Turner: 6 Lessons for Harpsichord (London, 1756)

Featuring

Costanza Leuzzi
Elizabeth Turner

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Composer Biography

Elizabeth Turner, a successful singer, composer, and harpsichordist in 18th-century London, is one of the rare examples of female musicians operating in Britain at that time.

Recording & Production

This album features the first complete recording of Elizabeth Turner's 'Six Lessons for the Harpsichord'.

Composer Biography

Elizabeth Turner's career was prematurely interrupted by her death in 1756, which is inferred from reports in English newspapers of the time.

Composer Biography

Elizabeth Turner often performed in benefit concerts, which were popular in 18th-century London, to raise funds for promoting her own work or that of others.

Composition History

Elizabeth Turner published two volumes: 'Twelve Songs' (1750), a collection of English folk songs, and 'A Collection of Songs... With Six Lessons for the Harpsichord' (1756), which includes the harpsichord lessons on this album.

Composer Biography

Elizabeth Turner's success was linked to Georg Friedrich Händel, in whose oratorios she often participated, and William Boyce, who entrusted her with solo parts in his choral concerts.

Composer's Artistic Vision

The frontispiece of Elizabeth Turner's 1756 print features an engraving depicting a woman at the harpsich, Cupid, and Apollo, symbolizing love as a mode of reading the world and music organizing the cosmos.