By Sam Cronk

The clarinet is a very popular woodwind which originated in Islamic and Asian countries at least 700 years ago. The shape and sound of this familiar instrument was formally established around 1850 . Its mouthpiece resembles a beak, or peaked edge; attached is a single cane reed ( technically, this is called a "beating reed" rather than "free reed"). The body, usually made from basswood, is cylindrical with a slightly flared bell. Acoustically, it resembles the saxophone, another single reed instrument patented by the Belgian manufacturer Adolph Sax.
Clarinets were first introduced in Europe as folk instruments, but by the late 1600s, they were manufactured by such renowned instrument builders as Joseph Denner of Nurnberg. Within 40 years, they were regularly featured in works by Baroque composers Gluck, Telemann and Rameau.
A significant innovation in the 19th century helped to define the modern clarinet's structure and sound. Prior to 1800, the clarinet family was possibly the largest among all the winds. Many different sizes of clarinets were manufactured because it was easier for a performer to change clarinets (and thus keys) rather than to deal with this instrument's very awkward fingering system! This problem was resolved when a fingering system originally developed by Theobald Boehm for the flute was adopted by instrument manufacturers during the late 1840s. The new Boehm fingering system also significantly improved it's tone quality.
This versatile instrument is capable of performing a wide range of musical styles. Its repertoire extends from Mozart's Concerto in A (K. 622) to the swing tunes of Benny Goodman. Popular performers of this century include jazz artists/composers Artie Shaw, Marty Ehrlich, Buddy Collette, Woody Herman and the versatile John Coltrane.
The flexibility of the clarinet and its extraordinary ability to blend with other instruments also appealed to many European orchestral and chamber music composers especially during the late 19th century. Brahms, for example, introduced it in several chamber music works, such as trios, quintets, and sonatas with piano accompaniment. 20th century compositions featuring the clarinet include Elliott Carter's "Quintet for Piano and Winds", Witold Lutoslawski's "Dance Preludes", Matyas Seiber's "Concertino for Clarinet and String Orchestra" and Ferruccio Busoni's "Suite for Clarinet and String Quartet in G minor".
Other contemporary ensembles that features the clarinet are Klezmer bands. Klezmer is a style of Jewish popular music that originated in eastern Europe, traveling to North America with Jewish émigrés primarily after W.W.II. Fast, fun and expressive, klezmer music is performed at festivals, weddings or any kind of celebration. Among the many Klezmer recording artists are the Klezmer Conservatory Band (Boston, MA), the Klezmatics and the Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band (Toronto, Ont.)