George Clinton (clarinettist)
George Clinton | |
|---|---|
| Born | 16 December 1850 |
| Died | 24 October 1913 (aged 62) |
| Occupations | Professor, performer |
| Instrument | Clarinet |
George Arthur Clinton[1] (1850–1913) was a British clarinettist. He was a member of Queen Victoria's private ensemble beginning at age 17.[2] He was the principal clarinettist for the Philharmonic Society and The Crystal Palace, and taught at the Royal Academy of Music and several universities.[3] In the early years of the 20th century he was clarinet professor at the Royal Military School of Music, Kneller Hall, in Twickenham.[4]
His family included several notable clarinettists. His father Arthur was a bandleader and clarinettist.[1] His brother James created a 13-key "combination" clarinet in 1892; its extensible head joint enabled the instrument to transpose from A to B-flat and vice versa.[5] George Clinton also worked on developing clarinet mechanisms. "The Clinton system", introduced around 1885, continued to be popular into the mid-20th century.[6]
Clinton organised a series of chamber music concerts at Steinway Hall.[7] He popularised the Weber, Spohr and Mozart concertos in England, and performed the Brahms Quintet in May 1892, only shortly after it was first published in Britain. He performed Richard Walthew's Trio (clarinet, violin and piano), and The Song of Love and Death (clarinet and soprano), in 1898. He also performed William Hurlstone's Clarinet Sonata, a piece which is now missing. Hurlstone dedicated his Four Characteristic Pieces of 1899 to Clinton, and it's possible that this work is the Sonata renamed.[6]
His pupils included the composer Sam Hartley Braithwaite.[8]
References
- ^ a b Weston, Pamela (2001). "Clinton, George Arthur". In Sadie, Stanley; Tyrrell, John (eds.). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2nd ed.). London: Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 978-1-56159-239-5.
- ^ "Sources in our collection". Edinburgh University. Archived from the original on 12 October 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
- ^ Hoeprich, Eric (2008). The Clarinet. Yale University Press. pp. 185–186. ISBN 9780300102826.
- ^ O. W. Street. 'The Clarinet and its Music', in Proceedings of the Musical Association, 42nd Session, 1915-1916, p. 109
- ^ Albert R. Rice. Four Centuries of Musical Instruments: The Marlowe A. Sigal Collection (2015)
- ^ a b Pitfield, Spenser Simpson. British Music for Clarinet and Piano: 1880-1945 (Ph.D, University of Sheffield (2000), pp. 53, 69
- ^ 'George Clinton’s Chamber Concerts', at the Queen’s (Small) Hall, 1890s
- ^ Hull, Arthur Eaglefield, ed. (1924). A Dictionary of Modern Music and Musicians. Dent.