Bruno Turner (born 7 February 1931) is a British musicologist, choral conductor, broadcaster, publisher and businessman. His scholarship and recordings have focused on

early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750) or Ancient music (before 500 AD). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad Dates of classical ...

, especially of Spanish

polyphony Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice ( monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chord ...

Biography

Turner was born in London and raised in a strict Catholic household, his father being a convert from the Baptists. His interest in early music was shepherded by

Thurston Dart Robert Thurston Dart (3 September 1921 – 6 March 1971) was an English musicologist, conductor and keyboard player. Along with Nigel Fortune, Oliver Neighbour and Stanley Sadie, he was one of Britain's leading musicologists of the post-World W ...

and

Denis Stevens Denis William Stevens CBE (2 March 1922 – 1 April 2004) was a British musicologist specialising in early music, conductor, professor of music and radio producer. Early years He was born in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire and attended the Royal ...

; Turner began conducting Renaissance ensembles in the 1950s. Turner worked as secretary to the Renaissance Singers, and this inspired him to establish the Pro Musica Sacra choir, which gave numerous radio broadcasts in the late 1950s. He was the director of Pro Musica Sacra from 1956 to 1964. In 1962, he facilitated a complete liturgical reconstruction (of

Robert Fayrfax Robert Fayrfax (23 April 1464 – 24 October 1521) was an English Renaissance composer, considered the most prominent and influential of the reigns of Kings Henry VII and Henry VIII of England. Biography He was born in Deeping Gate, Lincolns ...

's ''Missa Tecum Principium''), the first attempt to do so. Turner was a Catholic choirmaster until

Vatican II The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilic ...

, a radio broadcaster since 1958, and active as conductor and speaker. From the late 1960s into the 1990s, Turner was a frequent conductor of

Pro Cantione Antiqua Pro Cantione Antiqua of London (PCA) is a British choral group which was founded in 1968 by tenor James Griffett, counter-tenor Paul Esswood, and conductor and producer Mark Brown. Their first concert was at St Bartholomew's, Smithfield with Bri ...

of London, and directed many of their recordings for

Archiv Produktion Archiv Produktion is a classical music record label of German origin. It originated in 1948 as a classical label for the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft (DGG), and in 1958 Archiv was established as a subsidiary of DGG, specialising in recordin ...

. He ran a family business outside of music called Turner Wallcoverings; in 1977, with Martyn Imrie, he created Mapa Mundi, a company dedicated to publishing Medieval music, a venture that again proved successful. Turner has written frequently on

performance practice Historically informed performance (also referred to as period performance, authentic performance, or HIP) is an approach to the performance of classical music which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of the musical era in which ...

and the rival elements in singing. In the debate on the use of

vibrato Vibrato (Italian language, Italian, from past participle of "wikt:vibrare, vibrare", to vibrate) is a musical effect consisting of a regular, pulsating change of pitch (music), pitch. It is used to add expression to vocal and instrumental music. ...

renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

choral music A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

Turner has consistently advocated less vibrato, but not no vibrato. "Counterpoint is only one element in the music, there is expression too and you should allow your voice to be coloured and not sing like an automaton". Turner was honoured with a ''

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

'' in 2011, entitled ''Pure Gold: Golden Age Sacred Music in the Iberian World. A Homage to Bruno Turner'', edited by Tess Knighton and Bernadette Nelson. The book was presented to Turner at the 2011 Medieval and Renaissance Music Conference in Barcelona. Reviewing in ''Fontes Artis Musicae'', Joseph Sargent remarked, "Anyone who enjoys Spanish Renaissance music owes a debt to Bruno Turner, whose pioneering Mapa Mundi scores, groundbreaking recordings, and enlightening scholarship have vastly increased this repertory's visibility."

Selected discography

The 6-LP set 'The Flowering of Renaissance Polyphony' (Geistliche Musik der Renaissance') issued on

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

Archiv in the late 1970s was influential. * Ockeghem: Missa pro defunctis /

Josquin des Prez Josquin Lebloitte dit des Prez ( – 27 August 1521) was a composer of High Renaissance music, who is variously described as French or Franco-Flemish. Considered one of the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he was a central figure of the ...

- Déploration sur la mort d'Ockeghem. Pro Cantione Antiqua, London dir. Turner, Archiv Produktion 2533 145 P* Gombert -

Josquin Josquin Lebloitte dit des Prez ( – 27 August 1521) was a composer of High Renaissance music, who is variously described as French or Franco-Flemish. Considered one of the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he was a central figure of the ...

- Jheronimus Vinders Pro Cantione Antiqua, London dir. Turner, Archiv Produktion 2533 360 P*

Francisco de Peñalosa Francisco de Peñalosa (c. 1470 – April 1, 1528) was a Spanish composer of the middle Renaissance. Life He was born in Talavera de la Reina in the province of Toledo. He spent most of his career in Seville, serving as the ''maestro di capi ...

. The Complete Motets. Pro Cantione Antiqua. Hyperion.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Bruno English conductors (music) British male conductors (music) English musicologists Living people 21st-century British conductors (music) 21st-century British male musicians 1931 births