Thomas Harper (3 May 1786 – 20 January 1853) was an English trumpet player, playing in important concerts of the day.

Life

Harper was born in

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

. From the age of about ten he lived in London, where he studied the trumpet and the horn under Eley, and soon joined the volunteer band of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

, of which his master was director. He continued in the band for about 18 years. Harper was appointed inspector of musical instruments to the company, and held this post until his death. He played in small London theatre orchestras, until about 1806, when he was engaged as principal trumpet at the

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Dr ...

and at the English Opera House. In 1820 he performed at the

Birmingham Triennial Music Festival The Birmingham Triennial Musical Festival, in Birmingham, England, founded in 1784, was the longest-running classical music festival of its kind. It last took place in 1912. History The first music festival, over three days in September 1768 ...

. in 1821 he succeeded Hyde at the

Concerts of Antient Music The Concerts of Antient Music, also known as the ''Ancient Concerts'' or ''The King's Concerts'', were an influential concert series put on annually in London from 1776 to 1848. The concerts consisted solely of music composed at least twenty year ...

and at the

Italian Opera Italian opera is both the art of opera in Italy and opera in the Italian language. Opera was born in Italy around the year 1600 and Italian opera has continued to play a dominant role in the history of the form until the present day. Many famous ...

. From this time he took part in important orchestral concerts and musical festivals in town and country. Harper was an active member of the

Royal Society of Musicians The Royal Society of Musicians of Great Britain is a charity in the United Kingdom that supports musicians. It is the oldest music-related charity in Great Britain, founded in 1738 as the ''Fund for Decay'd Musicians'' by a declaration of trust sign ...

, and was first trumpet at concerts of the

Philharmonic Society The Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) is a British music society, formed in 1813. Its original purpose was to promote performances of instrumental music in London. Many composers and performers have taken part in its concerts. It is now a membe ...

until 1851. He played in the orchestra at the London funeral of

Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (18 or 19 November 17865 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and critic who was one of the first significant composers of the Romantic era. Best known for his opera ...

in 1826. He regularly took part in charity concerts. A critic in ''

The Musical Times ''The Musical Times'' is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom and currently the oldest such journal still being published in the country. It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainze ...

'' (volume 1, page 133) wrote: 'For purity and delicacy of tone and for wonderful facility of execution no rival has approached him. His imitation of the voice part in "Let the bright Seraphim"

Samson Samson (; , '' he, Šīmšōn, label= none'', "man of the sun") was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution o ...

''] may be pronounced one of the greatest achievements in the whole range of musical executive art'. In 1836 he published the book ''Instruction for the trumpet: with the use of the chromatic slide, also the Russian valve trumpet, the cornet à pistons or small stop trumpet, and the keyed bugle, in which the rudiments of music and the various scales, are clearly explained in a series of examples, preludes, lessons, solos, duets, etc. for each instrument''.''Instructions for the Trumpet''

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the OCL ...

. Retrieved 16 October 2019. Harper was taken ill at

Exeter Hall Exeter Hall was a large public meeting place on the north side of the Strand in central London, opposite where the Savoy Hotel now stands. From 1831 until 1907 Exeter Hall was the venue for many great gatherings by promoters of human bettermen ...

in London during a rehearsal of the

Sacred Harmonic Society The Sacred Harmonic Society (1832-1888) was an amateur musical organization of London. It was organized for the weekly practice of sacred music and the performance of oratorios and other sacred music. Performances It was noted for its performances ...

on 20 January 1853, and died a few hours later. Harper's eldest son, Thomas (1816–1898) succeeded his father in his appointments as principal trumpet; the second, Charles (1819–1893) was principal horn in notable orchestras; the youngest, Edmund (c.1821–1869), was a horn player, pianist and organist.

References

Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harper, Thomas 1786 births 1853 deaths English classical trumpeters Musicians from Worcester, England 19th-century classical musicians