Joseph Beer (18 May 1744, , Bohemia – 28 October 1812,

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

) was one of the first internationally famous clarinet virtuosos, with connections to many major composers of the era. Beer served as trumpeter first in the Austrian and then in the French army during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (175 ...

. In 1771 he went to Paris, and there took up the clarinet, on which he rapidly became the first major performer of his time. In 1782 he left Paris, and traveled through Holland, Italy, Russia, and Hungary. As a performer Beer effected a complete revolution in the clarinet, which he greatly improved by the addition of a fifth key. Until aged nearly fifty he had heard only French players, but having heard in Brussels a German performer, Schwartz, he discovered the instrument's tonal capabilities, and finally became as celebrated for the softness and purity of his tone, for the delicacy of his nuances, and especially his

decrescendo In music, the dynamics of a piece is the variation in loudness between notes or phrases. Dynamics are indicated by specific musical notation, often in some detail. However, dynamics markings still require interpretation by the performer depen ...

, as he was for his execution. His compositions comprise three concertos for two clarinets, variations, and duets.

References

Sources

*Hamilton, Mary Catherine: "Beer, Joseph" in '' A Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1900) edited by

George Grove Sir George Grove (13 August 182028 May 1900) was an English engineer and writer on music, known as the founding editor of ''Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians''. Grove was trained as a civil engineer, and successful in that profession, b ...

* * Albert R. Rice. "Beer, Joseph." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 18 Jan. 2015. (subscription access).

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beer, Joseph 1744 births 1812 deaths 18th-century clarinetists 19th-century clarinetists German clarinetists