Jack Brymer
Encyclopedia
John Alexander Brymer OBE (27 January 191515 September 2003), was a British
clarinet
tist, born in South Shields
.
invited him to audition as principal clarinetist of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
to succeed Reginald Kell
. Brymer held the post until 1963 and, together with Gwydion Brooke
(bassoon), Gerald Jackson (flute) and Terence MacDonagh (oboe), became part of the celebrated "Royal Family" of principal woodwind players with the RPO. When he left the RPO, he become a co-principal in the BBC Symphony Orchestra
(1963–1971) and principal in the London Symphony Orchestra
(1971–1986).
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 band. 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 that were not issued on commercial labels. He also played in many different ensembles, and recorded music by Graham Fitkin
with the John Harle Band, as well as on the Beatles
track A Day in the Life
.
He learned everything he knew about the saxophone by having to play it next to Walter Lear (the doyen of classical saxophone of those days), who supplied him with a mouthpiece for the alto saxophone (which he played for the rest of his life).
He was an important session musician. He played bass clarinet on the sound-tracks of the Hammer horror movies featuring actors Peter Cushing
and Christopher Lee
.
He took over leadership of the London Saxophone Quartet after the death of its founder Michael Krein, playing soprano saxophone (which he considered the most 'Classical' of the saxophone family).
During his military service in the RAF, he was a Fitness Instructor and Unarmed Combat Instructor. His extreme fitness may have contributed significantly to his exceptional tone-quality.
He was virtually alone in being the complete master of both the 'Classical' and the Jazz styles. He was a personal friend of Benny Goodman
and he could play Goodman's style almost indistinguishably from Goodman himself. In earlier years, he played saxophone and clarinet in dance bands.
A significant feature of his style of playing was his use of vibrato
, and he is considered to be one of the first clarinet players to use this systematically.
Brymer taught music worldwide and was a professor
at the Royal Academy of Music
, Guildhall School of Music and Drama
and the Royal Military School of Music
.
He was appointed an Officer (OBE) of the Order of the British Empire
in 1960.
Alan Paul
and Guy Woolfenden
both wrote concertos for him, and Armstrong 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.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
tist, born in South Shields
South Shields
South Shields is a coastal town in Tyne and Wear, England, located at the mouth of the River Tyne to Tyne Dock, and about downstream from Newcastle upon Tyne...
.
Biography
The son of a builder, Jack Brymer started his working life as a teacher, being at Heath Clark School, Thornton Heath, Surrey in the late 1940s. In 1947, on the recommendation of professional musicians who had played with Brymer during wartime military service, Sir Thomas BeechamThomas Beecham
Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet CH was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras. He was also closely associated with the Liverpool Philharmonic and Hallé orchestras...
invited him to audition as principal clarinetist of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It tours widely, and is sometimes referred to as "Britain's national orchestra"...
to succeed Reginald Kell
Reginald Kell
Reginald Clifford Kell was a British clarinetist.-Career:Born in York, England, Kell was the first prominent player to apply vibrato consciously and consistently to his tone, in which respect he modelled himself on his colleague the oboist Léon Goossens...
. Brymer held the post until 1963 and, together with Gwydion Brooke
Gwydion Brooke
Gwydion Brooke was the principal bassoonist of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and a member of its "Royal Family" of wind instrumentalists, along with Jack Brymer , Dennis Brain , Richard Walton , Terence MacDonagh , and Gerald Jackson .Born Frederick James Gwydion Holbrooke, his father was the...
(bassoon), Gerald Jackson (flute) and Terence MacDonagh (oboe), became part of the celebrated "Royal Family" of principal woodwind players with the RPO. When he left the RPO, he become a co-principal in the BBC Symphony Orchestra
BBC Symphony Orchestra
The BBC Symphony Orchestra is the principal broadcast orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation and one of the leading orchestras in Britain.-History:...
(1963–1971) and principal in the London Symphony Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
(1971–1986).
Brymer made a number of commercial recordings, including three of Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's clarinet concerto
Clarinet Concerto (Mozart)
Mozart's Clarinet concerto in A major, K. 622 was written in 1791 for the clarinetist Anton Stadler.It consists of the usual three movements, in a fast–slow–fast form:# Allegro# Adagio# Rondo: Allegro...
. He founded and led the London Wind Soloists, with whom he recorded the complete set of Mozart's music for wind band. He also made some recordings on other instruments, such as the saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
.
He played many concertos and solo pieces with orchestra, including the concertos by Weber
Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school....
and Gerald Finzi
Gerald Finzi
Gerald Raphael Finzi was a British composer. Finzi is best known as a song-writer, but also wrote in other genres...
(which he never recorded commercially), and also chamber music including the quintets by Mozart and Brahms
Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
, though he did not make recordings of all his repertoire. Some recordings may exist of broadcast performances that were not issued on commercial labels. He also played in many different ensembles, and recorded music by Graham Fitkin
Graham Fitkin
Graham Fitkin is a British composer, pianist and conductor. His compositions fall broadly into the minimalist and postminimalist genres...
with the John Harle Band, as well as on the Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
track A Day in the Life
A Day in the Life
"A Day in the Life" is a song by The Beatles, the final track on the group's 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Credited to Lennon–McCartney, the song comprises distinct segments written independently by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, with orchestral additions...
.
He learned everything he knew about the saxophone by having to play it next to Walter Lear (the doyen of classical saxophone of those days), who supplied him with a mouthpiece for the alto saxophone (which he played for the rest of his life).
He was an important session musician. He played bass clarinet on the sound-tracks of the Hammer horror movies featuring actors Peter Cushing
Peter Cushing
Peter Wilton Cushing, OBE was an English actor, known for his many appearances in Hammer Films, in which he played the handsome but sinister scientist Baron Frankenstein and the vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing, amongst many other roles, often appearing opposite Christopher Lee, and occasionally...
and Christopher Lee
Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...
.
He took over leadership of the London Saxophone Quartet after the death of its founder Michael Krein, playing soprano saxophone (which he considered the most 'Classical' of the saxophone family).
During his military service in the RAF, he was a Fitness Instructor and Unarmed Combat Instructor. His extreme fitness may have contributed significantly to his exceptional tone-quality.
He was virtually alone in being the complete master of both the 'Classical' and the Jazz styles. He was a personal friend of Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
and he could play Goodman's style almost indistinguishably from Goodman himself. In earlier years, he played saxophone and clarinet in dance bands.
A significant feature of his style of playing was his use of vibrato
Vibrato
Vibrato is a musical effect consisting of a regular, pulsating change of pitch. It is used to add expression to vocal and instrumental music. Vibrato is typically characterised in terms of two factors: the amount of pitch variation and the speed with which the pitch is varied .-Vibrato and...
, and he is considered to be one of the first clarinet players to use this systematically.
Brymer taught music worldwide and was a professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
at the Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
, Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Guildhall School of Music and Drama is an independent music and dramatic arts school which was founded in 1880 in London, England. Students can pursue courses in Music, Opera, Drama and Technical Theatre Arts.-History:...
and the Royal Military School of Music
Royal Military School of Music
The Royal Military School of Music in Twickenham, west London, trains musicians for the British Army's twenty-nine bands. It is part of the Corps of Army Music...
.
He was appointed an Officer (OBE) of the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 1960.
Alan Paul
Alan Paul
Alan Paul is a Grammy Award- winning singer and composer, best known as one of the founding members of the vocal group The Manhattan Transfer. He played Teen Angel and Johnny Casino in the original Broadway cast of Grease where he introduced the songs "Beauty School Dropout" and "Born to Hand Jive"...
and Guy Woolfenden
Guy Woolfenden
Guy Anthony Woolfenden OBE is an English composer and conductor.-Biography:Woolfenden was born in Ipswich and educated at Westminster Abbey Choir School, London, and Whitgift School, Croydon. He studied music at Christ's College in Cambridge and went on to study at the Guildhall School of Music...
both wrote concertos for him, and Armstrong 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 MenuhinYehudi MenuhinYehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE was a Russian Jewish American violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom. He was born to Russian Jewish parents in the United States, but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and of the United Kingdom in 1985...
Music Guides (Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Limited). ISBN 0 356 08414 0: ISBN 0 356 08415 9
External links
- June Emerson "Jack Brymer Clarinettist chosen by Beecham for his innate musicality and rich sound", obituary with an appreciation by Alan Hacker, The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, Thursday 18 September 2003 - Tim Bullamore "Jack Brymer: Principal clarinettist in Sir Thomas Beecham's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra", obituary in The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, Saturday, 20 September 2003 - Jack Brymer obituary in The Daily TelegraphThe Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
, 16 Sep 2003 - Lives Remembered contributions on Brymer by Eric Wetherell, Raymond J. Ovens, Don Bennett and Keith McDowall, The TimesThe TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
October 2, 2003