Suite No. 2 and Richard Strauss' Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks. He played first clarinet in Stokowski's Symphony of the Air recordings. In a 78 RPM set released by Musicraft Records in early 1939, Weber and pianist Ray Lev collaborated in the first recording of the Johannes Brahms Sonata in F minor, op. 120 no. 1, in its original instrumentation for clarinet and piano. In 2002, Clarinet Classics released a CD entitled "A Portrait of David Weber: A Grand Master of the Clarinet," featuring recordings of David Weber from 1946 through 1978. Teaching Weber, who long had an interest in teaching clarinet, devoted himself to teaching at Columbia University and the Juilliard School of Music after leaving the New York City Ballet Orchestra in 1986. Many of his students became prominent clarinetists themselves and teachers in the United States and other countries. Former students currently occupy chairs in the Cleveland Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, and Milwaukee Symphony and include noted soloist Jon Manasse and jazz clarinetist Kenny Davern, who initially studied saxophone in the same building that Weber taught in, only to become mesmerized by the sound of the clarinet playing coming from Weber's studio. The jazz clarinetist Benny Goodman also studied under Weber, who claimed Goodman never paid him and took his best reeds. Weber continued teaching privately until June 2005, at which point he was a robust 92 years old. Legacy Weber was perhaps best known for the quality of his tone. According to The New York Times, "His sound was full, rich, resonant and pure." Current American Ballet Theater principal and acclaimed recording artist Jon Manasse described his teacher's sound as having "a unique bell-like quality". Stokowski described Weber's sound as being "like a dove cooing." Weber used a double-lip embouchure and though many of his students did not, he implored his students to strive for a "rich, liquid, legatissimo sound" that one could "reach out and touch." Death He died in New York City. References 1913 births 2006 deaths American classical clarinetists Musicians from Detroit Musicians from Vilnius Polish emigrants to the United States 20th-century American musicians 20th-century classical musicians Classical musicians from Michigan