Johann Joseph Beer (18 May 1744, Grünwald, Bohemia – 28 October 1812, Berlin) was one of the first internationally famous clarinet virtuosos, with connections to many major composers of the era.[1] Beer served as trumpeter first in the Austrian and then in the French army during the Seven Years' War. In 1771 he went to Paris, and there took up the clarinet, on which he rapidly became the first m..