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

clarinettist This article lists notable musicians who have played the clarinet. Classical clarinetists * Laver Bariu * Ernest Ačkun * Luís Afonso * Cristiano Alves * Michel Arrignon * Dimitri Ashkenazy * Kinan Azmeh * Alexander Bader * Carl Baer ...

Career

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 Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

'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.Frederick Thurston biography, Samek Music
/ref> During the 1920s, he played with the orchestra of the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

, and with Stanton Jeffries organized the earliest 2LO radio broadcasts of music from

Marconi House Marconi House is a Grade II listed building at 335 Strand, London, Strand (at its junction with Aldwych) in London. It was originally built as a hotel and restaurant in 1904, designed by Norman Shaw, to serve the Gaiety Theatre, London, Gaiety T ...

in 1922. 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 The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. The ...

in 1930. He left the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 1946 to concentrate on

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

.Robert Philip, rev. Pamela Weston,
Thurston, Frederick
, ''Grove Music Online''. Accessed 30 June 2007. He was principal clarinetist of the

Philharmonia Orchestra The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI Classics, EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Rich ...

and can be heard on the Toscanini recording of the Brahms Symphonies. He gave the first performances of many new works, including

Arnold Bax Sir Arnold Edward Trevor Bax (8 November 1883 – 3 October 1953) was an English composer, poet, and author. His prolific output includes songs, choral music, chamber pieces, and solo piano works, but he is best known for his orchestral music ...

's ''Clarinet Sonata'',

Arthur Bliss Sir Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss (2 August 189127 March 1975) was an English composer and conductor. Bliss's musical training was cut short by the First World War, in which he served with distinction in the army. In the post-war years he qui ...

's ''Clarinet Quintet'' and

Gerald Finzi Gerald Raphael Finzi (14 July 1901 – 27 September 1956) was a British composer. Finzi is best known as a choral composer, but also wrote in other genres. Large-scale compositions by Finzi include the cantata '' Dies natalis'' for solo voice and ...

's ''Clarinet Concerto'', and a private performance of

Roger Fiske Roger Fiske (11 September 1910 – 22 July 1987) was a musicologist, broadcaster and author who played an important part in establishing music for schools at the BBC during and after World War II. Fiske was born in Surbiton. He studied English at ...

's 1941 Clarinet Sonata. Works dedicated to him include

Malcolm Arnold Sir Malcolm Henry Arnold (21 October 1921 – 23 September 2006) was an English composer. His works feature music in many genres, including a cycle of nine symphonies, numerous concertos, concert works, chamber music, choral music and music f ...

's ''Clarinet Concerto No 1'',

's Clarinet Sonata, Iain Hamilton's ''Three Nocturnes'',

Herbert Howells Herbert Norman Howells (17 October 1892 – 23 February 1983) was an English composer, organist, and teacher, most famous for his large output of Anglican church music. Life Background and early education Howells was born in Lydney, Gloucest ...

's ''Clarinet Sonata'',

John Ireland John Benjamin Ireland (January 30, 1914 – March 21, 1992) was a Canadian-American actor and film director. Born in Vancouver, British Columbia and raised in New York City, he came to prominence with film audiences for his supporting roles i ...

's '' Fantasy-Sonata'',

Gordon Jacob Gordon Percival Septimus Jacob CBE (5 July 18958 June 1984) was an English composer and teacher. He was a professor at the Royal College of Music in London from 1924 until his retirement in 1966, and published four books and many articles about ...

's ''Clarinet Quintet'',

Elizabeth Maconchy Dame Elizabeth Violet Maconchy LeFanu (; 19 March 1907 – 11 November 1994) was an English-Irish composer. She is considered to be one of the finest composers Great Britain and Ireland have produced. Biography Elizabeth Violet Maconchy was b ...

's ''Clarinet Concertino #1'',

Alan Rawsthorne Alan Rawsthorne (2 May 1905 – 24 July 1971) was a British composer. He was born in Haslingden, Lancashire, and is buried in Thaxted churchyard in Essex. Early years Alan Rawsthorne was born in Deardengate House, Haslingden, Lancashire, to ...

's ''Clarinet Concerto'' and

Freda Swain Freda Swain (31 October 190229 January 1985) was a British composer, pianist and music educator. Biography Freda Swain was born in Portsmouth, England, the daughter of Thomas and Gertrude (née Allen) Swain. Her first piano lessons (from age 11) ...

's ''Rhapsody''. He taught at the Royal College of Music from 1930 to 1953. In 1953, he married Thea King (later Dame Thea King), one of his pupils, but died later the same year from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

. Thurston can be heard on ''Historical Clarinet Recordings'' (Vols. 1 and 2) on the Victoria Soames Samek's Clarinet Classics CD Label.Historical Clarinet Recordings, Vol.2
, reviewed in ''Gramophone'', November 1995

Writings

* * * *The Passage Studies Volume 1 ( Boosey & Hawkes ) *The Passage Studies Volume 2 ( Boosey & Hawkes ) *The Passage Studies Volume 3 ( Boosey & Hawkes )

Career

Writings

References

Further reading