Roeser, Valentin (EN)

Roeser Valentin, *ca 1735 Germany, †probably 1782 Paris, German composer and clarinetist. H. Riemann’s hypothesis that Roeser was a pupil of J. Stamitz has not been confirmed by documentary sources. Roeser was active in Paris from 1754 or 1755, initially performing as a chamber musician and later working mainly as a teacher, composer, and theorist. His name frequently appeared in the press and in publishers’ catalogues alongside French composers such as F.A. Philidor, F.-J. Gossec, A.-E.-M. Grétry, and H.J. Rigel. His Six sonates à trois ou à tout l’orchestre, Op. 1, dedicated to the Prince of Monaco, were published in Paris in 1762. In 1764 he began producing pedagogical works, publishing Essai d’instruction à l’usage de ceux qui composent pour la clarinette et le cor, regarded as the first treatise on orchestration. He also produced French translations of Die Kunst das Clavier zu spielen by F.W. Marpurg, published anonymously as L’art de toucher le clavecin selon la manière perfectionnée des modernes (Paris, 1764), as well as Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule by L. Mozart, published as Méthode raisonnée pour apprendre à jouer du violon (Paris, 1770). To the latter he added 13 of his own pieces (12 duos and 1 caprice). In 1766 Roeser was appointed virtuoso di camera to the Prince of Monaco, and in 1769 he came under the patronage of the Duke of Orléans. 

Roeser’s symphonic output, initially influenced by the early Mannheim school and the music of Stamitz (four-movement structure in Op. 1 and Op. 4), gradually evolved after 1766 toward the French style and a three-movement form. He composed numerous chamber works (usually in two-movement structures), solo pieces, and made many arrangements for orchestra, keyboard, voice with keyboard accompaniment, and woodwind instruments. He demonstrated solid compositional craftsmanship, but largely relied on conventional formulas. He was a respected author of instrumental methods for, among others, the transverse flute, oboe, bassoon, serpent, and especially the clarinet (in Gamme de la clarinette he was the first to publish a systematic fingering technique for this instrument). Of particular importance are Roeser’s translation activities. His French translations of treatises by L. Mozart and F.W. Marpurg contributed to the transfer of German musical style into French musical culture.

Literature: B.S. Brook La symphonie française dans la seconde moitié du XVIIIe siècle, 3 vols., Paris 1962; A.R. Rice Clarinet Fingering Charts, 1732–1816, “The Galpin Society Journal” XXXVII, 1984; Foreign Composers in France, ed. R.J. Viano, «The Symphony 1720–1840» series D, II, New York 1984; A.R. Rice The Baroque Clarinet, Oxford 1992.