Origins of the Chalumeau

Abstract Chapter 1 describes the basic construction of the chalumeau and discusses its ancestors in Egyptian antiquity and from the tenth through the 17th centuries; the mock trumpet; chalumeaux during the 17th and 18th centuries; Jacob Denner’s chalumeaux and clarinets revealed in archival sources and three surviving two-key clarinets; an organ pipe that sounds like a chalumeau; chalumeau players; chalumeau descriptions from the mid-18th century; later documented chalumeau makers; and chalumeau reproductions. Ten surviving chalumeaux are described in detail and biographical information is presented on seven makers. Individual players are identified when playing specific musical works, and the chalumeau size as required in the music. Late-19th- and early-20th-century reproductions of chalumeaux and their makers are identified.