Performing Handel's Ouverture HWV424 for two clarinets and horn: a first encounter with 3D printing

Lawson, C. (2025) Performing Handel's Ouverture HWV424 for two clarinets and horn: a first encounter with 3D printing. Music & Science, 8 ISSN 2059-2043 (online)

Abstract

One of the most precious treasures in the Royal College of Music Museum's collection, the ivory clarinet in D made by Georg Heinrich Scherer around 1740 has been copied through 3D printing. This article presents the observations of playing such copies, including reflections over the compass and pitch of clarinets from that time, and the revelation of a magnificent sound response. The piece to be performed and recorded is the Ouverture HWV424 for two clarinets and horn in five movements that Handel wrote around 1741 – the same period during which Scherer built the ivory clarinet in question. In this piece, Handel promotes the clarinet's cantabile qualities alongside the trumpet-like idioms characteristic of its earliest repertory. The composer makes considerable technical demands on the players, and the 3D-printed clarinets responded with a bright and crisp quality, even in their lower register, traditionally regarded as a weak feature of Baroque clarinets. Within the project, elements of historical accuracy are inevitably challenged by questions of practical expediency. Reed position and design, for instance, reflect the experience of musicians working in the 2020s, although the performance itself aims to demonstrate a historical awareness that is facilitated by the very success of the 3D prints.

Actions (login required)

View Item