6 - Case studies in ensemble music

Summary

The following case studies aim primarily to draw attention to some of the issues which might be addressed in performance. Illuminating period clarinet playing demands a certain attitude of mind, so that there can be no special prescription for playing any particular piece of music. Naturally, stylistic considerations can be stimulating for the player of the modern clarinet, as well as for specialists on historical instruments.

Handel: Ouverture HWV 424 for two clarinets and horn

Genesis and reception

Handel's extraordinary Ouverture for ‘Clarinet 1’, ‘Clarinet 2’ and ‘Corno da caccia’ is the only music Handel is known to have written for the clarinet. The autograph in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (Sign. 30. H. 14) has the names of the instruments entered by Handel's friend and amanuensis John Christopher Smith, senior. For some time it was believed that the three parts formed the concertino of a more lavishly-scored work, whose string parts were lost. However, they are indeed self-sufficient and the unusual scoring strongly suggests that the piece was composed for the travelling Hungarian horn-player mysteriously known only as Mr Charles. He was active in London from 1734 and paid a visit to Dublin in 1742, overlapping with Handel's season there. In addition to the horn, his concerts often featured the clarinet and ‘shalamo’ (chalumeau), which he played in ensembles with his ‘second’, his pupils and members of his family.