Famous Clarinetists of the World — From Classical to Jazz
With its warm timbre and wide range, the clarinet is a highly popular instrument across many genres, including concert band, classical, and jazz.
Another hallmark of the clarinet is its versatility: it adapts to a variety of performance settings, from ensembles to solo playing.
Many people may have first learned of the instrument through the well-known children’s song “I Broke My Clarinet.”
In this article, we’ve gathered notable clarinetists from around the world who are active in classical and jazz.
Read on, and the clarinet might start to feel even more familiar to you.
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Famous Clarinetists of the World — From Classical to Jazz (41–50)
Clarinet Concerto / Aaron CoplandHarold Wright
1926–1993, a renowned former clarinetist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
This piece was composed by Copland at the request of jazz musician Benny Goodman.
Although it was written for clarinet and string orchestra including piano and harp—so it is often performed by classical musicians—it also contains a great many elements of jazz.
Rapsodie No. 1 / Claude DebussyFlorent Héau
A clarinetist from France.
This is a very famous piece that is also used as a competition set piece; it begins with a flowing, gently moist melody and gradually transitions into a fiercely, almost madly agitated one.
Befitting the era of the French composer Debussy, it evokes an Impressionistic image.
Symphony No. 7 “Unfinished” / Franz SchubertAlois Brandhofer
Studied under Rudolf Jettel, principal clarinetist of the String Orchestra.
After serving as principal clarinetist of the Vienna Symphony, he is now the principal clarinetist of the Berlin Philharmonic.
In Schubert’s Symphony No.
7, his solo—like a dialogue with the oboe—is particularly striking.
Nocturne No. 2 in E-flat major, Op. 9 No. 2 / Frédéric ChopinMarten Altrov
It’s a famous masterpiece by Chopin, known to all.
This arrangement adapts his Nocturne No.
2 for clarinet, capturing the essence of Chopin—the poet of the piano.
Chopin’s gentle melody intertwines beautifully with the warm timbre of the clarinet.
Rhapsody in Blue / George GershwinBenjamin Christ
Rhapsody in Blue was composed by the American composer George Gershwin.
The clarinet solo that begins with a glissando from the low register is famous.
It is said that it was originally not a glissando but written as a 17-note ascending scale; however, when the clarinetist of the Whiteman Band jokingly played it as a glissando, Gershwin liked it and revised the score accordingly.
Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622, Movement I / Wolfgang Amadeus MozartAndrew Marriner
A British clarinetist and principal player of the London Symphony Orchestra.
Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto is often used in the final rounds of competitions and is an indispensable piece for any clarinetist.
Since so many players perform it, I think the best way to study it is to listen to a variety of performers’ interpretations.
Yesterdays／Jerome KernBuddy DeFranco
Buddy DeFranco was an American jazz clarinetist and bass clarinetist.
The clarinet was considered an emblematic instrument of swing jazz, and although he began his career just as swing was declining, he did not switch instruments.
Instead, he played bebop—the next era of jazz—on the clarinet.
He also served as the bandleader of the Glenn Miller Orchestra from 1966 to 1974, leaving a significant impact on the orchestra in its later years.
