 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: ruben
Date: 2026-03-14 14:29
The late John McCaw, who played with the London Philharmonic and the the Philharmonia orchestra for many years, had -to my taste- the loveliest vibrato I have heard on the clarinet. When asked how he achieved this, he said it was just a natural consequence of singing the phrase and should not be considered a technique. Thus, he refused to teach it. He made very few solo recordings, but recorded the Nielsen and Mozart Concertos.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
Post Edited (2026-03-14 14:32)
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Author: James Langdell
Date: 2026-03-14 19:17
Just wanted to vouch for the beauty of McCaw's Mozart & Nielsen concerto recording. Rosario Mazzeo, my teacher at the time it came out, raved about it to me.
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2026-03-14 19:26
I completely agree with you Ruben. John McCaw’s playing presents for me the best vibrato I’ve heard in classical playing. Have you heard his solo at the end of En Saga by Sibelius? (Ashkenazy/Philharmonia Orchestra) It’s simply gorgeous.
I met John (or Jack as people also seemed to have called him) when I was 19 years old attending a chamber music course in the UK. Unfortunately I didn’t realise back then how much I would come to admire his playing. But he did give me some really good advice about my embouchure.
On that same course I also met Nicolas Shackleton, who kindly invited me to Cambridge, where I got to see his incredible collection of early clarinets and basset horns. Pretty amazing couple of weeks for an aspiring clarinetist!
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