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Méthode de clarinette (1802) - Jean Xavier Lefèvre
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Background
Jean Xavier Lefèvre’s (1763-1829) Méthode de clarinette (1802) is a product of revolutionary France and its reformatory principles. Although its current relevance is mainly that it provides information about historical clarinet performance, the circumstances surrounding the tutor are of interest to those seeking to understand the political climate of late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century France.
The newly formed Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse hired Lefèvre as a clarinet instructor in 1795. This school was actually a union of two older, specialized music schools; the Conservatoire sought to offer a more comprehensive music education by combining these into a single institution where musicians could receive practical training. At the time, France was still embroiled in revolution, with new political leaders hoping to reform the government and education, while attempting to weaken the influence of religious establishments. Thus, the new school was secular (rather than teaching religious music), in order to prepare students for service at patriotic music events and festivals that embraced the ideals of the revolution, with the government in effect functioning as a national religion.
For young students at the Conservatoire, this new system of education had many benefits. Perhaps most important, students were allowed to attend for free, and they were chosen by competitive audition. Their education extended beyond performance to include theory, composition, and history. Many of the well-known composers and performers of the day were affiliated with the Conservatoire, including Cherubini, Gossec, Grétry, Méhul, and Leseuer. Lefèvre was certainly among those who were highly respected, as he had been performing as a special soloist with the Paris Opéra orchestra since 1797 (and had been a regular member of the ensemble for quite some time).
Lefèvre is credited with adding a sixth key to the clarinet, contributing to the facility with which the instrument could be played. However, he was later viewed as a conservative (by Fétis) for rejecting a modification by Iwan Müller to add seven additional keys, for a total of thirteen. Lefèvre criticized these extra keys for detracting from the sonority of the instrument. Although the students at the Conservatoire continued to play on the six-keyed instrument, Müller’s improvement later prevailed.
In addition to teaching and performing, Lefèvre composed music—mainly for the clarinet—and authored the seminal clarinet tutor that is included in the Virtual Rare Book Room. The text was commissioned by the Conservatoire as part of a project begun in 1796 to offer uniform education to the school’s many students. It remained the only clarinet method to be used by the institution for many years, and it was translated into both German and Italian.
The scope of the Méthode de clarinette is that of an instruction manual, beginning with a brief history of the instrument. Lefèvre closes the book with specific information about the interchangeable bodies of the clarinet, which allow for more versatility in what a performer can play. The main part of the text explains hand position, embouchure, and reed quality. Of interest to historical performers, Lefèvre also describes tone production, articulation, ornamentation, phrasing, and breathing techniques. Finally, he includes information on commencing study of the instrument, along with specific notated exercises and lessons.
While the Méthode de clarinette was not the first clarinet tutor, the significance of Lefèvre’s text is that it had such wide influence. His interest in establishing a legacy may have had something to do with his wholesale rejection of the thirteen-keyed clarinet, as this modification necessitated a new clarinet method. It is no surprise that Müller wrote his own treatise around 1825, in effect challenging Lefèvre’s position as the leading authority on clarinet performance.
Bibliography
Title from title page: Methode de clarinette
Genre: Instructional tutor
Author: Jean Xavier Lefèvre, (1763-1829)
First published: Paris, 1802
Volume in the Virtual Rare Book Room: Paris: Impr. du Conservatoire de musique, n.d.; borrowed from private collector
For further information on the Methode de clarinette, please see:
Estock, Joseph. A Biographical Dictionary of Clarinetists Born Before 1800. Ph.D. diss.: University of Iowa, 1972.
Gesselle, Cynthia M. “Conservatories: 1790-1945, French-speaking countries.” Grove Music Online, ed. Laura Macy. [Accessed 17 December 2003]. <http://www.grovemusic.com>
Rendall, F. Geoffrey. The Clarinet: Some Notes upon Its History and Construction. Third edition. Revised by Philip Bate. London: Ernest Benn Limited and New York: W. W. Norton, 1971.
Rice, Albert R. and Frédéric Robert. “Lefèvre, Xavier.” Grove Music Online, ed. Laura Macy. [Accessed 17 December 2003]. <http://www.grovemusic.com>
Youngs, Lowell. Jean Xavier Lefèvre: His Contributions to the Clarinet and Clarinet Playing. Ph.D. diss.: The Catholic University of America, 1970.
Physical
Dimensions: 25.7cm X 33.1cm
Comments: The present owner of the Lefèvre Méthode de Clarinette is Professor David Ross of the University of Texas at El Paso. It was previously the property of the distinguished Belgian/American clarinetist Gustave Langenus, who purchased it at an antiquarian estate auction in 1913 in his home town of Malines, Belgium. It was presented to Dr. Ross in 2001 by the Langenus family in appreciation of his work in documenting the life and career of their grandfather.