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My command performer is
English, rooted in the Anglican choral tradition – and not Alfred Deller. Deller was a wonderful singer, perhaps a little precocious at times, and cornered the concert and recording market in the 1950s and 60s. But for my money he was outclassed by John Whitworth. He had a
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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
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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
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In 1963 Whitworth married
Patricia Fitzgerald, and they had three daughters, Alexandra, Juliet and Victoria. From 1971, the family lived in
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Living in London, Whitworth was in much demand as a singer and also as a choir director for recitals, concerts, recordings, and
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222:, and the Restoration. The two worked closely together, with Whitworth taking on the position of director of the group.
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302:. In addition to his musical career, Whitworth was an avid car collector, owning some thirty models, including vintage
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voice of great beauty, rich in the lower register, trumpet-toned in the upper, and without the Deller vibrato.
255:. He also took a research interest in early music, transcribing many compositions from primary sources in the
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137:. Becoming a flight mechanic, in 1941 he was posted to Canada, but returned to Europe and was in Paris for
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While still at
Westminster Abbey, Whitworth was organist of Christ Church, Chelsea, in 1964–1965 and of
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John
Whitworth Virtuoso countertenor, music scholar and pillar of the English choral society tradition
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during the countertenor revival of the 1940s and 1950s, and they sang together in duets by
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Whitworth gave up all his London positions in 1971 to become a music adviser to
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Whitworth's first solo engagement as a professional singer was in 1950, in
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Whitworth was the second most prominent countertenor in
England after
83:(27 December 1921 – 11 July 2013) was an English
125:. While still at school, Whitworth became organist at the
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Whitworth was demobilized in 1946 and took up a place at
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broadcasts. He also toured with the Golden Age
Singers.
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in Surrey, but later switched to teaching maths at the
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Academics of the
Guildhall School of Music and Drama
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207:in radio broadcasts. In 1952 he sang songs by
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306:cars. He died in Leicester on 11 July 2013.
333:(Stainer & Bell, 1965, ASIN B0000D541K)
133:, he deferred his education and joined the
87:, organist, and teacher of music. He was a
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425:, 15 September 2013, accessed 20 June 2020
117:Whitworth was born on 27 December 1921 in
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574:Royal Air Force personnel of World War II
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447:"Obituary: John Whitworth, countertenor"
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129:parish church. With the outbreak of the
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417:John Whitworth: Celebrated countertenor
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201:Methodist Central Hall, Westminster
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169:Choir stalls of Westminster Abbey
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331:Three Catches for Travellers
71:, organist, teacher of music
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146:King's College, Cambridge
97:Guildhall School of Music
522:sung by John Whitworth,
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496:(subscription required)
359:John Whitworth obituary
317:Loughborough University
95:and a professor at the
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81:John Anthony Whitworth
324:Selected publications
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150:King's College Chapel
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491:The Daily Telegraph
119:Ely, Cambridgeshire
41:Ely, Cambridgeshire
211:solo for the BBC.
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127:Sutton-in-the-Isle
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445:Charlotte Smith,
415:Garry Humphreys,
357:Emma Gilbertson,
315:Honorary degree,
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53:(2013-07-11)
51:11 July 2013
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544:2013 deaths
539:1921 births
304:Rolls-Royce
253:Robin Blaze
238:Peter Giles
220:Reformation
216:Renaissance
533:Categories
476:), p. viii
452:Gramophone
281:Gramophone
103:Early life
34:1921-12-27
382:The Times
300:Leicester
284:in 2005:
272:John Blow
227:BBC Radio
154:Boris Ord
89:lay vicar
60:, England
58:Leicester
43:, England
259:and the
524:YouTube
515:Discogs
310:Honours
199:at the
196:Messiah
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319:, 1998
218:, the
191:Handel
160:Career
139:VE Day
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338:Notes
470:ISBN
274:and
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48:Died
28:Born
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32:(
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
