The Chameleon Clarinet Cultural and Historical Perspectives in America Through the 20th Century

The clarinet is unique in that depending on what setting it is performed in determines the character it can assume. Generally, these styles all sound completely different from one another despite the fact that the clarinet physically remains the same. However, is any one of these types of music so different from the other, or are they all related in some way? This paper determines how the genres of Dixieland and Swing Jazz, Jewish Klezmer, Avant-Garde, and Western European Classical Music are connected to each other through the use of the clarinet. Using twentieth century America as a backdrop, the clarinet\u27s pedagogy, techniques, music, and prominent figures are all explored to support this thesis