The Chalumearu - Ancestor of the Clarinet

Perhaps the most disputed and murkiest subject in the evolution of the clarinet is that of the chalumeau or chalameaux. This name will be familiar to modern clarinet players because it still denotes the lower register of the instrument. To illustrate the argument surrounding this distant ancestor of the clarinet, no one source could even agree on the origin of the word. One proclaimed that the word chalumeau obviously implied a French origin, another said that it derived from the Latin word “kalamus” (meaning a small reed) while yet a third declared its origin Greek from “calamos” which denoted a generic term for any simple pipe. (Lawson, 1995) While this discussion of word origin is not really relevant to the clarinet, it does serve as ironic symbolism regarding the schools of thought concerning the chalumeau. Despite whatever an author may argue, the chalumeau was a close ancestor to the clarinet as well as the recorder, which it most closely resembles. This particular instrument had the range of a twelfth, and seemed to have at least a minimal presence in the Baroque period. Christopher Graupner, who held the post at Leipzig, was the most prolific composer for chalumeau, with over 80 cantatas in his output. Since no primitive chalumeau still exist today, it is impossible to determine the exact role it played in the creation of the clarinet. At the time, some people termed the clarinet simply an improved chalumeau. However others believe that its inventor had to do a substantial amount of original work in order to create the first primitive clarinet. Indeed, at the very beginning of clarinet existence, the words chalumeau and clarinet were commonly interchanged. (Lawson, 2000) Regardless of the quantity of impact that the chalumeau had on the clarinet, it obviously had some effect on the creation of this instrument and is thus an important aspect of clarinet history.