Andrew Clements, Guardian’s classical music critic, dies aged 75

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Andrew Clements, Guardian’s classical music critic, dies aged 75

An outstanding critical voice, his deep knowledge and love of music was evident in everything he wrote

www.theguardian.com

Andrew Clements, Guardian’s classical music critic, dies aged 75​

The Guardian’s long-serving and much admired classical music critic Andrew Clements died on Sunday aged 75 after a period of illness.

Clements joined the Guardian arts team in August 1993, succeeding Edward Greenfield as the paper’s chief music critic. His appointment was clinched by a personal recommendation to the editor from the late Alfred Brendel, who argued for Clements to get the job on account of his deep understanding of contemporary music. For the next 32 years, Clements ranged across all fields of classical music in his writing for the Guardian, and often beyond.

An outstanding and distinctive critical voice, his deep knowledge and love of music was evident in everything he wrote. He was hugely respected by his fellow critics and the value of his very hard-won five-star reviews was inestimable. While ill health prevented him reviewing live events since March 2025, his last CD review was published on 2 January.

Katharine Viner, the Guardian’s editor-in-chief, said: “Andrew Clements wrote about classical music with the utmost passion and precision. His reviews for the Guardian drew on a lifetime of discerning listening and, as well as being illuminating, were always a joy to read.”