Busoni's father was a clarinettist who had published a clarinet method in 1883; his mother was a pianist. Thus it is no coincidence that child prodigy Ferruccio Busoni, born in 1866, composed a series of works for clarinet, usually with piano accompaniment, between 1877 and 1879. They include the Early Character Pieces for clarinet and piano, published in this Henle Urtext edition for the first time. Our edition is based on the autograph, which Busoni probably wrote with the aid of his parents. Pianist and pedagogue Klaus Schilde supplies the fingerings.