Clarinet Music
Melow Sound of Clarinet
Music
The wonderful woodwind sound of
clarinet music is unmistakable and I'm sure you enjoy
listening to this musical instrument made for an orchestra
as much as I do. The clarinet has a distinct sound that
brings a mellow tone. Mainly used in the classical and jazz
genres, clarinet music is as popular today as it ever was.
School children who learn the recorder often progress to the
clarinet. There are different types of this musical
instrument having their own pitch, including soprano, bass
and alto.
Clarinet Music And Its Family --
The Woodwind Instruments
It is in the woodwind family and has
the widest pitch range of that group. Professional musicians
use clarinets made from African hardwoods. These tend to be
expensive but cheaper plastic resin ones are available too,
so parents don't have to worry about it being an expensive
hobby.
The instrument uses a single reed,
traditionally made from a type of grass but most shops will
sell reeds from synthetic materials, again bringing down the
price.
How Many Clarinets In An
Orchestra?
An orchestra normally contains two or
three clarinetists and there has been a lot of clarinet
music written as orchestral pieces or as chamber music. It
is also favored as a solo instrument, featured in clarinet
concertos by Mozart and Carl von Weber.
American composer Aaron Copland has
also composed for the clarinet. There are plenty of examples
of 20th century clarinet music by leading composers,
including Richard Strauss, Igor Stravinsky and Olivier
Messiaen. Popular formats for the clarinet include the
Clarinet Quintet, made up of a clarinet and a string
quartet. The Wind Quintet consists of clarinet, oboe, flute,
bassoon and horn.
The Love Triangle Of Clarinet Music
And Jazz
The clarinet has also played a big
part in the development of jazz. Early jazz featured the
virtuosity of players such as Sidney Bechet and clarinet
music is an integral part of New Orleans jazz bands. The
Dixieland sound was very popular but was overshadowed when
bebop and free jazz dominated the airwaves. It came back
however and remains popular with the public, if not the
critics.
Jazz music enjoyed a big revival in
the 1950s and early 1960s in the UK with a British brand of
Dixieland records enjoying chart success. The movement,
known as Trad Jazz, was led by Acker Bilk and his band and
they had a number one hit with Stranger On the Shore. With
his trademark bowler hat and black and white striped
waistcoat, Acker Bilk made clarinet music fashionable
again.
Big Bands Can't Live Without
Clarinet Music
Another period of great success for
the instrument was in the big band era of the 1930s and
1940s. Swing music swept across the dance halls of America
to the sound of clarinetists Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw and
Woody Herman.
The film director Woody Allen took his
name from Herman and has his own jazz band, helping to
popularize clarinet music once more. So, this musical
instrument belonging to the woods still has many years of
life left and I'm sure you will get down and mellow next
time you hear its mournful sound.
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