Louis Spohr’s First Clarinet Concerto was written in winter 1808/09, at a time when the clarinet had just established itself as an orchestral and solo instrument. The concertos of Spohr and Weber which we know today and which date from these “pioneer days” around 1810 are due to the in-depth collaboration between composer and performer. Spohr wrote his technically very demanding clarinet concertos for the virtuoso Johann Simon Hermstedt.