Chapter IX: Exercises

    From the very first treatises for the clarinet and the chalumeau, the most commonly used form of exercising newly learned material was through famous melodies taken from the folk repertoire or popular operatic arias. Through them, the student could put to practice production techniques, a variety of articulations, phrasing, different temperaments, etc.
This approach was common across Europe and can be seen in methods for most wind instruments written throughout the eighteenth century. This also includes the first methods written for the five-key clarinet– first in London circa 17721, and then in Paris by Amand Vanderhagen in 1785. More examples of this practice include Étienne Ozi’s Nouvelle Méthode de bassoon (1787, first edition), Vanderhagen’s Méthode Nouvelle et Raisonnée pour le Hautbois (1792), and Nouvelle Méthode de Flute (1798), Othon-Joseph Vandenbroek Méthode Nouvelle et Raisonnée pour apprendre à Donner du Cor (1797), Michel Yost’s Methode de Clarinette (1800), Vincenzo Gambaro’s Méthode Facile de Clarinette à 6 Clefs (1800), Jean Carnaud’s Méthode pour la Clarinette (c.1827).

In his earliest method, Vanderhagen included a small handful of technical exercises to demonstrate the concepts he discussed in his articles; these target topics like articulation, triplets, appoggiaturas, dotted rhythms and syncopation, and different time signatures. At the end of the method, he included twelve small airs for the clarinet. This is a collection of twelve short tunes, likely to be popular at the time. Some of these airs are also featured in his 1792 method for the oboe. In addition, Vanderhagen also composed six duets, arranged by difficulty from easy to hard. These are more intricate and interesting compositions than the airs. Each duet had two or three movements, in various styles, temperaments, and tempos. All the exercises in the book, the arias, and duets, are written in C or F major, and their relative A and D minor.
At the end of the method, after the six duets, the writer refers the student to another set of duets he had composed, which are more progressive and demanding, as well as a set of duos by Michel Yost, where “one will find everything that is possible to do on the clarinet”.

    Throughout the 1790s a shift occurred in the French school that altered music pedagogy for good. This change can be attributed to the establishment of the Paris Conservatory. Methods for all instruments started to feature full pages of dry, mechanical, and repetitive exercises, that show great emphasis on technical development. These exercises were usually written in one rhythmic value throughout (only in sixteenths, triplets, or any repetitive rhythmic cell), and focused on scales, arpeggios, interval practice, articulation practice, etc.
Examples of this practice include Blasius’ Nouvelle Method de clarinette (1796), Franz Joseph Fröhlich‘s Horn Schule (1811), Léfevre’s Méthode de clarinette (1802), Backofen’s Anweisung zur Klarinette (1803), Antione Hugot’s Méthode de flûte du Conservatoire (1804), Louis Adam’s Méthode de Piano du Conservatoire (1805), and Heinrich Domnich’s Méthode de Premier et de Second Cor (1808). In addition to short technical exercises, some writers included original etudes, caprices, duets, and sonatas.
This practice spread past the walls of the Conservatory and became a long-lasting tradition that lasts to these days. Later examples include Müller’s Anweisung zu der neuen Clarinette und der Clarinette-Alto (1826), Friedrich Berr’s Méthode Complète de Clarinette (1836), Hyacinthe Klosé’s Méthode Complète de Clarinette (1843) and Carl Baermann’s Vollständige Clarinett Schule (1864).

    Vanderhagen, as already established, was very aware of the cultural and pedagogical changes around him, and joined the movement in his second edition. This, perhaps, also complimented his own desire to create a better, more comprehensive method for his readers. Therefore, he divided this method into two parts. Part I focused on music theory, sound production, and technique, while Part II features a wide variety of duets; some are original, and others are melodies by Haydn, Pleyel, Michel, etc. arranged for two clarinets.
In this method, Vanderhagen featured full pages of scales, chords and inversions, triplets, dotted rhythms, articulation, and chalumeau register exercises (example 9.3).

The last pages of Part I are dedicated to short preludes: 30 short phrases in C, F, and G major, and A and D minor. These preludes include a variety of scales and arpeggios in different combinations of articulations and note values, and utilize the entire range of the instrument from low e to high f’’’.

Part II, as mentioned before, features a wide variety of duets, both original and famous melodies arranged for two clarinets. The tonalities stretch from C major and A minor to E♭ major and C minor (keys with up to three flats), and G major and E minor. The borrowed tunes are taken from compositions by Haydn, Gluck, Vogel, Pleyel, Gretri, Michel, and Viotti. While most of them were simply transcribed for two clarinets, some of the melodies are followed by a set of variations. Vanderhagen also included several original duets of his own.

In Vanderhagen’s flute method, written approximately at the same time as the author’s second clarinet method, he also included alongside the technical exercises a collection of Airs de Ballet et Autres, and Morceaux Concertants de differents Auteurs, and feature melodies by Haydn, Pleyel, Gretri, Viotti and more, among a handful of original studies. Comparing this aspect of the second publication of Vanderhagen’s clarinet method to his flute method has been a fascinating experience all on its own; although the author uses the same melodies – original or borrowed – he treated the instruments completely differently, and put an effort into arranging the duets in a way that fits and compliments the idiomatic attributes of each of the instruments. Note the following examples; first, a duet from the flute method, written in G major. The second voice is playing a simple counter melody (example 9.4).

In the second example (9.5), taken from the clarinet method, Vanderhagen transposed the duet to F major. He also changed the second voice ever so slightly, which now feature a typical alberti accompaniment.

    Interestingly, Vanderhagen was not the only author who, in light of the pedagogical changes of the period, re-printed a new edition of a previously successful method. Another example worth highlighting is Ozi’s Nouvelle Méthode de bassoon, which was first published in 1787. Like Vanderhagen’s 1785 edition, Ozi’s book offers a thorough review of embouchure, tone, articulation, etc. The exercises in this book include short studies in different time signatures, short preludes in different keys, and a collection of twelve famous arias from opera and ballet repertoire.
With the establishment of the Conservatoire, Ozi became a part of the bassoon faculty, and consequently published a new edition of his method. This book provides more extensive discussions on the topics mentioned above, with the addition of articles discussing ornaments, cadenzas, etc. In this installment, Ozi includes pages full of exercises, musical and technical, and an impressive number of examples of cadenzas, as well as examples of how to employ the different ornaments. Technical exercises include scales, arpeggios and patterns, and a variety of studies in every tonality. With the rich selection of original etudes, Ozi decided to omit the arias and popular tunes.

    Going back to Vanderhagen, twenty years after writing the second method, the author published his final book. In this book, he included new technique, patterns, scales, and articulation exercises. In addition, Vanderhagen added highly chromatic exercises, written particularly to enable the student to practice the employment of the new keys, as this method was dedicated to the study of the twelve-key clarinet - unlike the previous two. However, I would like to focus on the selection of studies and duets he offered in this last publication. In this book, the writer included a vast variety of etudes, a collection of three long, three-movement duets, three sets of theme and variations on famous arias and popular tunes, and, curiously, also a large selection of Airs Connus - Francais, Allemands et Italiens; arias and famous melodies by Haydn, Mozart, Gluck, Grétry, Cimarosa, Sacchini, Bruni, Méhul, and more; all arranged for two clarinets.

After discussing the new seven keys added to the classical five-key clarinet, Vanderhagen first presented the reader with a series of short etudes in every tonality. As a reminder, the five-key clarinet usually limited writers of methods to writing in C, F, G, B♭, and E♭ major, and their relative minors. In these new etudes, Vanderhagen also uses the key numbers, as he provided in his chart, above the notes to remind the student when each key should be employed (example 9.6).2

Despite the many possibilities the twelve-key clarinet opened to Vanderhagen, most of the duets are still in comfortable tonalities, with occasional chromatic phrases or ventures to F minor or D major, which give the player an opportunity to employ the new keys (example 9.7). 3

    In conclusion, it seems that though Vanderhagen was ready to accept new pedagogical concepts, ideas, and approaches, he was still drawn to the old-school ways. I have found that throughout his three methods, he managed to improve the balance between technique-focused exercises, to duos, and studies. For example, his earliest method featured very few opportunities to exercise articulation, syncopation, triplets, ornaments, etc., followed by a fair number of great original duets and popular tunes. His second method, on the other hand, provided many more exercises and practice opportunities, and a whole volume of duets and popular melodies, but no solo studies. I believe that in his last clarinet method, he provided the reader with the best of all worlds in much better balance – a fair number of technique exercises, many arias, duets, original solo etudes, and sets of themes and variations.

Furthermore, I would like to briefly address Vanderhagen’s composition style as reflected in his original duets throughout his three clarinet methods. While playing selected duets from each book, I have found that his style of composition not only developed and improved - as one can only expect from a talented, accomplished composer like Vanderhagen - but his style also evolved in correlation to the period of time they were composed. The progress he made between each of the methods is surprising and dramatic; While in his earliest method from 1785, he wrote simply and beautifully for two clarinets, very much in an expected fashion of the time, keeping a clear texture of melody and accompaniment, with simple harmonies (example 9.8), his 1799 method features more experimental writing, with a lot of chromatic movements and accidentals, interesting texture with counter melodies and quick and uneven distribution of the melody between the two clarinets, and unexpected and quick changes between minor and major (example 9.9).

Finally, and perhaps most interestingly, his 1819 method shows a ripe, progressive, and modern writing that is almost comparable to duets by the younger generation of clarinetists-composers, such as Bernhard Crusell. Here, Vanderhagen not only explores his possibilities with distant tonalities, previously avoided on the five-key clarinet, but he also adapts textural, and even stylistic elements typical for that period. The texture and distribution of the melody between the two clarinets are more even, which contributes to the feeling of dialogue between the two voices and to the building of tension (example 9.10). Based on the examples I examined, I find Vanderhagen as a curious, adventurous, experimental composer, who allowed himself to get influenced and inspired by his surroundings. This is very understandable, considering that the first decades of the nineteenth century produced arguably the most significant body of substantial repertoire for the clarinet in chamber music, solo, and orchestral music.

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