Karel Krautgartner

Karel Krautgartner (July 20, 1922 – September 20, 1982) was a Czech jazz and classical clarinetist, saxophonist, arranger, composer, conductor and teacher.

Life Musical education He was born in Mikulov, Moravia, in the family of a postmaster. His family were of Moravian German ethnic which have assimilated into Czech people. In 1930 he began to play the piano. In 1935, after moving to Brno, he found interest mainly in the radio broadcasting and specially in jazz. He began to study clarinet on private basis with Stanislav Krtička (a notable Czech clarinetist of the first half of 20th century, he performed the demanding part of the Concertino by Leoš Janáček at the composer's request at the festival of contemporary music in Frankfurt am Main in 1926). Work as a lecturer in Germany

Krautgartner acquired the necessary skills of clarinet playing, and also inherited a "fanatic passion" for clarinet construction and components (reeds, mouthpieces, barrels). He later used his knowledge of wind instruments as a lecturer at German universities in Cologne and Düsseldorf. Docela všední, obyčejný den CD. Prague, RADIOSERVIS. FR 0179-2 Jazz kolem Karla Krautgartnera LP. (Supraphon 1965)

Classical Stravinsky: L' Histoire du Soldat, Octet for Winds, Symphony for Winds, Ebony Concerto... CD. Supraphon SU 3168-2 911, 1999. Glazunov: Saxophone Concerto. CD. Supraphon Archive SU 3968-2, 2009.