Pedagogical Applications in the Clarinet Quartets of Yvonne Desportes

Yvonne Desportes (1907-1993) was an influential female composer, teacher, and music theorist. Her early success as a recipient of the Prix de Rome for composition (1932) marked the beginning of her distinguished career in music culminating in a 35-year professorship at the Paris Conservatory. Despite the relative obscurity of her music, Desportes was a prolific composer and published numerous works for clarinet quartet. This dissertation seeks to promote the clarinet music of Yvonne Desportes through a pedagogical examination of her clarinet quartets. The equitable parts and quality of Desportes' compositional style allow her clarinet quartets to be effective teaching tools for the development of fundamental clarinet skills relating to tone, technique, and musical style.