This collection of works were mostly dedicated to and performed by the great British clarinettist Frederick Thurston. He did a huge amount to encourage composers of the day to write for his instrument, and in 1952 he was awarded the CBE and the Cobbett Gold Medal for services to chamber music.

After reading music at St Catharine's College, Cambridge, Nicholas Cox studied clarinet at the Musikhochschule in Hanover with Professor Hans Deinzer. Appointed Principal Clarinet of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in 1992, he has played as Guest Principal with most British orchestras, and has performed concertos with the RLPO, the City of London Sinfonia, the NDR Radio Orchestra in Hanover, and the Prague Symphony Orchestra. As a soloist he has appeared at the Wigmore and Queen Elizabeth Halls, and the Edinburgh, Cheltenham, Huddersfield and Brighton Festivals. Nicholas Cox has been Senior Tutor in Clarinet at the Royal Northern College of Music since 2003.

Ian Buckle enjoys a varied freelance career, working as soloist, accompanist, chamber musician, orchestral pianist and teacher. As a concerto soloist, Ian has appeared alongside conductors Carl Davis, Elgar Howarth, Gerard Schwarz, Yan Pascal Tortelier and John Wilson, and with orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic, the Orchestra of Opera North, Sinfonia Viva, the Manchester Concert Orchestra and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. As an accompanist he is in constant demand, performing and recording with singers and instrumentalists throughout the UK and in Europe. Ian frequently plays piano in the RLPO and the John Wilson Orchestra, and teaches at the Universities of Leeds and Liverpool.