Clarinet History

One of the earliest instruments we know of is the J.C.Denner chalumeau, which is in the Bavarian National Museum in Munich. It has a recorder-like bell with two diametrically opposed keys (but no speaker pipe, as far as we know) and very little flaring at the lower end. The bore is very large at 15mm., and the tone holes are small, being on average only 5mm in diameter. It is possible that this …

…Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington, Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman were the "pop" stars of the day. In LaBanchi's time the public knew the repertoire and was quite an educated audience. Clarinetists in LaBanchi's (1829-1908) and Carl Baermann's (1810-1885) time were able to hone their craft and art to a very high degree because they were constantly immersed in it. It is periods like this in history that often produce some of the highest caliber artists.