Pablo Barragán Hernández

Pablo Barragán (born 1987) is a Spanish clarinetist. He began his career as a member of the West–Eastern Divan Orchestra, and then made an international career as a soloist, especially as a chamber musician. His recordings include the clarinet sonatas and Clarinet Trio by Johannes Brahms, and chamber music of the 20th century including Karl Amadeus Hartmann's Kammerkonzert for clarinet, string quartet and string orchestra.

Life and career Barragán was born in Marchena. At an early age, he was exposed to the swing music of clarinetist Benny Goodman and a jazz festival that visited his home town in Andalusia in the 1990s. Barragán went on to study clarinet at the Conservatorio Superior de Música Manuel Castillo in Sevilla with Antonio Salguero and at the Barenboim-Said Foundation's Seville Academy with Matthias Glander. He recorded chamber music of the 20th century in 2024 with violinist Noa Wildschut and pianist Frank Dupree, including Paul Schoenfield's trio Refractions and Claude Vivier's Pièce for violin and clarinet. Barragán was the clarinet soloist for a CD entitled Szinergia, playing with the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra and the Sárközy Trio music related to Hungarian folk music, including Karl Amadeus Hartmann's Kammerkonzert for clarinet, string quartet and string orchestra, and Bartók's Romanian Folk Dances in an arrangement for clarinet, cimbalom and strings, written by Jonas Dominique for Fröst. A reviewer from the Online Merker noted that Barragán traced the secrets and ruptures of Hartmann's work with "incredibly differentiated clarinet playing".