The Voice of the Chalumeau

Sandra	Perez Romero

Name: Sandra P. Pérez Romero Main Subject: Historical Clarinet Research Supervisor: Inês de Avena Braga Title of Research: The Voice of the Chalumeau: A historical study of music for various sizes of chalumeaux and voice in the Holy Roman Empire and the Republic of Venice 1703-1767 Research Question: What was the importance of the chalumeau in XVIII century vocal music in the Holy Roman Empire and the Republic of Venice? Summary of Results: The chalumeau is a single reed woodwind instrument whose development lies between the recorder and the clarinet. It was used extensively as an obbligato instrument in vocal repertoire throughout the eighteenth century, when it was a highly popular instrument in the major courts in Europe. The vocal repertoire that included chalumeau from this time period – as this work aimed to illustrate – is quite large and diverse. It accounts for several hundreds of pieces and it encompasses a wide range of genres, all with unique instrumentation. The development of the repertoire for chalumeau was directly linked to three Holy Roman Emperors and the political milieu in the Hofkapelle in Vienna during the first half of the eighteenth century. Besides Vienna, the chalumeau was extremely popular in other courts such as Dresden, Hamburg and Darmstadt; the latter proved to be an extremely fertile land for chalumeau writing with Johann Christoph Graupner, who included parts for different sizes of chalumeaux in more than eighty cantatas. Other prolific composers for chalumeau include Atilio Ariosti, the brothers Giovanni and Antonio Maria Bononcini, Antonio Caldara, Francesco Bartolomeo Conti, Johann Joseph Fux, Johann Adolph Hasse, Johann David Heinichen, Giovanni Alberto Ristori, Johann Franz Strall, Georg Philipp Telemann, Antonio Vivaldi, among others. After a thorough search through RISM (Répertoire International des Sources Musicales) and other online library catalogues, a total of 203 vocal works that include one or more parts for chalumeaux is presented in this thesis. Performance practice and general considerations on the style of this repertoire are addressed as well, with emphasis on the genres of Cantata, Opera, Oratorio and Serenata, but also Antiphonies, Hymns, Litanies, Masses, Psalms and other sacred works that employed the instrument as well. In addition, this research has resulted in several world premiere recordings of music by Hasse and Caldara. Finally, considerations on the “gloom” color often associated with the chalumeau in secondary sources are contrasted with the descriptions of the instrument in primary sources and the evidence present in the works composed outside Vienna. Biography: Sandra Pérez Romero (b.1992) is a Mexican born historical clarinetist. In 2015, she graduated Cum Laude from the Music Bachelor in Universidad Veracruzana (Mexico), under the supervision of Juan Manuel Solís (clarinet) and Ricardo Miranda (Musicology). She has collaborated with several orchestras in Mexico both as an active member and as a soloist and she has participated in clarinet and chamber music festivals in North America and Europe.

Research Proposal

Sandra P. Pérez Romero
Historical Clarinet
3077276

Research supervisor: Inês d’Avena Braga

Main subject teacher: Eric Hoeprich

Master Circle leader: Bart van Oort

Head of Master Research: Kathryn Cok

Preliminary Title: The Voice of the chalumeau. A historical study of music for various sizes of chalumeau and voice in the Holy Roman Empire and the Republic of Venice during the XVIII century.

Main Research question: What was the role of the chalumeau in XVIII century vocal music in the Holy Roman Empire and the Republic of Venice between 1700-1750?

Secondary research questions: Is there a relationship between the affect of a piece and the size of chalumeau?; Was the repertoire composed for specific performers?; Did the music privilege a particular size of chalumeau?; How was the treatment of the chalumeau in sacred vocal music different to that of secular music?.

Relevance of the research: This research is relevant for historical clarinet players who would like to enlarge their knowledge on chalumeau music, and also for modern clarinet players who seek a connection with their (professional) practice and the style of XVIII century music. It will bring light to the development of the “singing” quality of the clarinet’s tone and its ability to blend well with several different instruments. This research aims to further increase the corpus of repertoire available at the moment in the main literature for historical clarinet and chalumeau. Since the main topic of this research is related to vocal music, singers can also profit from the final results of this research, with lesser known vocal repertoire that shall be presented.

Methodology: In the first stage of this research, I will collect all possible information about the extant sources of this music and where are they located. After that, enquire in the relevant libraries about the music and also look for music/sources not previously notated in the main literature currently available. The second stage of this research is analyzing the music looking for answers to the secondary research questions of this proposal.

Final presentation of results: I wish to present the results of this research in a thesis, which will include a table of all the repertoire for chalumeau that was found and where the sources are located, among other relevant details of each piece. After this work is finished, I intend to write articles about chalumeau to be published in specialized musicology magazines in my country (Mexico) or elsewhere. In addition, the presentation of lecture-recitals would be a great way to present the results of this research in an educational, yet entertaining manner. Moreover, the research will be the starting point for the creation of an appealing program to be performed in concert and even recorded.

Tip

Tip