Heinrich (Joseph) Baermann
(b Potsdam, 14 Feb 1784; d Munich, 11 June 1847). Clarinettist. He and his brother Carl Baerman (i) (1782–1842), a bassoonist in the Berlin court orchestra, were sent by their soldier father to the School of Military Music in Potsdam. At 14, having first studied the oboe, Heinrich became a bandsman in the Prussian Life Guards and during this time studied the clarinet with Beer. In 1805, under the patronage of Prince Louis Ferdinand, he had lessons with Tausch. He fought at the battles of Saalfeld and Jena and was captured, but escaped and found his way to Munich. Here he obtained a court appointment, which he held until his retirement in 1834.
Baermann toured extensively, first to Switzerland and France in 1808. In 1811, after successful performances at Munich of Weber's newly composed Concertino and concertos, clarinettist and composer toured together through Austria and Germany. At Berlin Baermann's artistry helped to convince the musical public of the composer's worth. In Vienna and Prague in 1813, Italy in 1815–16 and Berlin in 1818, Baermann gave concerts with the Munich prima donna, Helene Harlas (1785–1818); she had four children by him. Paris gave him a phenomenal reception in 1817 and 1838, as did Russia in 1822–3 and 1832. In 1819 Baermann was invited to England, where he played for the Prince Regent at Brighton and, during six months of concerts in London, performed his own compositions on two occasions for the Philharmonic Society.
Heinrich Baermann was sometimes called the Rubini of the clarinet on account of his expressive playing and his luxurious, velvety tone, in contrast to the shriller style of some earlier players. Weber referred in his diary to the ‘welcome homogeneity of tone from top to bottom’, and gave great credit to Baermann for the success of his clarinet works. All of these except the Grand Duo were written for Baermann, as were Mendelssohn's concert pieces and Meyerbeer's Quintet and (also for Helene Harlas) his cantata Gli amori. His liveliness of mind and his companionable nature made him widely popular, and he became a close friend of these composers, who made frequent reference to him in their correspondence. His own works include quartets, quintets and concertinos for clarinet and various instrumental combinations. His instrument was first a ten-keyed clarinet made by Griesling & Schlott; by 1819 he had one of twelve keys.
