Heroes & Heroines of Clarinettistry

About the Book

Heroes & Heroines of Clarinettistry contains a representative selection of articles written over a 40-year period by Pamela Weston, well-known as an authority in all aspects relating to the clarinet, especially its performers and the composers who wrote for them. New and fascinating information is revealed on best-known composer/clarinettist relationships such as Mozart with Anton Stadler, Weber with Heinrich Baermann, Spohr with Simon Hermstedt and Brahms with Richard MŸhlfeld. Further subjects include the following: clarinettists of the French Revolution (including a map of Paris showing where they lived), Russia's clarinet dynasty, early 19th-century female performers, the great Finnish clarinettist Crussell whose diary tells of French Revolution events and a Napoleonic military parade, Verdi's clarinettist Cavallini who played for and was on familiar terms with the Tsar, the full stories of Stanford's concerto (it was Pamela Weston who got this beautiful work published for the first time, fifty years after the composer's death) and Ireland's Fantasy-Sonata (how the composer worked with the Sonata's dedicatee, Frederick Thurston). These articles were originally published in the following journals: The Clarinet (U.S.A.), National Association of College Wind & Percussion Instructors (U.S.A.), Clarinet & Saxophone (U.K.), Musical Times (U.K.), Music & Musicians (U.K.), Music Teacher (U.K.).

About the Author

Pamela Weston was, for the first 20 years of her professional life, a clarinet soloist of distinction. She studied the instrument under Frederick Thurston whilst a scholarship holder at the Guildhall School of Music in London. From 1951 to 1969 she held a professorship at the School and began her considerable output of music editions for which she is well known. During this time she had an exciting performing career, including many solo broadcasts. As a member of the Klarion Trio (soprano, clarinet and piano), whilst searching at the British Library for new repertoire for the combination, she became intrigued by names of former clarinettists on the music and this began a lifelong interest in them. Her first book on clarinet virtuosi of the past was published in 1971. This was followed by two more on the same subject and one on great players of today. She has been fortunate in having made contact with descendants of past virtuosi. For those of today she travelled all over the world to conduct personal interviews. In the New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians all the articles on clarinettists are by her. She holds honorary membership of the International Clarinet Association, Clarinet & Saxophone Society of Great Britain, Moscow's Clarinet Club and New South Wales' Clarinet & Saxophone Association.