.
See Helyot, _Hist. des ordres religieux_ (1792), vii. cc. 25-28 and
38-42; Wetzer and Welte, _Kirchenlexikon_ (2nd ed.), art. "Clara"; Max
Heimbucher, _Orden und Kongregationen_ (1896), i. Sec.Sec. 47, 48, who gives
references to all the literature. For a scientific study of the
beginnings see Lempp, "Die Anfaenge des Klarissenordens" in
_Zeitschrift fuer Kirchengeschichte_, xiii. (1892), 181 ff. (E.C.B.)
CLARET (from the Fr. _vin claret_, mod. _clairet_, wine of a light clear
colour, from Lat. _clarus_, clear), the English name for the red
Bordeaux wines. The term was originally used in France for light-yellow
or light-red wines, as distinguished from the _vins rouges_ and the
_vins blancs_; later it was applied to red wines generally, but is
rarely used in French, and never with the particular English meaning
(see WINE).
CLARETIE, JULES ARSENE ARNAUD (1840- ), French man of letters and
director of the Theatre Francais, was born at Limoges on the 3rd of
December 1840. After studying at the lycee Bonaparte in Paris, he became
an active journalist, achieving great success as dramatic critic to the
_Figaro_ and to the _Opinion nationale_. He was a newspaper
correspondent during the Franco-German War, and during the Commune acted
as staff-officer in the National Guard. In 1885 he became director of
the Theatre Francais, and from that time devoted his time chiefly to its
administration. He was elected a member of the Academy in 1888, and took
his seat in February 1889, being received by Ernest Renan. The long list
of his works includes _Histoire de la revolution de 1870-1871_ (new ed.,
5 vols., 1875-1876); _Cinq ans apres; l'Alsace et la Lorraine depuis
l'annexion_ (1876); some annual volumes of reprints of his articles in
the weekly press, entitled _La Vie a Paris; La Vie moderne au theatre_
(1868-1869); _Moliere, sa vie et son oeuvre_ (1871); _Histoire de la
litterature francaise, 900-1900_ (2nd ed. 1905); _Candidat!_ (1887), a
novel of contemporary life; _Brichanteau, comedien francais_ (1896);
several plays, some of which are based on novels of his own--_Les
Muscadins_ (1874), _Le Regiment de Champagne_ (1877), _Les Mirabeau_
(1879), _Monsieur le ministre_ (1883), and others; and the opera, _La
Navarraise_, based on his novel _La Cigarette_, and written with Henri
Cain to the music of Massenet. _La Navarraise_ was first produced at
Covent Garden (June 1894) with Mme Calve in the part of Anita. His
_OEuvres completes_ were published in 1897-1904.
CLARI, GIOVANNI CARLO MARIA, Italian musical composer, chapel-master at
Pistoia, was born at Pisa about the year 1669. The time of his death is
unknown. He was the most celebrated pupil of Colonna, chapel-master of
S. Petronio, at Bologna. He became _maestro di cappella_ at Pistoia
about 1712, at Bologna in 1720, and at Pisa in 1736. He is supposed to
have died about 1745. The works by which Clari distinguished himself
pre-eminently are his vocal duets and trios, with a _basso continuo_,
published between 1740 and 1747. These compositions, which combine
graceful melody with contrapuntal learning, were much admired by
Cherubini. They appear to have been admired by Handel also, since he did
not hesitate to make appropriations from them. Clari composed one opera,
_Il Savio delirante_, produced at Bologna in 1695, and a large quantity
of church music, several specimens of which were printed in Novello's
_Fitzwilliam Music_.
CLARINA, a comparatively new instrument of the wood-wind class (although
actually made of metal), a hybrid possessing characteristics of both
oboe and clarinet. The clarina was invented by W. Heckel of
Biebrich-am-Rhein, and has been used since 1891 at the Festspielhaus,
Bayreuth, in _Tristan und Isolde_, as a substitute for the
_Holztrompete_ made according to Wagner's instructions. The clarina has
been found more practical and more effective in producing the desired
tone-colour. The clarina is a metal instrument with the conical bore and
fingering of the oboe and the clarinet single-reed mouthpiece. The
compass of the instrument is as shown, and it stands in the key of
B[flat]. Like the clarinet, the clarina is a transposing instrument, for
which the music must be written in a key a tone higher than that of the
composition. The timbre resulting from the combination of conical bore
and single-reed mouthpiece has in the lowest register affinities with
the _cor anglais_, in the middle with the saxophone, and in the highest
with the clarinet. Other German orchestras have followed the example of
Bayreuth. The clarina has also been found very effective as a solo
instrument. (K. S.)
[Illustration: Notation.]
[Illustration: Real Sounds.]
CLARINET, or CLARIONET (Fr. _clarinette_; Ger. _Clarinette, Klarinett_;
Ital. _clarinetto, chiarinetto_), a wood-wind instrument having a
cylindrical bore and played by means of a single-reed mouthpiece. The
word "clarinet" is said to be derived from _clarinetto_, a diminutive of
_clarino_, the Italian for (1) the soprano trumpet, (2) the highest
register of the instrument, (3) the trumpet played musically without the
blare of the martial instrument. The word "clarionet" is similarly
derived from "clarion," the English equivalent of _clarino_. It is
suggested that the name _clarinet_ or _clarinetto_ was bestowed on
account of the resemblance in timbre between the high registers of the
clarino and clarinet. By adding the speaker-hole to the old chalumeau,
J.C. Denner gave it an additional compass based on the overblowing of
the harmonic twelfth, and consisting of an octave and a half of
harmonics, which received the name of _clarino_, while the lower
register retained the name of _chalumeau_. There is something to be said
also in favour of another suggested derivation from the Italian
_chiarina_, the name for reed instruments and the equivalent for tibia
and aulos. At the beginning of the 18th century in Italy _clarinetto_,
the diminutive of _clarino_, would be masculine, whereas _chiarinetta_
or _clarinetta_ would be feminine,[1] as in Doppelmayr's account of the
invention written in 1730. The word "clarinet" is sometimes used in a
generic sense to denote the whole family, which consists of the
clarinet, or discant corresponding to the violin, oboe, &c; the alto
clarinet in E; the basset horn in F (q.v.); the bass clarinet (q.v.),
and the pedal clarinet (q.v.).
The modern clarinet consists of five (or four) separate pieces: (1) the
mouthpiece; (2) the bulb; (3) the upper middle joint, or left-hand
joint; (4) the lower middle joint, or right-hand joint[2]; (5) the bell;
which (the bell excepted) when joined together, form a tube with a
continuous cylindrical bore, 2 ft. or more in length, according to the
pitch of the instrument. The mouthpiece, including the beating or
single-reed common to the whole clarinet family, has the appearance of a
beak with the point bevelled off and thinned at the edge to correspond
with the end of the reed shaped like a spatula. The under part of the
mouthpiece (fig. 2) is flattened in order to form a table for the
support of the reed which is adjusted thereon with great nicety,
allowing just the amount of play requisite to set in vibration the
column of air within the tube.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--Clarinet (Albert Model).]
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--Clarinet Mouthpiece. _a_, the mouthpiece showing
the position of the bore inside; _b_, the single or beating reed.]
The mouthpiece, which is subject to continual fluctuations of dampness
and dryness, and to changes of temperature, requires to be made of a
material having great powers of resistance, such as cocus wood, ivory or
vulcanite, which are mostly used for the purpose in England. A
longitudinal aperture 1 in. long and 1/2 in. wide, communicating with the
bore, is cut in the table and covered by the reed. The aperture is thus
closed except towards the point, where, for the distance of 1/3 to 1/4
in., the reed is thinned and the table curves backwards towards the
point, leaving a gap between the ends of the mouthpiece and of the reed
of 1 mm. or about the thickness of a sixpence for the B flat clarinet.
The curve of the table and the size of the gap are therefore of
considerable importance. The reed is cut from a joint of the _Arundo
donax_ or _sativa_, which grows wild in the regions bordering on the
Mediterranean. A flat slip of the reed is cut, flattened on one side and
thinned to a very delicate edge on the other. At first the reed was
fastened to the table by means of many turns of a fine waxed cord. The
metal band adjusted by means of two screws, known as the "ligature," was
introduced about 1817 by Ivan Mueller. The reed is set in vibration by
the breath of the performer, and being flexible it beats against the
table, opening and closing the gap at a rate depending on the rate of
the vibrations it sets up in the air column, this rate varying according
to the length of the column as determined by opening the lateral holes
and keys. A cylindrical tube played by means of a reed has the acoustic
properties of a stopped pipe, i.e. the fundamental tone produced by the
tube is an octave lower than the corresponding tone of an open pipe of
the same length, and overblows a twelfth; whereas tubes having a conical
bore like the oboe, and played by means of a reed, speak as open pipes
and overblow an octave. This forms the fundamental difference between
the instruments of the oboe and clarinet families. Wind instruments
depending upon lateral holes for the production of their scale must
either have as many holes pierced in the bore as they require notes, or
make use of the property possessed by the air-column of dividing into
harmonics or partials of the fundamental tones. Twenty to twenty-two
holes is the number generally accepted as the practical limit for the
clarinet; beyond that number the fingering and mechanism become too
complicated. The compass of the clarinet is therefore extended through
the medium of the harmonic overtones. In stopped pipes a node is formed
near the mouthpiece, and they are therefore only able to produce the
uneven harmonics, such as the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, &c, corresponding to
the fundamental, and the diatonic intervals of the 5th one octave above,
and of the 3rd and 7th two octaves above the fundamental. By pressing
the reed with the lip near the base where it is thicker and stiffer, and
increasing the pressure of the breath, the air-column is forced to
divide and to sound the harmonics, a principle well understood by the
ancient Greeks and Romans in playing upon the aulos and tibia.[3] This
is easier to accomplish with the double reed than with the beating reed;
in fact with a tube of wide diameter, such as that of the modern
clarinet, it would not be possible by this means alone to do justice to
the tone of the instrument or to the music now written for it. The bore
of the aulos was very much narrower than that of the clarinet.
In order to facilitate the production of the harmonic notes on the
clarinet, a small hole, closed by means of a key and called the
"speaker," is bored near the mouthpiece. By means of this small hole the
air-column is placed in communication with the external atmosphere, a
ventral segment is formed, and the air-column divides into three equal
parts, producing a triple number of vibrations resulting in the third
note of the harmonic series, at an interval of a twelfth above the
fundamental.[4] In a wind instrument with lateral holes the fundamental
note corresponding to any particular hole is produced when all the holes
below that hole are open and it itself and all above it are closed, the
effective length of the resonating tube being shortened as each of the
closed holes is successively uncovered. In order to obtain a complete
chromatic scale on the clarinet at least eighteen holes are required.
This series produces with the bell-note a succession of nineteen
semitones, giving the range of a twelfth and known as the fundamental
scale or _chalumeau_ register, so called, no doubt, because it was the
compass (without chromatic semitones) of the more primitive predecessor
of the clarinet, known as the _chalumeau_, which must not be confounded
with the shawm or schalmey of the middle ages.
The fundamental scale of the modern clarinet in C extends from
[Illustration]. The next octave and a half is obtained by opening the
speaker key, whereby each of the fundamental notes is reproduced a
twelfth higher; the bell-note thus jumps from E to B#, the first key
gives instead of F its twelfth C#, and so on, extending the compass to
[Illustration], which ends the natural compass of the instrument,
although a skilful performer may obtain another octave by
cross-fingering. The names of the holes and keys on the clarinet are
derived not from the notes of the fundamental scale, but from the name
of the twelfth produced by overblowing with the speaker key open; for
instance, the first key near the bell is known not as the E key but as
the B#. The use of the speaker key forms the greatest technical
difficulty in learning to play the clarinet, on account of the thumb
having to do double duty, closing one hole and raising the lever of
the speaker key simultaneously. In a clarinet designed by Richard
Carte this difficulty was ingeniously overcome by placing the left
thumb-hole towards the front, and closing it by a thumb-lever or with
a ring action by the first or second finger of the left hand, thus
leaving the thumb free to work the speaker key alone.
There is good reason to think that the ancient Greeks understood the
advantage of a speaker-hole, which they called _Syrinx_, for
facilitating the production of harmonics on the aulos. The credit of
the discovery of this interesting fact is due to A.A. Howard,[5] of
Harvard University; it explains many passages in the classics which
before were obscure (see AULOS). Plutarch relates[6] that Telephanes
of Megara was so incensed with the syrinx that he never allowed his
instrument-makers to place one on any of his auloi; he even went so
far as to absent himself, principally on account of the syrinx, from
the Pythian games. Telephanes was a great virtuoso who scorned the use
of a speaker-hole, being able to obtain his harmonics on the aulos by
the mere control of lips and teeth.
The modern clarinet has from thirteen to nineteen keys, some being
normally open and others closed. In order to understand why, when once
the idea of adding keys to the chalumeau had been conceived, the
number rose so slowly, keys being added one or two at a time by makers
of various nationalities at long intervals, it is necessary to
consider the effect of boring holes in the side of a cylindrical tube.
If it were possible to proceed from an absolute theoretical basis,
there would be but little difficulty; there are, however, practical
reasons which make this a matter of great difficulty. According to V.
Mahillon,[7] the theoretical length of a B flat clarinet (French pitch
diapason normal A = 435 vibrations), is 39 cm. when the internal
diameter of the bore measures exactly 1.4 cm. Any increase in the
diameter of the cylindrical bore for a given length of tube raises the
pitch proportionally and in the same way a decrease lowers it. A bore
narrow in proportion to the length facilitates the production of the
harmonics, which is no doubt the reason why the aulos was made with a
very narrow diameter, and produced such deep notes in proportion to
its length. In determining the position of the holes along the tube,
the thickness of the wood to be pierced must be taken into
consideration, for the length of the passage from the main bore to the
outer air adds to the length of the resonating column; as, however,
the clarinet tube is reckoned as a closed one, only half the extra
length must be taken into account. When placed in its correct
theoretical position, a hole should have its diameter equal to the
diameter of the main bore, which is the ideal condition for obtaining
a full, rich tone; it is, however, feasible to give the hole a smaller
diameter, altering its position by placing it nearer the mouthpiece.
These laws, which were likewise known to the Greeks and Romans,[8] had
to be rediscovered by experience in the 18th and 19th centuries,
during which the mechanism of the key system was repeatedly improved.
Due consideration having been given to these points, it will also be
necessary to remember that the stopping of the seven open holes leaves
only the two little fingers (the thumb of the right hand being in the
ordinary clarinet engaged in supporting the instrument) free at all
times for key service, the other fingers doing duty when momentarily
disengaged. The fingering of the clarinet is the most difficult of any
instrument in the orchestra, for it differs in all four octaves of its
compass. Once mastered, however, it is the same for all clarinets, the
music being always written in the key of C.
[Illustration: real sounds]
The actual tonality of the clarinet is determined by the diatonic
scale produced when, starting with keys untouched and finger and
thumb-holes closed, the fingers are raised one by one from the holes.
In the B flat clarinet, the _real sounds_ thus produced are being part
of the scale of B flat major. By the closing of two _open_ keys, the
lower E flat and D are added.
The following are the various sizes of clarinets with the key proper
to each:
E flat, a minor third above the C clarinet.
B flat, a tone below " "
The high F, 4 tones above " "
The D, 1 tone above " "
The low G, a fourth below " "
The A, a minor third below " "
The B# 1 semintone below " "
The alto clarinet in E flat, a fifth below the B flat clarinet.
The tenor or basset horn, in F, a fifth below the C clarinet.
The bass clarinet in B flat, an 8ve below that in B flat.
The pedal clarinet in B flat, an 8ve below the bass clarinet.
The clarinets in B flat and A are used in the orchestra; those in C
and E flat in military bands.
_History_.--Although the single beating-reed associated with the
instruments of the clarinet family has been traced in ancient Egypt, the
double reed, characteristic of the oboe family, being of simpler
construction, was probably of still greater antiquity. An ancient
Egyptian pipe found in a mummy-case and now preserved in the museum at
Turin was found to contain a beating-reed sunk 3 in. below the end of
the pipe, which is the principle of the drone. It would appear that the
double chalumeau, called arghoul (q.v.) by the modern Egyptians, was
known in ancient Egypt, although it was not perhaps in common use. The
Musee Guimet possesses a copy of a fresco from the tombs at Saqqarah
(executed under the direction of Mariette Bey) assigned to the 4th or
5th dynasty, on which is shown a concert with dancing; the instruments
used are two harps, the long oblique flute "nay," blown from the end
without any mouthpiece or embouchure, and an instrument identified as an
arghoul[9] from its resemblance to the modern instrument of the same
name. This is believed to be the only illustration of the ancient double
chalumeau yet found in Egypt, with the single exception of a hieroglyph
occurring also once only, i.e. the sign read _As-it_, consisting of a
cylindrical pipe with a beak mouthpiece bound round with a cord tied in
a bow. The bow is taken to indicate the double parallel pipes bound
together; the same sign without the bow occurs frequently and is read
_Ma-it_,[10] and is considered to be the generic name for reed wind
instruments. The beating-reed was probably introduced into classic
Greece from Egypt or Asia Minor. A few ancient Greek instruments are
extant, five of which are in the British Museum. They are as nearly
cylindrical as would be the natural growing reed itself. The probability
is that both single and double reeds were at times used with the Greek
aulos and the Roman tibia. V. Mahillon and A.A. Howard of Harvard have
both obtained facsimiles of actual instruments, some found at Pompeii
and now deposited in the museum at Naples, and others in the British
Museum. Experiments made with these instruments, whose original
mouthpieces have perished, show that with pipes of such narrow diameter
the fundamental scale and pitch are the same whether sounded by means of
a single or of a double reed, but the modern combination of single reed
and cylindrical tube alone gives the full pure tone quality. The subject
is more fully discussed in the article AULOS.[11] The Roman tibia, if
monuments can be trusted, sometimes had a beak-shaped mouthpiece, as for
instance that attached to a pipe discovered at Pompeii, or that shown in
a scene on Trajan's column.[12] It is probable that when, at the decline
of the Roman empire, instrumental music was placed by the church under a
ban--and the tibia more especially from its association with every form
of licence and moral depravity--this instrument, sharing the common
fate, survived chiefly among itinerant musicians who carried it into
western Europe, where it was preserved from complete extinction. An
instrument of difficult technique requiring an advanced knowledge of
acoustics was not, however, likely to flourish or even to be understood
among nations whose culture was as yet in its infancy.
The tide of culture from the Byzantine empire filtered through to the
south and west, leaving many traces; a fresh impetus was received from
the east through the Arabs; and later, as a result of the Crusades, the
prototype of the clarinet, together with the practical knowledge
necessary for making the instrument and playing upon it, may have been
re-introduced through any one or all of these sources. However this may
be, the instrument was during the Carolingian period identified with the
tibia of the Romans until such time as the new western civilization
ceased to be content to go back to classical Rome for its models, and
began to express itself, at first naively and awkwardly, as the 11th
century dawned. The name then changed to the derivatives of the Greek
_kalamos_, assuming an almost bewildering variety of forms, of which the
commonest are chalemie, chalumeau, schalmey, scalmeye, shawm, calemel,
kalemele.[13] The derivation of the name seems to point to a Byzantine
rather than an Arab source for the revival of the instruments which
formed the prototype of both oboe and clarinet, but it must not be
forgotten that the instruments with a conical bore--more especially
those played by a reed--are primarily of Asiatic origin. At the
beginning of the 13th century in France, where the instrument remained
a special favourite until it was displaced by the clarinet, the
chalumeau is mentioned in some of the early romances:--"Tabars et
chalemiaux et estrumens sonner" (_Aye d'Avignon_, v. 4137); "Grelles et
chelimiaus et buisines bruians" (_Gui de Bourgogne_, v. 1374), &c. By
the end of the 13th century, the German equivalent _Schalmey_ appears in
the literature of that country,--"Pusunen und Schalmeyen schal moht
niemen da gehoeren wal" (_Frauendienst_, 492, fol. 5, Ulrich von
Lichtenstein). The schalmey or shawm is frequently represented in
miniatures from the 13th century, but it must have been known long
before, since it was at that period in use as the chaunter of the
bag-pipe (q.v.), a fully-developed complex instrument which presupposes
a separate previous existence for its component parts.
We have no reason to suppose that any distinction was drawn between the
single and double reed instruments during the early middle ages--if
indeed the single reed was then known at all--for the derivatives of
_kalamos_ were applied to a variety of pipes. The first clear and
unmistakable drawing yet found of the single reed occurs in Mersenne's
_Harmonie universelle_ (p. 282), where the primitive reed pipe is shown
with the beating-reed detached from the tube of the instrument itself,
by making a lateral slit and then splitting back a little tongue of reed
towards a knot. Mersenne calls this the simplest form of chalumeau or
wheat-stalk (_tuyau de ble_). It is evident that no significance was
then attached to the form of the vibrating reed, whether single or
double, for Mersenne and other writers of his time call the chaunters of
the musette and cornemuse chalumeaux whether they are of cylindrical or
of conical bore. The difference in timbre produced by the two kinds of
reeds was, however, understood, for Mersenne states that a special kind
of cornemuse was used in concert with the _hautbois de Poitou_ (an oboe
whose double reed was enclosed in an air chamber) and was distinguished
from the shepherd's cornemuse by having double reeds throughout, whereas
the drones of the latter instrument were furnished with beating reeds.
It is therefore evident that as late as 1636 (the date at which Mersenne
wrote) in France the word "chalumeau" was not applied to the instrument
transformed some sixty years later into the clarinet, nor was it applied
exclusively to any one kind of pipe except when acting as the chaunter
of the bagpipe, and that independently of any structural
characteristics. The chaunter was still called chalumeau in 1737.[14] Of
the instrument which has been looked upon as the chalumeau, there is but
little trace in Germany or in France at the beginning of the 17th
century. A chalumeau with beak mouthpiece and characteristic short
cylindrical tube pierced with six holes figures among the musical
instruments used for the triumphal procession of the emperor Maximilian
I., commemorated by a fine series of plates,[15] engraved on wood by
Hans Burgkmair, the friend and colleague of A. Duerer. On the same plate
(No. 79) are five schalmeys with double reeds and five chalumeaux with
single-reed beak mouthpieces; the latter instruments were in all
probability made in the Netherlands, which excelled from the 12th
century in the manufacture of all musical instruments. No single-reed
instrument, with the exception of the regal (q.v.), is figured by S.
Virdung,[16] M. Agricola[17] or M. Praetorius.[18]
A good idea of the primitive chalumeau may be gained from a reproduction
of one of the few specimens from the 16th or 17th century still extant,
which belonged to Cesare Snoeck and was exhibited at the Royal Military
Exhibition in London in 1890.[19] The tube is stopped at the mouthpiece
end by a natural joint of the reed, and a tongue has been detached just
under the joint; there are six finger-holes and one for the thumb. An
instrument almost identical with the above, but with a rudimentary bell,
and showing plainly the detached tongue, is figured by Jost Amman in
1589.[20] A plate in Diderot and d'Alembert's _Encyclopedie_[21] shows a
less primitive instrument, outwardly cylindrical and having a separate
mouthpiece joint and a clarinet reed but no keys. A chalumeau without
keys, but consisting apparently of three joints--mouthpiece, main tube
and bell,--is figured on the title-page of a musical work[22] dated
1690; it is very similar to the one represented in fig. 3, except that
only six holes are visible.
[Illustrations: (From Diderot and d'Alembert's _Encyclopedie_.) FIG. 3.
Chalumeau, 1767. (_a_) Front, (_b_) Back view.]
[Illustration]
In his biographical notice of J. Christian Denner (1655-1707), J.G.
Doppelmayr[23] states that at the beginning of the 18th century "Denner
invented a new kind of pipe, the so-called clarinet, which greatly
delighted lovers of music; he also made great improvements in the stock
or rackett-fagottos, known in the olden time and finally also in the
chalumeaux." It is probable that the improvements in the chalumeau to
which Doppelmayr alludes without understanding them consisted (_a_) in
giving the mouthpiece the shape of a beak and adding a separate reed
tongue as in that of the modern clarinet, unless this change had already
taken place in the Netherlands, the country which the unremitting
labours of E. van der Straeten[24] have revealed as taking the lead in
Europe from the 14th to the 16th century in the construction of musical
instruments of all kinds; (_b_) in the boring of two additional holes
for A and B near the mouthpiece and covering them with two keys; (_c_)
in replacing the long cylindrical mouthpiece joint by a bulb, thus
restoring one of the characteristic features of the tibia,[25] known as
the [Greek: holmos]. There are a few of these improved chalumeaux in
existence, two being in the Bavarian national museum at Munich, the one
in high A, in a bad state of preservation, the second in C, marked J.C.
Denner, of which V. Mahillon has made a facsimile[26] for the museum of
the Brussels Conservatoire. There are two keys and eight holes; the
first consists of two small holes on the same level giving a semitone if
only one be closed. If the thumb-key be left open, the sounds of the
fundamental scale (shown in the black notes below) rise a twelfth to
form the second register (the white notes). This early clarinet or
improved chalumeau has a clarinet mouthpiece, but no bulb; it measures
50 cm. (20 in.), whereas the one in A mentioned above is only 28 cm. in
length, the long cylindrical tube between mouthpiece and key-joint,
afterwards turned into the bulb, being absent. Mahillon was probably the
first to point out that the so-called invention of the clarinet by J.C.
Denner consisted in providing a device--the speaker-key--to facilitate
the production of the harmonics of the fundamental. Can we be sure that
the same result was not obtained on the old chalumeau before keys were
added, by partially uncovering the hole for the thumb?
The Berlin museum possesses an early clarinet with two keys, marked J.B.
Oberlender, derived from the Snoeck collection. Paul de Wit's collection
has a similar specimen by Enkelmer. The Brussels Conservatoire possesses
clarinets with two keys by Flemish makers, G.A. Rottenburgh and J.B.
Willems[27]; the latter, with a small bulb and bell, is in G a fifth
above the C clarinet. The next improvements in the clarinet, made in
1720, are due to J. Denner, probably a son of J.C. Denner. They
consisted in the addition of a bell and in the removal of the
speaker-hole and key nearer the mouthpiece, involving the reduction of
the diameter of the hole. The effect of this change of position was to
turn the B[natural] into B flat, for J. Denner introduced into the
hole, nearly as far as the axis of the bore, a small metal drainage
tube[28] for the moisture of the breath. In the modern clarinet, the
same result is attained by raising this little tube slightly above the
surface of the main tube, placing a key on the top of it, and bending
the lever. In order to produce the missing B[natural], J. Denner
lengthened the tube and pierced another hole, the low E, covered by an
open key with a long lever which, when closed, gives the desired B as
its twelfth, thus forming a connexion between the two registers. A
clarinet with three keys, of similar construction (about 1750), marked
J.W. Kenigsperger, is preserved in the Bavarian national museum, at
Munich. Another in B flat marked Lindner[29] belongs to the collection
at Brussels. About the middle of the 18th century, the number of keys
was raised to five, some say[30] by Barthold Fritz of Brunswick
(1697-1766), who added keys for C# and D#. [Illustration] According to
Altenburg[31] the E flat or D# key is due to the virtuoso Joseph Beer
(1744-1811). The sixth key was added about 1790 by the celebrated French
virtuoso Xavier Lefebure (or Lefevre), and produced G#. [Illustration]
Anton Stadler and his brother, both clarinettists in the Vienna court
orchestra and instrument-makers, are said to have lengthened the tube of
the B flat clarinet, extending the compass down to C (real sound B
flat). It was for the Stadler brothers that Mozart wrote his quintet for
strings, with a fine obbligato for the clarinet in A (1789), and the
clarinet concerto with orchestra in 1791.
This, then, was the state of the clarinet in 1810 when Ivan Mueller, then
living in Paris, carried the number of keys up to thirteen, and made
several structural improvements already mentioned, which gave us the
modern instrument and inaugurated a new era in the construction and
technique of the clarinet. Mueller's system is still adopted in principle
by most clarinet makers. The instrument was successively improved during
the 19th century by the Belgian makers Bachmann, the elder Sax, Albert
and C. Mahillon, whose invention in 1862 of the C# key with double
action is now generally adopted. In Paris the labours of Lefebure,
Buffet-Crampon, and Goumas are pre-eminent. In 1842 H.E. Klose conceived
the idea of adapting to the clarinet the ingenious mechanism of movable
rings, invented by Boehm for the flute, and he entrusted the execution
of this innovation to Buffet-Crampon; this is the type of clarinet
generally adopted in French orchestras. From this adaptation has sprung
the erroneous notion that Klose's clarinet was constructed according to
the Boehm system; Klose's lateral divisions of the tube do not follow
those applied by Boehm to the flute.
In England the clarinet has also passed through several progressive
stages since its introduction about 1770, and first of all at the hands
of Cornelius Ward. The principal improvements were due to Richard Carte,
who took out a patent in 1858 for an improved Boehm clarinet which
possessed some claim to the name, since Boehm's principle of boring the
holes at theoretically correct intervals and of venting the holes by
means of open holes below was carried out. Carte made several
modifications of his original patent, his chief endeavour being to so
dispose the key-work as to reduce the difficulties in fingering. By the
extension of the principle of the ring action, the work of the third and
little fingers of the left hand was simplified and the fingering of
certain difficult notes and shakes greatly facilitated. Messrs Rudall,
Carte & Company have made further improvements in the clarinet, which
are embodied in Klussmann's patent (fig. 4); these consist in the
introduction of the duplicate G# key, a note which has hitherto formed a
serious obstacle to perfect execution. The duplicate key, operated by
the third or second finger of the right hand, releases the fourth finger
of the left hand. The old G# is still retained and may be used in the
usual way if desired. The body of the instrument is now made in one
joint, and the position of the G# hole is mathematically correct,
whereby perfect intonation for C#, G# and F[n] is secured. Other
improvements were made in Paris by Messrs Evette & Schaeffer and by M.
Paradis,[32] a clarinet-player in the band of the Garde Republicaine,
and very great improvements in boring and in key mechanism were effected
by Albert of Brussels (see fig. 1).
[Illustration: FIG. 4.--Clarinet (Boehm model, Klussmann's patent).]
The clarinet appears to have received appreciation in the Netherlands
earlier than in its own native land. According to W. Altenburg (op. cit.
p. 11),[33] a MS. is preserved in the cathedral at Antwerp of a mass
written by A.J. Faber in 1720, which is scored for a clarinet. Johann
Mattheson,[34] _Kapellmeister_ at Hamburg, mentions clarinet music in
1713, although Handel, whose rival he was, does not appear to have known
the instrument. Joh. Christ. Bach scored for the clarinet in 1763 in his
opera _Orione_ performed in London, and Rameau had already employed the
instrument in 1751 in a theatre for his pastoral entitled _Acante et
Cephise_.[35] The clarinet was formally introduced into the orchestra in
Vienna in 1767,[36] Gluck having contented himself with the use of the
chalumeau in _Orfeo_ (1762) and in _Alceste_ (1767).[37] The clarinet
had already been adopted in military bands in France in 1755, where it
very speedily completely replaced the oboe. One of Napoleon Bonaparte's
bands is said to have had no less than twenty clarinets.
For further information on the clarinet at the beginning of the 19th
century, consult the _Methods_ by Ivan Mueller and Xavier Lefebure, and
Joseph Froehlich's admirable work on the instruments of the orchestra;
and Gottfried Weber's articles in Ersch and Gruber's _Encyclopaedia_.
See also BASSET HORN; BASS CLARINET and PEDAL CLARINET. (K. S.)