Author:
Evgeni Orkin was born in 1977 in Ukraine. He studied clarinet, composition and conducting at the Conservatories in Kiev, Utrecht and Mannheim and now teaches at the Conservatory in Mannheim. His passion is the discovery and preservation of original instruments. Using the contemporary works of the corresponding historical era, he has recorded the tones of these instruments on numerous CDs.
Translation:
Nicola Schröter studied English Literature and German at the universities in Southampton, England, and Frankfurt am Main, Germany, before moving to Germany. She also studied Business Management in Travel and Tourism at the university in Worms. Aside from working in the tourism industry, she has spent many years teaching Marketing and Management subjects as well as English, including translation.
Imprint
A METHODICAL APPROACH
A methodical approach to learning and playing the historical clarinet and its usage in historical performance practice
by Evgeni Orkin
© 2019 Evgeni Orkin
Author: Evgeni Orkin
For information email:
orka77@gmx.de
www.evgeniorkin.de
ISBN: 9783966103763
The author holds all rights to the concept, musical works, ideas and implementation.
Copying or reprinting by unauthorized third parties is strictly prohibited.
A METHODICAL APPROACH
to learning and playing the historical clarinet and its usage in historical performance practice
This book is designed for players wishing to play and experiment with the historical clarinet.
It contains fingering charts for 5-6 key, 7-14 key and late romantic instruments, such as the Ottensteiner.
Furthermore, there are technical exercises and studies, which focus especially on the so-called problem zones of the historical clarinet, as these cause the most difficulties for clarinet players used to playing modern instruments.
In addition, this book offers information on trill, tuning and alternative fingering as well as tips concerning the selection and preservation of materials, and further information, which should help to answer numerous questions of those curious to know more.
In this book my concentration lies exclusively on the method of playing the instrument and its technical aspects and it is not intended as a stylistic or interpretive analysis.
Instruments, their differences and usage in historical performance practice.
A whole book is required to cover the entire history of the manufacture of the clarinet. Numerous books have already been written on this subject and it is well worth reading them to be able to understand how the clarinet has developed. I shall take the opportunity here to briefly mention the main characteristics.
Although the chalumeau counts as the predecessor of the clarinet, it is not considerably older than its successor and was first documented at the end of the seventeenth century.
The instrument had a scale range of a ninth. Despite not having a specific key for the job, overblowing was basically possible, however, the upper register was instable and unclean. To produce half tones one used fork fingering like when playing the recorder.
In around 1700 Johann Christoph Denner added an overblow key to the instrument, which allowed for a second higher register.
Although this new addition to the 'clarinet' gave the player the possibility to play both registers, it proved difficult to master the intonational relationship between the low 'chalumeau'-register and the new higher 'clarino'-register. As a result, clarinetists continued to play the high notes and chalumeau players the lower notes up until about the middle of the eighteenth century.
Half tones continued to be produced by fork fingering. Moreover, the h1 key was missing and the clarinet 'jumped' from b1 straight to c2.
The clarinet consisted of four parts:
*the mouthpiece and the barrel joint – these were fitted together
(the mouthpiece was soon separated from the barrel joint);
*the upper joint;
*the lower joint – a short part with three finger holes and;
*the stock section – the 'stock' with the hole for the little finger of the right hand, fitted together with the flared bell.
There was no thumb rest as the clarinet was fairly light. However, one sometimes used a strap made of leather or cord to enable a more comfortable grip of the instrument.
The reed was fixed to the mouthpiece with a string ligature.
The reed was attached to the mouthpiece at the top and the player held on to it with the upper lip. It is important to mention here, that this method was not adapted by all – there were many players who controlled the reed with their lower lip and so the reed was attached to the underside of the mouthpiece. Both methods were practised right up until the late nineteenth century!
It was also possible to use both hand positions meaning either playing with the right or the left hand at the top. The stock could be manufactured with the c2 hole on both the left or the right.
The instruments were manufactured from conventional tree species. The hardest, and consequently the sturdiest, were boxwood and fruit tree plants.
The improvements which followed eliminated the differences in intonation between the registers and led to the creation of a typically 'classical' clarinet with five keys at the end of the eighteenth century. The English masters even developed a very practical sixth key – the h1 trill key.
The mouthpiece was separated from the barrel, and the stock from the bell. There continued to be no thumb rest.
