A comprehensive study of the clarinet in use through the classical period, 1760 to 1830, a period of intensive musical experimentation. The book provides a detailed review and analysis of construction, design, materials, and makers of clarinets. Rice also explores how clarinet construction and performance practice developed in tandem with the musical styles of the period.

“Encyclopedic in scope, the book is truly a “one-stop” source of information on the Classical era clarinet….Rice does an excellent job of bringing together everything that is known about the Classical clarinet.” — Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society

“The American organologist Albert Rice has done it again…. well-researched tome, packed with fascinating information, much of which is completely new. Perhaps more importantly, it is a well-organized and thorough account, and therefore an essential book for anyone interested in any aspect of the clarinet in this period…. His account of the concerto is up-to-date, and includes a reproduction of the recently discovered illustration of Anton Stadler’s basset clarinet, for which Mozart composed the work.”–Early Music