Berr(original name, Beer), Friedrich

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Berr(original name, Beer), Friedrich

Berr(original name, Beer), Friedrich, German clarinetist and bassoonist; b. Mannheim, April 17, 1794; d. Paris, Sept. 24, 1838. He studied with Fétis and Reicha in Paris, and settled there in 1823. He served as the second clarinetist at the Théâtre-Italien, becoming first clarinetist in 1828. In 1831 he was appointed to the faculty of the Paris Cons., and in 1836 he became director of the new School of Military Music. He was the author of a Traité complet de la clarinette à 14 clefs (1836), and the composer of many works for clarinet and bassoon and some 500 pieces of military music.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennnis McIntire

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