THE CLARINET IN EARLY AMERICA, 1758-1820 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Jane Elizabeth Ellsworth, M.M., D.M.A. * * * * * The Ohio State University 2004 Dissertation Committee: Professor Lois Rosow, Adviser Approved by Professor Charles M. Atkinson Professor Burdette Green ______________________________ Adviser, Graduate Program in Music ABSTRACT The history and development of the clarinet in Europe are subjects that have received considerable scholarly attention, but no serious attempt has been made to trace the instrument’s use in early America. This dissertation is an initial step toward supplying this missing chapter in clarinet history. The period surveyed encompasses the years 1758 (the year of the first documentary evidence of the clarinet in America) through 1820. The study covers primarily the five east-coast cities where musical life was most active in this period: Charleston, Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia and Boston. The important Moravian communities in Pennsylvania and North Carolina were also examined as important centers of clarinet activity. Primary sources of information were early newspapers, city directories, ships’ passenger lists, naturalization papers, vital records, letters, and diaries. The aim of this dissertation is to document as many aspects as possible of the clarinet’s history and use in early America. Chapter Two investigates the clarinetist’s livelihood, considering the ways in which clarinetists earned their livings: in the military, the theatre, and on the concert stage. Chapter Three examines the Moravian communities, where clarinetists cultivated a repertory largely not found elsewhere in early America. Chapter Four surveys the repertory played by early American clarinetists, identifying works and composers that were important either because they were performed ii frequently, or because they were unique in some way. Chapter Four also deals with what might be categorized as amateur music: tunebooks, duets, songs, and music for church “gallery orchestras.” Chapter Five focuses on clarinet teaching in early America, examining who taught the clarinet, what kind of clientele they were trying to attract, and which clarinet instruction books or tutors might have been used. Chapter Six is concerned with individuals and businesses that made and sold clarinets and clarinet- related merchandise (reeds, mouthpieces, music, and other accessories). Appendix A, “A Biographical Dictionary of Early American Clarinetists,” is devoted to chronicling the lives of the approximately sixty-five clarinetists whose activities form the core of story being told here. Appendix B contains a table of all of the clarinet performances documented in the study. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many people deserve to be thanked here for the help they have given me in producing this dissertation. I thank my adviser, Lois Rosow, for her patient guidance at every step, and Charles Atkinson and Burdette Green, for their generous service on my committee. My deepest appreciation goes to Albert Rice, not only for his practical help and for the information he so kindly shared with me, but also for his enthusiastic support of this project from its very beginning. Two organizations provided funding for my research. I thank the Music Library Association, which chose me as one of three recipients of the Dena Epstein Award for Archival and Library Research in American Music in 2003. I also thank the International Clarinet Association, for awarding me a research grant in 2003. I am grateful to both of these organizations for their help in making this project possible. I thank the staffs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Free Library of Philadlephia, the Maryland Historical Society, the South Carolina Historical Society, the Charleston Library Society, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, the New-York Historical Society, The Library of Congress, The American Antiquarian Society, and the Moravian Music Archive in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The patient assistance of the research librarians at these institutions was of the greatest importance in iv the research stage of this dissertation. I am especially grateful to Albert Frank of the Moravian Music Archive, for his help during my visit; and to Nicholas Butler, of the South Carolina Historical Society, who graciously shared information from his then- unfinished dissertation. Many thanks to Dieter Droste, who very kindly gave of his time to decipher several Moravian documents in old German script, transcribing them into readable German for me. I also wish to thank Colin Lawson, for his friendship and encouragement, and for being a model of both artistry and scholarship at the highest levels. Another colleague from England, Pamela Weston, deserves special thanks and recognition, not only for specific information that she generously shared, but for her lifelong work in tracing the biographies of clarinetists. She has been an inspiration to me and to many others. Finally, to my husband Bill Conable, who has been my greatest support of all: your unflagging love and care has made everything possible. v VITA November 3, 1961................................................... Born – Akron, Ohio 1984........................................................................ M.M. in Clarinet Performance, The Cleveland Institute of Music 1991........................................................................ D.M.A. in Clarinet Performance, The Ohio State University 1992 – present ......................................................... Adjunct Instructor of Clarinet, Kenyon College 1995 – present ......................................................... Lecturer in Music History, The Ohio State University PUBLICATIONS 1. Review of the CD Clarinet Works of Saverio Mercadante (Luigi Magistrelli, Clarinet; et al.). In The Clarinet (Journal of the International Clarinet Association), vol. 31, no. 2 (March 2004). 2. Review of the CD Heinrich Baermann: Clarinet Concertos (Dieter Klöcker, Clarinet; The Prague Chamber Orchestra). In The Clarinet (Journal of the International Clarinet Association), vol. 30, No. 2 (March 2003). 3. Report on the Symposium, “Brahms: The Late Chamber Music… A Bridge to the Future.” In The Clarinet (Journal of the International Clarinet Association), vol. 30, no. 3 (June 2003). 4. “Haydn Clarinet Concertos: A Case of Wishful Thinking.” In The Clarinet (Journal of the International Clarinet Association), vol. 29, no. 3 (June 2002). vi 5. Review of the CD Mozart, Nielsen: The Clarinet Concertos (John McCaw, Clarinet; The New Philharmonia Orchestra). In The Clarinet (Journal of the International Clarinet Association), vol. 29, no. 2 (March 2002). 6. Reviews of two volumes of the Cambridge Handbooks to the Historical Performance of Music: The Historical Performance of Music: an Introduction; and The Early Clarinet: A Practical Guide. In Fontes Artis Musicae (Journal of the International Music Library Association), volume 48, no. 3 (July-September 2001). 7. Review of The Oxford History of English Music, vol. 2. In Fontes Artis Musicae (Journal of the International Music Library Association), vol. 47, no. 2 (October- December 2000). 8. “Clarinet Music by Nineteenth-Century British Composers: A ‘Lost’ Repertoire Rediscovered.” In The Clarinet (Journal of the International Clarinet Association), vol. 22, no. 3 (May/June 1995). FIELDS OF STUDY Major field: Music vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract...........................................................................................................................ii Acknowledgments..........................................................................................................iv Vita ................................................................................................................................vi List of tables....................................................................................................................x Chapters: 1. Introduction .........................................................................................................1 2. The Clarinetist’s Livelihood in Early America .....................................................9 3. The Clarinet in Moravian Communities .............................................................61 4. Early American Clarinet Repertory....................................................................87 5. Teaching the Clarinet in Early America ........................................................... 128 6. Makers and Sellers........................................................................................... 154 7. Conclusion....................................................................................................... 187 Appendices: Appendix A: A Biographical Dictionary of Early American Clarinetists...................... 195 Appendix B: A Table of Clarinet Performances in Early America ...............................314 viii Works Cited...............................................................................................................348 ix LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1 List of Performances in the Nazareth Register that involve the clarinet ................65 x CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Research on the early history of the clarinet—the instrument, its players, its performance practice, and its repertory—has traditionally focused on Europe. This is natural enough, since Europeans