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Frederick Thurston

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Frederick Thurston
Born21 September 1901
OriginLichfield, Staffordshire, England
Died12 December 1953(1953-12-12) (aged 52)
GenreClassical
InstrumentClarinet
Years active1920s–1953

Frederick John Thurston (21 September 1901 – 12 December 1953) was an English clarinettist.

Career

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From the age of 7, he was taught by his father, and he won an open scholarship to the Royal College of Music, becoming a pupil of Charles Draper. In March 1922, he performed Stanford's Clarinet Concerto at the RCM, receiving critical acclaim in the press and a (rare) congratulatory telegram from the composer. The performance launched his career.[1]

During the 1920s, he played with the orchestra of the Royal Opera House, and with Stanton Jeffries organized the earliest 2LO radio broadcasts of music from Marconi House in 1922.[2] This helped lead to his appointment as principal clarinettist of the BBC's Wireless Orchestra in 1929, and then at the newly formed BBC Symphony Orchestra in 1930.[1]

He left the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 1946 to concentrate on chamber music.[3] He was principal clarinetist of the Philharmonia Orchestra and can be heard on the Toscanini recording of the Brahms Symphonies.[4]

He gave the first performances of many new works, including Arnold Bax's Clarinet Sonata, Arthur Bliss's Clarinet Quintet and Gerald Finzi's Clarinet Concerto, and a private performance of Roger Fiske's 1941 Clarinet Sonata.[5] Works dedicated to him include Malcolm Arnold's Clarinet Concerto No 1, Roger Fiske's Clarinet Sonata, Iain Hamilton's Three Nocturnes, Herbert Howells's Clarinet Sonata, John Ireland's Fantasy-Sonata, Gordon Jacob's Clarinet Quintet, Elizabeth Maconchy's Clarinet Concertino #1, Alan Rawsthorne's Clarinet Concerto and Freda Swain's Rhapsody.[3]

He taught at the Royal College of Music from 1930 to 1953.[3] In 1953, he married Thea King (later Dame Thea King), one of his pupils, but died in London later in the year on December 12th from lung cancer.[6][7]

Thurston can be heard on Historical Clarinet Recordings (Vols. 1 and 2) on the Victoria Soames Samek's Clarinet Classics CD Label.[8]

Writings

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  • Thurston, Frederick; A. Frank (1979) [1939]. The Clarinet: a Comprehensive Tutor for the Boehm Clarinet. London.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Thurston, Frederick (1940–41). "Clarinet Tone". Woodwind Year Book: 47ff.
  • Thurston, Frederick (1956). Clarinet Technique. London. ISBN 0-19-318603-9. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • The Passage Studies Volume 1 ( Boosey & Hawkes )
  • The Passage Studies Volume 2 ( Boosey & Hawkes )
  • The Passage Studies Volume 3 ( Boosey & Hawkes )

References

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  1. 1 2 Frederick Thurston biography, Samek Music
  2. ↑ "One of the first musicians to broadcast". Lichfield Mercury. 17 May 1946. p. 4.
  3. 1 2 3 Robert Philip, rev. Pamela Weston, 'Thurston, Frederick', Grove Music Online. Accessed 30 June 2007.
  4. ↑ Pamela Weston. Clarinet Virtuosi of the Past (1971), pp. 271–4
  5. ↑ The Thurston Connection - English Music for Clarinet and Piano, Naxos 8.571357 (2015)
  6. ↑ "Freddie was the Maestro". Daily Mirror. 14 December 1953. p. 3.
  7. ↑ Pamela Weston, Robert Philip, 'King, Thea', Grove Music Online. Accessed 30 June 2007.
  8. ↑ 'Historical Clarinet Recordings, Vol.2', reviewed in Gramophone, November 1995

Further reading

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  • Weston, P. (1971). Clarinet Virtuosi of the Past. London. pp. 271–274.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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