Johann Denner

Born In Germany

Johann Christoph Denner was born on August 13, 1655, in Leipzig Germany and died April 20, 1707, in Nürnberg, Bavaria.  Johann Denner was a German maker of musical instruments and universally credited for inventing the clarinet in Germany between the years (1690-1700).  The Clarinet was later introduced to London by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1751. Bach was also a German composer and musician of the Baroque period best known for instrumental compositions such as the Art of Fugue, the Brandenburg Concertos, and the Goldberg Variations.

Denner’s father, Heinrich, made horns and animal calls; from him Johann learned instrument building, at the same time becoming an excellent performer. His energy was mainly devoted to improving already existing woodwind instruments, and his well-tuned recorders, flutes, oboes, and bassoons were highly regarded throughout Europe.

Master Instrument Maker

Johann Christoph Denner was a master maker of flutes, oboes and bassoons, in fact Denner often mused over the puzzling mystery of why the Chalumeau would not “overblow” to the octave as would the flute, oboe and bassoon. Denner thought if he could extend the compass of the instrument upward he could make a valuable instrument.

Johann soon determined that this instrument did not over-blow to the octave but to the twelfth i.e. when all the finger holes were closed and the lowest note (fundamental) was sounded, the next note could be produced  by increasing the blowing pressure.  Thus was the note a twelfth above, and not an octave. Example: low G overblown would be a D, twelve notes above the G. Denner also discovered that this note was produced much easier if he bored a little hole higher up on the instrument near the mouthpiece. This became the “speaker or register key,” and in fact, did make over-blowing to the next register much easier.

The Early Days 

The Clarinet’s Early Days

There is no mention of the name clarinet until 1690, when Denner made the first playable clarinet. In this year, the Graf (Duke) of Gronsfeld in Nuremberg ordered two clarinets from Jacob Denner, the brother of Johann, for the use of his musicians. In 1712, four clarinets that were made out of boxwood were bought by the Nuremberg Town band (Ratsmusik). Since Denner worked in Nuremberg and that’s where they first appeared in the band, it is said that Denner gave the instrument its name.

The history of the clarinet is a long history beginning in 1690. During that year a man named Johann Cristoph Denner invented the clarinet. These clarinets only had two keys that were mostly made from brass along with the springs. The clarinet, however, was made from boxwood, plum, ebony, ivory or pear. Around 1700, he added the register key to his instrument. In 1740 a third key was added, enabling the players to play low E. Nine years later, a man named Rameau used the clarinet in his opera in Paris. Shortly after, in 1750, Barthold Fritz added the 4th & 5th key to the clarinet. The clarinet was introduced to London by Bach in 1751.

The Chalumeau

The chalumeau was used widely in Europe, but only occasionally in orchestras. Similar to a recorder it had seven holes including a thumb hole. It had two keys, to play the two highest notes, but its range of one and a half octaves was rather limiting. Christopher Denner, with the help of his son Jacob Denner, therefore converted one of the existing keys to make it the register key. When held down, the register key allowed players to produce notes a 12th higher in pitch than normal. This increased the instrument’s range hugely. The clarinet produced a loud, shrill sound which resulted in the name being derived from the Italian word ‘clarino’ which means ‘little trumpet’.