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

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 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 Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It tours widely, and is sometimes referred to as "Britain's national orchestra"...

, the orchestra of the Royal Opera House

Royal Opera House

The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...

 and the BBC Wireless Orchestra before becoming principal clarinettist of the newly formed BBC Symphony Orchestra

BBC Symphony Orchestra

The BBC Symphony Orchestra is the principal broadcast orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation and one of the leading orchestras in Britain.-History:...

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

Chamber music

Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...

.
He was also principal clarinet of The Phiharmonia Orchestra and can be heard on the Toscanini recording of the Brahm's Symphonies (available on CDs- Testament Recordings)
Thurston can also be heard on Volume 1 of Historical Clarinet Recordings on the Victoria Soames Samek's Clarinet Classics CD Label. (Clarinet Classics.com)

He gave the first performance of new works, including Arnold Bax

Arnold Bax

Sir Arnold Edward Trevor Bax, KCVO was an English composer and poet. His musical style blended elements of romanticism and impressionism, often with influences from Irish literature and landscape. His orchestral scores are noted for their complexity and colourful instrumentation...

's Clarinet Sonata, Arthur Bliss

Arthur Bliss

‎Sir Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss, CH, KCVO 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...

's Clarinet Quintet and Gerald Finzi

Gerald Finzi

Gerald Raphael Finzi was a British composer. Finzi is best known as a song-writer, but also wrote in other genres...

's Clarinet Concerto. Works dedicated to him include Malcolm Arnold

Malcolm Arnold

Sir Malcolm Henry Arnold, CBE was an English composer and symphonist.Malcolm Arnold began his career playing trumpet professionally, but by age thirty his life was devoted to composition. He was ranked with Benjamin Britten as one of the most sought-after composers in Britain...

's Clarinet Concerto No 1, Iain Hamilton

Iain Hamilton (composer)

Iain Ellis Hamilton was a Scottish composer.He was educated in London where he became an apprentice engineer, and remained in that profession for the next seven years. He undertook the study of music in his spare time...

's Three Nocturnes, Herbert Howells

Herbert Howells

Herbert Norman Howells CH was an English composer, organist, and teacher, most famous for his large output of Anglican church music.-Life:...

's Clarinet Sonata, John Ireland

John Ireland (composer)

John Nicholson Ireland was an English composer.- Life :John Ireland was born in Bowdon, near Altrincham, Manchester, into a family of Scottish descent and some cultural distinction. His father, Alexander Ireland, a publisher and newspaper proprietor, was aged 70 at John's birth...

's Fantasy-Sonata, Gordon Jacob

Gordon Jacob

Gordon Percival Septimus Jacob was an English composer. He is known for his wind instrument composition and his instructional writings.-Life:...

's Clarinet Quintet, Elizabeth Maconchy

Elizabeth Maconchy

Dame Elizabeth Violet Maconchy Le Fanu DBE was an English composer, most noted for her cycle of thirteen string quartets.-Biography:...

's Clarinet Concertino #1 and Alan Rawsthorne

Alan Rawsthorne

Alan Rawsthorne was a British composer. He was born in Haslingden, Lancashire, and is buried in Thaxted churchyard in Essex.-Career:...

's Clarinet Concerto.

He taught at the Royal College of Music from 1930 to 1953. In 1953 he married Thea King

Thea King

Dame Thea King DBE FRCM FGSM was a British clarinettist.Thea King was born in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, the daughter of Henry Walter Mayer King, the manager of a family engineering business, George. W. King Ltd., based in Hitchin then Stevenage, Hertfordshire, and his wife, Dorothea...

, one of his pupils, but died later the same year from lung cancer

Lung cancer

Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...

.

Writings

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

See also