John Anthony Whitworth (27 December 192111 July 2013) was an English

countertenor A countertenor (also contra tenor) is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of the female contralto or mezzo-soprano voice types, generally extending from around G3 to D5 or E5, although a sopranist (a s ...

, organist, and teacher of music. He was a

lay vicar A lay clerk, also known as a lay vicar, song man or a vicar choral, is a professional adult singer in an Anglican cathedral and often Roman Catholic Cathedrals in the UK, or (occasionally) collegiate choir in Britain and Ireland. The vicars chora ...

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

and a professor at the Guildhall School of Music.

Early life

Whitworth was born on 27 December 1921 in

Ely, Cambridgeshire Ely ( ) is a cathedral city in the East Cambridgeshire district of Cambridgeshire, England, about north-northeast of Cambridge and from London. Ely is built on a Kimmeridge Clay island which, at , is the highest land in the Fens. It was d ...

, the son of Horace Whitworth, a potato merchant, and his wife Mary Anne, and educated at

Kimbolton School Kimbolton School is a British HMC co-educational independent day and boarding school in the rural village of Kimbolton, Cambridgeshire, England. There are 1000 students, aged 4 to 18. Boarding and flexi-boarding is available to a limited ...

.Emma Gilbertson
John Whitworth obituary
in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 18 August 2013, accessed 28 June 2020 While still at school, Whitworth became organist at the

Sutton-in-the-Isle Sutton or Sutton-in-the-Isle is village and civil parish in the county of Cambridgeshire in England, near the city of Ely. The "in-the-Isle" suffix refers to the fact that the village is part of the Isle of Ely, once an island in the Fens and ...

parish church. With the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he deferred his education and joined the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

. Becoming a flight mechanic, in 1941 he was posted to Canada, but returned to Europe and was in Paris for

VE Day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945, marking the official end of World War II in Europe in the Easter ...

.Garry Humphreys
John Whitworth: Celebrated countertenor
in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 15 September 2013, accessed 20 June 2020 Whitworth was demobilized in 1946 and took up a place at

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...

, as a choral scholar of

King's College Chapel King's College Chapel is the chapel of King's College, Cambridge, King's College in the University of Cambridge. It is considered one of the finest examples of late Perpendicular Gothic English architecture and features the world's largest fan ...

, under the direction of Boris Ord.

Career

On graduating from Cambridge in 1949, Whitworth was appointed to the choir of Westminster Abbey as a singing lay vicar and remained there for 22 years. He also worked as a singing master at Reigate St Mary's, a

choir school This article contains a list of choir schools sorted alphabetically by country. Australia *St Andrew's Cathedral School , motto_translation = The Way of the Cross is the Way of Light , established = , type ...

in Surrey, but later switched to teaching maths at the

Westminster Abbey Choir School Westminster Abbey Choir School is a boarding preparatory school for boys in Westminster, London and the only remaining choir school in the United Kingdom which exclusively educates choristers (i.e. only choirboys attend the school). It is loca ...

, to reduce the strain on his voice. Whitworth's first solo engagement as a professional singer was in 1950, in Handel's ''

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...

'' at the

Methodist Central Hall, Westminster The Methodist Central Hall (also known as Central Hall Westminster) is a multi-purpose venue in the City of Westminster, London, serving primarily as a Methodist church and a conference centre. The building, which is a tourist attraction, also ho ...

. Not long after that he was singing with the

Deller Consort Alfred George Deller, CBE (31 May 1912 – 16 July 1979), was an English singer and one of the main figures in popularising the return of the countertenor voice in Renaissance and Baroque music during the 20th century. He is sometimes refer ...

in radio broadcasts. In 1952 he sang songs by

William Byrd William Byrd (; 4 July 1623) was an English composer of late Renaissance music. Considered among the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he had a profound influence on composers both from his native England and those on the continent. He ...

solo for the BBC.Charlotte Smith
"Obituary: John Whitworth, countertenor"
in '' Gramophone'', 5 September 2013, accessed 22 June 2020 Soon after his arrival at Westminster Abbey, Whitworth met the organist Michael Howard, founder of the Renaissance Singers, whose aim was to promote a liturgical revival of the great music of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

, the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, and the Restoration. The two worked closely together, with Whitworth taking on the position of director of the group. Living in London, Whitworth was in much demand as a singer and also as a choir director for recitals, concerts, recordings, and

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...

broadcasts. He also toured with the Golden Age Singers. While still at Westminster Abbey, Whitworth was organist of Christ Church, Chelsea, in 1964–1965 and of St Paul's, Covent Garden, from 1965 to 1970. In 1965 he was also appointed as a professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Among the students he taught there was the countertenor Peter Giles. Whitworth gave up all his London positions in 1971 to become a music adviser to

Leicestershire County Council Leicestershire County Council is the county council for the English non-metropolitan county of Leicestershire. It was originally formed in 1889 by the Local Government Act 1888. The county is divided into 52 electoral divisions, which return a to ...

, a post he held until his retirement at age 65 in 1986. In 1988 he began to teach at

Uppingham School Uppingham School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils 13-18) in Uppingham, Rutland, England, founded in 1584 by Robert Johnson, the Archdeacon of Leicester, who also established Oakham School. The headma ...

, where one of his students was the countertenor

Robin Blaze Robin Blaze (born 1971 in Manchester) is an English countertenor. Early life The son of Peter Blaze, a professional golfer, and Christine, Blaze and his brother Mark grew up in Shadwell, near Leeds, and was educated at Leeds Grammar School, ...

. He also took a research interest in early music, transcribing many compositions from primary sources in the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

and the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

, and was the editor of a hymn book."John Whitworth"
in ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', 8 September 2013, accessed 28 June 2020 Whitworth was the second most prominent countertenor in England after

Alfred Deller Alfred George Deller, CBE (31 May 1912 – 16 July 1979), was an English singer and one of the main figures in popularising the return of the countertenor voice in Renaissance and Baroque music during the 20th century. He is sometimes referr ...

during the countertenor revival of the 1940s and 1950s, and they sang together in duets by

John Blow John Blow (baptised 23 February 1649 – 1 October 1708) was an English composer and organist of the Baroque period. Appointed organist of Westminster Abbey in late 1668,Henry Purcell. The critic Richard Lawrence considered Whitworth a better singer than Deller, writing in '' Gramophone'' in 2005:

Private life

In 1963 Whitworth married Patricia Fitzgerald, and they had three daughters, Alexandra, Juliet and Victoria. From 1971, the family lived in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

. In addition to his musical career, Whitworth was an avid car collector, owning some thirty models, including vintage

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

cars. He died in Leicester on 11 July 2013.

Honours

*Honorary degree,

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when L ...

, 1998

Selected publications

*John Whitworth, ''Three Catches for Travellers'' (Stainer & Bell, 1965, ASIN B0000D541K)

Notes

External links

*
Secrecy, I am come to lock all fast
sung by John Whitworth,

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitworth, John Anthony 1921 births 2013 deaths Academics of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Alumni of King's College, Cambridge People educated at Kimbolton School Countertenors English organists Royal Air Force personnel of World War II