Johann Christoph Denner (13 August 1655 – 26 April 1707)[1] was a German woodwind instrument maker of the Baroque era, to whom the invention of the clarinet is attributed.
With his father, Heinrich Denner, a maker of game whistles and hunting horns, he moved to Nuremberg in 1666.
[1][2] J. C. Denner went into business as an instrument maker in 1678 and was granted rights for the “manufacture of French musical instruments consisting chiefly of oboes and recorders [flandadois]” in 1697.
Despite the words "At the beginning of the current century" he is often said to have developed the clarinet in 1690; there is no evidence for this.
[6][7][8] Another instrument possibly made by Denner was destroyed in World War II.