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50 MILITARY MUSIC AND ITS STORY. |
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The horn also supplied " a long felt want" as the advertising gentry say, in giving more stability to the inner parts, by sustaining important notes in the harmony. But it was the clarinet that had the greatest share in developing the resources of the military band. This instrument was the invention of a Nuremberg musician named Denner about 1690. "Its brilliant tone capable of every shade, from the softest to the loudest; its large compass, extending by the introduction of the smallest clarinets as well as by the bass clarinets, at once placed it in the rank of the leading instrument, and the oboe was pushed into the second place,"3 and in many cases superseded it altogether. It first finds a place in the military bands, and for quite half a century remained with them entirely. Such an instrument must have been hailed with acclamation, especially when we consider its greater compass, safer manipulation (especially on the march) and a tone more adapted for outdoor work than the oboe. Kappey has preserved for us in his work on " Military Music," the score of a very tuneful military march, which includes a part for the clarinet, the earliest instance the writer has seen of its use. The date of the piece is 1720-30.
When we in England adopted the bassoon, horn and clarinet, it is difficult to say with any degree of certainty. Kastner says the French added these instruments to their bands during the reign of Louis |
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'Kappey, Grovp's "Dictionary" (article, Wiud Band). |
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