The Most Famous Clarinet Players of All Time

The clarinet has become very popular in classical music. The success of the clarinet is attributed to a number of famous trumpeters throughout its history.

The clarinet is one of the woodwind instruments. Believed to have been invented by Nuremberg instrument maker Johann Christoph Denner in the early 18th century. A similar instrument - the Chalumeau - also existed at that time. However, the Chalumeau sounds good mainly in the lower ranges, while the clarinet has a rich sound quality in both the low and high ranges. Possibly for this reason, the name "clarinet" originally meant "little trumpet".

The clarinet produces sound thanks to a single trumpet (thin piece of wood) attached to the stethoscope. Several physical keys are attached to the cylindrical part (called the body) and are used to change the pitch. Until the first half of the 18th century, the clarinet had only two keys. However, more features have been gradually added to the instrument to allow Clarinet players to play scales and notes more easily.

Here are some of the most notable classical clarinetists from the 18th century to the present:

Anton Stadler

Anton Stadler was an 18th-century Austrian clarinetist and a famous classical clarinetist of his day. Two of Mozart's most famous works for the clarinet: the Clarinet Quintet (K 581) and the Clarinet Concerto (K 622) were written specifically for Stadler.

Although he is best remembered today for these two compositions, it turns out that playing a variety of other instruments (including singing) also contributed greatly to his composition. Stadler was an important and beloved figure in many of his contributions to classical music.

Johann Simon Hermstedt

Johann Simon Hermstedt was a 19th-century German clarinetist. He is best known as the court Carinetist for Duke Gunther I of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. Composer Louis Spohr wrote Clarinet ensembles specifically for Hermstedt, and many of his other works were written for and dedicated to Johann Simon Hermstedt.

Heinrich Baermann

Heinrich Baermann was another famous German clarinetist of the 19th century, who was especially known for his skill in playing romantic music. He played for the Berlin court after Prince Louis Ferdinand took a special interest in him. In addition, thanks to his skillful playing of the trumpet, a number of other famous composers also wrote works dedicated to him. He is also known as a musician in the Munich court orchestra for nearly 30 years.

Carl Baermann

The next artist on this list is Carl Baermann, son of Heinrich Baermann. In 1834, Heinrich retired from the Munich Court Orchestra and Carl succeeded him as principal clarinetist.

Carl Baermann was an important figure in the history of the clarinet as he developed the Baermann-Ottensteiner key system, which became popular in his day. In addition to performing, he is also an accomplished writer and has composed a number of works himself.

Harold Wright

The first non-European clarinetist on our list is Harold Wright, an American clarinetist from Pennsylvania. He learned to play the clarinet when he was 12 years old at Philadelphia's Curtis Academy of Music.

After graduating, he earned a place with the Houston Symphony Orchestra and just a year later landed the role of principal clarinetist in the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, then the National Symphony Orchestra in Los Angeles. Washington DC, followed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra

He is known to be an accomplished artist for incorporating German, French and American techniques into his classical and chamber music performances.

Sabin Meyer

Next, we'll talk about Sabine Meyer, a modern classical clarinetist. Born, raised and currently residing in Germany, Meyer comes from a large family of clarinetists. She was taught to play the trumpet by her father from an early age. Her brother, Wolfgang, and even her husband, Reiner Wehle, are both accomplished clarinetists.

She played for the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and then the Berlin Philharmonic - where she is considered one of the first female musicians before leaving to start her very successful career as a musician. a solo artist.

Sharon Kam

Sharon Kam is another Clarinet artist. She was born in Israel and lives in Germany with her conductor husband and their children. Kam is considered a clarine prodigy. She learned to play the instrument at the Juilliard School of Music and even gave her first concert with the Israel Symphony Orchestra at the age of 16.

She has had a very busy performing career playing with some of the biggest orchestras in the world including the London Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Berlin Symphony Orchestra.

Martin Frost

Martin Fröst is a Swedish clarinetist. In addition to his renowned classical clarinet playing skills, he also conducts the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and takes on a variety of roles in multimedia projects. He works in choreography and lighting design. In addition, Martin Frost serves as host and tries out cutting-edge techniques in classical and chamber music.

Famous Jazz clarinetist

After classical music, the second genre in which the clarinet is used is jazz. Many artists have played this type of music on the clarinet and it has been extremely successful

Benny Goodman

Known as the “King of Swings,” Jazz player Benny Goodman is said to be a hugely successful clarinetist. He reached the pinnacle of his career in the 1930s and 1940s.

As Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire at the time, Goodman's parents took their children to free concerts in Douglas Park and signed up Goodman and two of his 11 siblings. he studied music when Goodman was 10 years old. Goodman was also a famous bandleader, and his 1938 concert at Carnegie Hall remains one of the most remembered jazz concerts of all time.

Artie Shaw

Artie Shaw is another famous jazz clarinetist whose career is very similar to that of Benny Goodman. Shaw was also a famous big band frontman in the 1930s and 1940s. He enjoyed one of the most unforgettable moments of his career in 1938 when he recorded Cole Porter's hit Begin the Beguine.

Woody Herman

Woody Herman was another clarinetist and big band frontman, whose career in jazz and swing began in the 1930s. He called his bands “The Herd” and they were known for their music. Limitless play with new age music and genres. Herman also sang and played the saxophone and remained in the music scene until his death in the late 1980s.

Sidney Bechet

Most people think Louis Armstrong was the first recorded jazz trumpeter, but it was actually Sidney Bechet. Bechet played both the clarinet and the saxophone soprano during the 1920s and 1950s.

He ended his career playing with Duke Ellington's first orchestra and became quite famous in France for his work at the Salle Pleyel Jazz Festival in Paris in 1949.

World music

The clarinet is used in traditional folk music in many cultures and regions around the world. The clarinetist plays this music using techniques and skills unique to each musical style. Here are some popular modern clarinetists whose careers have focused on playing music that is traditional to their culture and country:

Giora Feidman

Giora Feidman is a modern clarinetist known for playing the Klezmer music, a traditional musical instrument in the Eastern and Central European Ashkenazi Jewish culture. Klezmer covers the dance and ritual repertoire used in weddings and other traditional ceremonies and the clarinet is the main instrument used.

Feidman was born in Argentina and immigrated to Israel with his parents at a young age. Coming from a family with a long musical tradition, he learned to play the clarinet in the Klezmer tradition from his father, grandfather and great-grandfather.

Feidman was already playing with the Teatro Colón Symphony Orchestra by the time his family left Buenos Aires, after which he became the youngest clarinetist to date to play in the Israel Symphony Orchestra. He was invited by Steven Spielberg to solo the clarinet on the score for his Oscar-winning film Schindler's List.

Husnü Senlendirici

The clarinet is an important part of Turkish folk music, and Hüsnü Senlendirici is a well-known modern Turkish clarinetist. Both his maternal grandfather and grandfather played the clarinet, and his father played the trumpet, so music was ingrained in his blood.

At the age of 12, Senlendrici began studying at the State Conservatory of Turkish Music, a branch of the Technical University of Istanbul. Since then, he has performed solo at several festivals and played in many bands, two of which he founded himself. He released an album in 2005 and has continued to collaborate with famous musicians ever since, including Dhafer Yousseff in 2012.

Vasilios Saleas

Laïko or laïkó is a genre of Greek folk music, and Vasilios Saleas is a modern clarinetist best known for keeping it alive today. He is equally famous for adding the clarinet to Greek pop music. Vasilios Saleas began his career as an accompanist in the 1990s and eventually released his own solo album.

Saleas is of Gypsi origin, but his family settled in Athens when he was just a child. His father began teaching him to play the clarinet at the age of 9, and by the age of 14, he was already playing in professional public performances.

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