John Frederick Paynter OBE (17 July 1931 – 1 July 2010) was a British composer and music educator known for his advocacy of the cause of creative music making and his emphasis on the importance of music as a subject in the general education of all children. He was Professor of Music at the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

from 1982 to 1994, serving as

Emeritus Professor ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

after his retirement.

Early career

Paynter was born in South London. His working-class family was not strongly musical, but his parents encouraged him to learn the piano. His musical talents were further supported at

Emanuel School Emanuel School is a private, co-educational day school in Battersea, south-west London. The school was founded in 1594 by Anne Sackville, Lady Dacre and Queen Elizabeth I and today occupies a 12-acre (4.9 ha) site close to Clapham Junction ...

in Battersea. He was a student at

Trinity College of Music Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music, dance, and musical theatre conservatoire based in South East London. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. Trini ...

, gaining his GTCL in 1952. After national service, he taught in primary,

secondary modern A secondary modern school () is a type of secondary school that existed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1944 until the 1970s under the Tripartite System. Secondary modern schools accommodated the majority (70–75%) of pupils ...

and

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schools. This wide-ranging experience played a significant role in shaping his view that music should be at the heart of the curriculum.

Academic career

In 1962, Paynter began a long career in higher education. He was Lecturer in Music at the City of Liverpool C.F. Mott College of Education, from 1962 to 1965, and Principal Lecturer at the Bishop Otter College in Chichester from 1965 to 1969. He was appointed a Lecturer in the Department of Music at the

in 1969. He was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 1974 and was appointed Professor in 1982. Between 1973 and 1982, he directed the Schools Council Project ''Music in the Secondary School Curriculum''. The project gathered contributions from schools, produced documentary videos of pioneering good practice in a range of schools and culminated with a book with the same title (1982). Paynter was General Editor of the Resources of Music series for

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between 1969 and 1993. He was Joint Editor of the ''British Journal of Music Education'' from 1984 to 1997.

Professional recognition

Paynter was appointed FRSA in 1987, Hon. GSM in 1985. He received the Leslie Boosey Award from the Royal Philharmonic Soc./PRS in 1998. He was appointed OBE in 1985.

Commentary

Paynter's compositions included chamber music, choral works and two children's operas, The ''Space Dragon of Galata'' (1978) and ''The Voyage of St Brendan'' (1979). Both works involved large forces, combining professional musicians and children in performance. Among teachers, Paynter’s best-known short piece is ''Autumn'', a setting of a Japanese ''

haiku is a type of short form poetry that originated in Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases composed of 17 Mora (linguistics), morae (called ''On (Japanese prosody), on'' in Japanese) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern; that include a ''kire ...

'' for classroom performance. Among Paynter’s music composed for adults, his choral settings of

Gerard Manley Hopkins Gerard Manley Hopkins (28 July 1844 – 8 June 1889) was an English poet and Society of Jesus, Jesuit priest, whose posthumous fame places him among the leading English poets. His Prosody (linguistics), prosody – notably his concept of sprung ...

''The Windhover'', and ''God's Grandeur'' are particularly striking in their sensitivity and response to the Christian meaning of Hopkins’ texts. As an educator, Paynter's publication in 1970 of ''Sound and Silence'' had a seminal influence of the practice of classroom music teachers. Paynter was passionate in his conviction that music was exciting for children to explore independently and that the subject could be approached in a multitude of different ways. While the public face of

music education Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as primary education, elementary or secondary education, secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a rese ...

in schools tended to concentrate on instrumental learning and teacher-directed performances by choirs and orchestras, the book introduced teachers to ways of helping pupils to explore and make their own interpretive decisions about sounds through working at composing projects. Paynter’s ideas influenced the development of music in the

General Certificate of Secondary Education The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

(GCSE) in the 1980s and in the British

National Curriculum A national curriculum is a common programme of study in schools that is designed to ensure nationwide uniformity of content and standards in education. It is usually legislated by the national government, possibly in consultation with state or othe ...

in the 1990s. Composing became a core musical activity in both of these programmes of study.

Selected publications

*Mills, J. and Paynter, J.(eds.) ''Thinking and Making: Selections from the Writings of John Paynter on Music in Education'' Oxford:

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, 2008. *Paynter, J. and Aston, P. (1970) ''Sound and Silence''. London:

. *Paynter, J. (1972) ''Hear and Now''. London:

Universal Edition Universal Edition (UE) is an Austrian classical music publishing firm. Founded in 1901 in Vienna, it originally intended to provide the core classical works and educational works to the Austrian market. The firm soon expanded to become one of t ...

. *Paynter, J. (1976) ''All Kinds of Music''. Oxford:

. *Paynter, J. (1982) ''Music in the Secondary School Curriculum''. Cambridge:

. * Paynter, J. (1992) ''Sound and Structure''. Cambridge:

. *Paynter, J. (ed.) (1992) ''Companion to Contemporary Musical Thought''. London:

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paynter, John 1931 births 2010 deaths English composers British music educators Musicians from London Academics of the University of York Officers_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire