Thea King
Encyclopedia
Dame Thea King DBE
FRCM
FGSM
(26 December 1925 – 26 June 2007) 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 (née Hass). She was educated at Bedford High School and won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music
where she studied the piano
with Arthur Alexander and the clarinet
with Frederick Thurston
. In January 1953 she married Frederick Thurston but he died from lung cancer
in December of the same year. She never remarried.
She worked as soloist, chamber musician and as a teacher but was probably associated most closely with the English Chamber Orchestra
as principal clarinet from 1964 to 1999. She also worked with the London Mozart Players
, succeeding Gervase de Peyer
as principal clarinettist, the Sadler's Wells Opera Orchestra
, the Melos Ensemble and the Allegri String Quartet
. She was a founder member in 1953 of the Portia Wind Ensemble, an all female group. She was also a member of the Vesuvius and Robles Ensembles.
Thea King made a special study of lesser known works of the 18th and 19th centuries, especially those of Crusell
. She commissioned Elizabeth Maconchy
's Fantasia and Howard Blake
's Clarinet Concerto. Compositions dedicated to her by British composers include Benjamin Frankel
's Clarinet Quintet and Gordon Jacob
's Mini Concerto.
From 1961 to 1987, she was Professor of Clarinet at the Royal College of Music and she was a Professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
from 1988 until her death. She was a Fellow of both institutions. In 1987 she was on the jury of the Jeunesses Musicales
International Competition in Belgrade
, along with James Campbell
(Canada
), Walter Boeykens
(Belgium
), Ludwig Kurkiewicz (Poland
), Ernest Ackun
(Yugoslavia
), Marko Rudzak (Yugoslavia), Milenko Stefanovic
(Yugoslavia) and Stjepan Rabuzin (Yugoslavia).
In March 2011, a Boosey & Hawkes
1010 Bb Clarinet (serial number 31185), formerly owned by King sold for £750 on eBay
.
in 1985 and was appointed a DBE
in 2001.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
FRCM
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire founded by Royal Charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, England.-Background:The first director was Sir George Grove and he was followed by Sir Hubert Parry...
FGSM
Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Guildhall School of Music and Drama is an independent music and dramatic arts school which was founded in 1880 in London, England. Students can pursue courses in Music, Opera, Drama and Technical Theatre Arts.-History:...
(26 December 1925 – 26 June 2007) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
clarinettist.
Thea King was born in Hitchin
Hitchin
Hitchin is a town in Hertfordshire, England, with an estimated population of 30,360.-History:Hitchin is first noted as the central place of the Hicce people mentioned in a 7th century document, the Tribal Hidage. The tribal name is Brittonic rather than Old English and derives from *siccā, meaning...
, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, the daughter of Henry Walter Mayer King, the manager of a family engineering business, George. W. King Ltd., based in Hitchin
Hitchin
Hitchin is a town in Hertfordshire, England, with an estimated population of 30,360.-History:Hitchin is first noted as the central place of the Hicce people mentioned in a 7th century document, the Tribal Hidage. The tribal name is Brittonic rather than Old English and derives from *siccā, meaning...
then Stevenage
Stevenage
Stevenage is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England. It is situated to the east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1, and is between Letchworth Garden City to the north, and Welwyn Garden City to the south....
, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, and his wife, Dorothea (née Hass). She was educated at Bedford High School and won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire founded by Royal Charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, England.-Background:The first director was Sir George Grove and he was followed by Sir Hubert Parry...
where she studied the piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
with Arthur Alexander and the clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
with Frederick Thurston
Frederick Thurston
Frederick John Thurston 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...
. In January 1953 she married Frederick Thurston but he died 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...
in December of the same year. She never remarried.
She worked as soloist, chamber musician and as a teacher but was probably associated most closely with the English Chamber Orchestra
English Chamber Orchestra
The English Chamber Orchestra is a British chamber orchestra based in London. The full orchestra regularly plays concerts at Cadogan Hall, and the ECO Ensemble performs at Wigmore Hall...
as principal clarinet from 1964 to 1999. She also worked with the London Mozart Players
London Mozart Players
The London Mozart Players is a British chamber orchestra founded in 1949. The LMP is the longest-established chamber orchestra in the United Kingdom whose performances and recordings focus largely on the core repertoire from the Classical era...
, succeeding Gervase de Peyer
Gervase de Peyer
Gervase Alan de Peyer is an English clarinetist and conductor.-Professional career:Gervase de Peyer was born in London and attended Bedales School. He was awarded a scholarship to the Royal College of Music where he studied clarinet with Frederick Thurston and piano with Arthur Alexander...
as principal clarinettist, the Sadler's Wells Opera Orchestra
Sadler's Wells Theatre
Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue located in Rosebery Avenue, Clerkenwell in the London Borough of Islington. The present day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500 seat main auditorium and the Lilian Baylis Studio, with extensive...
, the Melos Ensemble and the Allegri String Quartet
Allegri Quartet
The Allegri Quartet is a string quartet that was founded in 1953 by Eli Goren and William Pleeth.It is Britain's longest-running chamber music ensemble, sustained over six decades by successive generations of performers....
. She was a founder member in 1953 of the Portia Wind Ensemble, an all female group. She was also a member of the Vesuvius and Robles Ensembles.
Thea King made a special study of lesser known works of the 18th and 19th centuries, especially those of Crusell
Bernhard Henrik Crusell
Bernhard Henrik Crusell was a Swedish-Finnish clarinetist, composer and translator, "the most significant and internationally best-known Finnish-born classical composer and indeed, — the outstanding Finnish composer before Sibelius".-Early life and training:Crusell was born in Uusikaupunki ,...
. She commissioned 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 Fantasia and Howard Blake
Howard Blake
Howard Blake, OBE is an English composer , particularly noted for his film scores, although he is prolific in several fields of classical and light music...
's Clarinet Concerto. Compositions dedicated to her by British composers include Benjamin Frankel
Benjamin Frankel
Benjamin Frankel was a British composer. Frankel's most famous pieces include a cycle of five string quartets and eight symphonies as well as a number of concertos for violin and viola; his single best-known piece is probably the First Sonata for Solo Violin, which, like his concertos, resulted...
's Clarinet Quintet and 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 Mini Concerto.
From 1961 to 1987, she was Professor of Clarinet at the Royal College of Music and she was a Professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Guildhall School of Music and Drama is an independent music and dramatic arts school which was founded in 1880 in London, England. Students can pursue courses in Music, Opera, Drama and Technical Theatre Arts.-History:...
from 1988 until her death. She was a Fellow of both institutions. In 1987 she was on the jury of the Jeunesses Musicales
Jeunesses Musicales
Jeunesses Musicales International is the largest youth music NGO in the world, created in Brussels, Belgium in 1945 with the mission to "enable young people to develop through music across all boundaries"...
International Competition in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
, along with James Campbell
James Campbell (clarinetist)
James Campbell is a Canadian/American clarinetist. James Campbell has followed his muse to five television specials, more than 40 recordings, over 30 works commissioned, a Juno Award , a Roy Thomson Hall Award, Canada's Artist of the Year and the Order of Canada...
(Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
), Walter Boeykens
Walter Boeykens
Knight Walter Boeykens January 6, 1938 Bornem, Belgium is a Belgian conductor and a world renowned clarinetist. Boeykens has an impressive discography including several critically acclaimed performances that are testimony to his status as one of the most notable clarinetists of the 20th century...
(Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
), Ludwig Kurkiewicz (Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
), Ernest Ackun
Ernest Ackun
Ernest Ačkun was a Yugoslav / Slovenian clarinetist.-Early life:Ernest Ačkun was born in Hrastnik, Slovenia, which was then part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia....
(Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
), Marko Rudzak (Yugoslavia), Milenko Stefanovic
Milenko Stefanovic
Milenko Stefanović is the most famous Serbian and Yugoslav clarinetist: a prizewinner in the international competitions in Moscow, Munich, Geneva and Prague, soloist who has achieved significant international career, long-time principal clarinetist of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra and...
(Yugoslavia) and Stjepan Rabuzin (Yugoslavia).
In March 2011, a Boosey & Hawkes
Boosey & Hawkes
Boosey & Hawkes is a British music publisher purported to be the largest specialist classical music publisher in the world. Until 2003, it was also a major manufacturer of brass, string and wind musical instruments....
1010 Bb Clarinet (serial number 31185), formerly owned by King sold for £750 on eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
.
Damehood
Thea King was made an OBEOrder of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 1985 and was appointed a DBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 2001.