John Turner (born 1943) is an English

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

player and a former lawyer. He has done much to encourage the development of contemporary music for the recorder, particularly from British composers. Turner was born in Stockport and attended

Stockport Grammar School Stockport Grammar School is a co-educational independent day school in Stockport, England. Founded in 1487 by former Lord Mayor of London Sir Edmund Shaa, it is the second oldest in the North of England, after Lancaster Royal Grammar School, ...

, where the music master was Geoffrey Verney (previously a colleague of

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

) and the assistant music master Douglas Steele (1910-1999, a composer and previously an assistant to

Thomas Beecham Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, Order of the Companions of Honour, CH (29 April 18798 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic and the Roya ...

at Covent Garden). Here Turner began to play recorder and was first introduced to a wide range of repertoire. He went on to study law at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, where he also continued to pursue his musical interests with contemporaries such as

Christopher Hogwood Christopher Jarvis Haley Hogwood (10 September 194124 September 2014) was an English conductor, harpsichordist, writer, and musicologist. Founder of the early music ensemble the Academy of Ancient Music, he was an authority on historically info ...

and David Munrow. He then took up a legal career, often acting for musicians and musical institutions. In later life he retired from legal work and became a full time musician. Many composers have written recorder music especially for Turner, including

Arthur Butterworth Arthur Eckersley Butterworth, (4 August 1923 – 20 November 2014) was an English composer, conductor, trumpeter and teacher. Biography Early life and education Butterworth was born in New Moston, near Manchester. His father was secretary of ...

, John Casken,

Arnold Cooke Arnold Atkinson Cooke (4 November 1906 – 13 August 2005) was a British composer.Biography by Eric Wetherell, British Music Society/ref> Education Cooke was born at Gomersal, West Yorkshire, into a family of carpet manufacturers. As a child, ...

Gordon Crosse Gordon Crosse (1 December 1937 – 21 November 2021) was an English composer. Biography Crosse was born in Bury, Lancashire on 1 December 1937, and in 1961 graduated from St Edmund Hall, Oxford with a first class honours degree in music, where h ...

, Peter Dickinson, Howard Ferguson, John Gardner, Anthony Gilbert, Peter Hope, Kenneth Leighton, Robin Orr,

Ian Parrott Ian Parrott (5 March 1916 – 4 September 2012) was a prolific Anglo-Welsh composer and writer on music. His distinctions included the first prize of the Royal Philharmonic Society for his symphonic poem ''Luxor'', and commissions by the BBC a ...

and Ronald Stevenson. He claims to have given over 600 first performances of works for the recorder, including pieces by non-British composers such as

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

, Ned Rorem and

Peter Sculthorpe Peter Joshua Sculthorpe (29 April 1929 – 8 August 2014) was an Australian composer. Much of his music resulted from an interest in the music of countries neighboring Australia as well as from the impulse to bring together aspects of Aborigin ...

. Turner is also a composer of works such as the ''Four Diversions'' for descant recorder and piano, which were first performed by David Munrow and Christopher Hogwood at Adlington Hall, Macclesfield in 1969. Turner has issued many recordings, including (with pianist Peter Lawson) ''John and Peter's Whistling Book'', ''English Recorder Concertos'', ''Jigs, Airs and Reels'', and titles issued by Divine Art Recordings.John Turner', Divine Arts Recording Group
/ref>

References

External links

John Turner official website

A Profile of John Turner
''Prima Facie'', March 2018
'John Turner at 70: an Interview'
''American Recorder'', Winter 2013 {{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, John 1943 births English classical composers Living people British recorder players People educated at Stockport Grammar School Alumni of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge