- Jack Brymer
John (Jack) Alexander Brymer (
27 January ,1915 –15 September ,2003 ), born inSouth Shields , was a Britishclarinetist . In 1947 he followedReginald Kell as principal clarinetist of theRoyal Philharmonic Orchestra . He was invited to this post, which he held until about the time of 1963, by Sir Thomas Beecham, with some encouragement from one of his friends, the horn playerDennis Brain . Brymer,Gwydion Brooke (bassoon), Gerald Jackson (flute) andTerence MacDonagh (oboe) became known as ‘The Royal Family’ of wind players, and were widely regarded Fact|date=May 2008 as the one section of the RPO that outshone the competition fromWalter Legge ’sPhilharmonia .When he left the RPO, he spent periods as principal in the
BBC Symphony Orchestra (1963-1972) and theLondon Symphony Orchestra (1972-1986).Brymer made a number of commercial recordings, including three of Mozart's clarinet concerto. He founded and led the London Wind Soloists with whom he recorded the complete set of Mozart's music for wind bands. He also made some recordings on other instruments, such as the
saxophone .He played many concertos and solo pieces with orchestra, including the concertos by Weber and
Gerald Finzi (which he never recorded commercially), and also chamber music including the quintets by Mozart and Brahms, though he did not make recordings of all his repertoire. Some recordings may exist of broadcast performances which were not issued on commercial labels. He also played in many different ensembles, and recorded music byGraham Fitkin with theJohn Harle Band , as well as on the Beatles track "A Day in the Life ".A significant feature of his style of playing was his use of
vibrato , and he is considered to be one of the first woodwind players to use this systematically.Brymer taught music worldwide and was a
professor at theRoyal Academy of Music ,Guildhall School of Music and Drama and theRoyal Military School of Music . He received an OBE in 1960.Alan Paul andGuy Woolfenden both wrote concertos for him, andArmstrong Gibbs wrote a clarinet quintet.He wrote several books, including "From where I sit" (1979), and "In the orchestra", (1987). He was also well known for a long while as a presenter of radio programmes.
He was president of the Clarinet and Saxophone Society of Great Britain.
Writings
* Jack Brymer; Clarinet, "
Yehudi Menuhin Music Guides"; Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Limited; Hard bound: ISBN 0 356 08414 0 ; Soft Cover ISBN 0 356 08415 9External links
* [http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/829.html Jack Brymer]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/news/obituary/0,12723,1044498,00.html Jack Brymer (Guardian)]
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