In an 1826 parish register, Nicola Papalini (1781–?) of Chiaravalle (a village close to Ancona) is listed as a forty-five-year-old man with a wife, Cattarina, 47, son Luigi, 16, and daughter Anna, 13 (see figure 4.7). Many of the registers are missing from this archive, so the amount of information is limited. Papalini is known primarily for devising a unique serpent-shaped bass clarinet, probably during the 1820s; his most advanced bass clarinet has ten keys and is dated 1829. A Domenico Papalini and family members are listed in an 1816 register, and it is possible that Nicola and his family arrived in Chiravalle close to this time. After 1829, no more specific information is known about Nicola’s life.

© Rice, From the clarinet d’amour to the contra bass, 283.