The Development of Clarinet Fingering Technique

Born in York, England, Reginald Clifford 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. (Jack Brymer was another pioneer of vibrato, but came to prominence later than Kell.) Inspired by the great singers with whom he came in contact, notably Kirsten Flagstad, Kell sought to emulate their warm expressive sounds on the clarinet.[1] Kell was awarded a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music in London in 1929. After graduation he was Sir Thomas Beecham's choice as first clarinet for the London Philharmonic before the Second World War and the Royal Philharmonic after it. He was succeeded in the LPO by Bernard Walton and in the RPO by Jack Brymer. He was Arturo Toscanini's principal clarinettist in the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, and was invited, but declined, to take the same position in Toscanini's NBC Symphony Orchestra in 1939. [2] His solo repertoire extended from Arcangelo Corelli and earlier to twentieth century works. Kell emigrated to the USA in 1947, where he made a successful concert and recording career.[2] He was also a noted teacher, his best-known pupil being Benny Goodman, who approached him for lessons in 1948/49. Kell initially refused, considering that any necessary changes would have an initial, temporary backwards effect on Goodman's playing; he did not want the American public to view him as "the man who ruined our Benny Goodman." Goodman persisted and Kell accepted him as a student in 1952 and taught him until his return to England.[3] His other pupils included the soloist and conductor Alan Hacker.[2] Kell returned to England in 1958, taking up an appointment at the Royal Academy of Music.[2] He retired from playing in his early fifties, and returned to the USA in 1959, where he had a technical post for the local distributors of Boosey & Hawkes instruments.[2] He retired in 1966 and died in Frankfort, Kentucky, USA in 1981.[2] In 2007, the Deutsche Grammophon label issued a multi-CD box set of all of Kell's recordings for the American Decca company (CD set 477 5280). These, and many of Kell's other recordings may also be found on iTunes.