The History of the Clarinet

The clarinet was invented by Johann Christoph Denner in 1960 in Germany, Nuremberg. The clarinet is a single reed instrument belonging to the woodwind family. It is an instrument with a cylindrical tube shape, while the bottom end extends out to look like a bell. It evolved from the earlier instrument, the chalumeau. This was the first single reed instrument.

Denner and his son Jacob improved the chalumeau creating a new instrument, the clarinet. Denner added two extra keys to the chalumeau increasing the instruments range by 2 octaves. He improved the mouthpiece and also the bell (end of the instrument). Mozart was the first composer to use the clarinet in a symphony. The chalumeau comes from the Latin word "calamellus" meaning reed.

Johann Christoph Denner

 

Jacob Denner

The Chalumeau