Person Open DS/UK/6471 Thurston; Frederick John (1901-1953); English clarinetist Thurston Frederick John 1901-1953 English clarinetist Male

Frederick John Thurston (21 September 1901 – 12 December 1953) was an English clarinettist. 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. During the 1920s he played with the orchestra of the Royal Opera House and the BBC Wireless Orchestra before becoming principal clarinettist of the newly formed BBC Symphony Orchestra. He left the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 1946 to concentrate on chamber music. He was also principal clarinet of The Philharmonia Orchestra and can be heard on the Toscanini recording of the Brahms Symphonies. Thurston can also be heard on Volume 1 of Historical Clarinet Recordings on the Victoria Soames Samek's Clarinet Classics CD Label. He gave the first performance of new works, including Arnold Bax's Clarinet Sonata, Arthur Bliss's Clarinet Quintet and Gerald Finzi's Clarinet Concerto. Works dedicated to him include Malcolm Arnold's Clarinet Concerto No 1, 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 and Alan Rawsthorne's Clarinet Concerto. He taught at the Royal College of Music from 1930 to 1953. In 1953 he married Thea King, one of his pupils, but died later the same year from lung cancer. International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) 2nd edition - ICA 2004 ISBN 2-9521932-2-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 Yes RAHhbaulcombe 7/26/2013 Rachael.Fragola 3/1/2022 c55115da-efaa-49a2-9183-0689e38289e3