Newspaper sources provide a rich archive of concert activity in 18th century London. Especially useful are those advertisements offering evidence of clarinet performance in London at a time when the instrument was growing in popularity and becoming increasingly accepted within concert performances.

Many advertisements confirm the venues and the names of clarinettists involved in these concert performances and contemporary reviews reveal how clarinet performance was perceived and received by audiences.

This paper focuses on reviews which provide indications of audience attendance and reception to clarinet performance, offering insights into how these performances were received by contemporary audiences. Particularly revealing are those reviews which indicate how many people were present in the audience and, in some rare cases, who they were.

Contemporary reviews of clarinet performance also highlight wider themes present in 18th-century London concert life. These include the intense competition between venues offering concerts, events and other entertainments; the incentives offered by some venues; the power of individual performers to attract an audience; audience etiquette and the way in which performances were received.

Through this paper I will explore research questions such as:
• Which venues featured performances given by clarinettists?
• What can contemporary reviews reveal about audience attendance at these performances?
• How did audiences receive and perceive 18th-century clarinet performance?
• To what extent do these reviews highlight wider themes in 18th-century London concert life?