Edmund Hart Turpin (4 May 1835 – 25 October 1907) was an organist, composer, writer and choir leader based in Nottingham and London.Men of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. R Mellors. S.R. Publishers Ltd. 1969
Life
Edmund Hart Turpin was born into a musical family that ran a dealership in musical instruments at 20 Chapel Bar, Nottingham. His father, James Turpin, was a lace maker and enthusiastic musical amateur.Lace maker , cyberhymnal.org, retrieved 25 October 2014James Turpin, ebooksread.com, retrieved 9 November 2014 On 3 November 1857 he married Sarah Anne Watson (1834 – 26 January 1903), second daughter of Mr. Robert Watson of Whitemoor, Nottingham.Birthyear Sarah Anne Watson, familysearch.org, retrieved 30 October 2014Time of death Sarah Anne, genesreunited.co.uk, retrieved 7 November 2014 They had known each other from early childhood, and had attended their first school together.Charles William Pearce, A Biographical Sketch of Edmund Hart Turpin, 1911, p. 15 Together they had one daughter, Florence Elizabeth.Florence Elizabeth, ancestry.com, retrieved 7 November 2014Charles William Pearce, A Biographical Sketch of Edmund Hart Turpin, 1911 On 26 January 1903 his wife, Sarah Anne, died. It was at St. Bride's, Fleet Street on 2 May 1905, that he secondly married Miss Sarah Hobbs (? – 10 November 1918), daughter of the late Mr. John Hobbs, a surgeon of Bloomsbury.Death Sarah Hobbs, genesreunited.co.uk, retrieved 7 November 2014 Miss Sarah Hobbs had been a most ardent church-worker in the parish of St. Bride's.Miss Hobbs , forgottenbooks.com, retrieved 29 October 2014
Although by descent a French Huguenot, and a consistent member of the Church of England for nearly the whole of his life, E.H. Turpin always preserved the memories of this official connection with the Roman Catholic cathedral in a warm corner of his heart.Charles William Pearce, A Biographical Sketch of Edmund Hart Turpin, 1911, pp. 10–11 The solemn stately ceremonial, the devotional breath of the incense, the tender pleading of the Latin liturgy by the voice of its own native plainsong, were subjects he ever delighted to discourse upon. It was a pleasure to him to bear witness during the whole period being organist at St. Barnabas (1850–1865), although in constant and daily touch with the cathedral clergy, no one ever attempted to persuade him to renounce his ancestral Protestantism in order to embrace the Catholic Faith. The services of the Anglican Church with which he was so closely associated later on in life, much as he admired and respected them, never seemed to appeal to his highly strung emotional temperament as strongly as did either those of the Church of Rome, or of the Catholic and Apostolic Communion. The beautiful ritual and music of the stately Catholic Apostolic Church must have consoled him for his severance from the still greater magnificence of the worship of the Roman Church.Charles William Pearce, A Biographical Sketch of Edmund Hart Turpin, 1911, p. 17
E.H. Turpin was buried at Highgate Cemetery (London), and his funeral was at St. Bride's, Fleet Street.Charles William Pearce, A Biographical Sketch of Edmund Hart Turpin, 1911, pp. 65–66 His funeral service was attended by many Fellows, Associates and Members of the Royal College of Organists, and other distinguished musicians. He was succeeded by Mr. T. Westlake Morgan, a former organist of Bangor Cathedral.Funeral, ebooksread.com, retrieved 16 December 2015 The flat stone above his grave, which is now entirely covered by earth, had the words of the first verse of "On the Resurrection Morning" inscribed on it. A memorial tablet has also been placed in the hall of the Royal College of Organists, close to the door of his official private room; this has his portrait and the melody of his tune "Mansfield", with the words of the first verse of the hymn engraved below the music.
Career Unlike Samuel Wesley, Henry Smart, Frederick Ouseley, John Stainer and others who were able to play at a very early age, Edmund Hart Turpin was about nine years old when he began to learn the pianoforte. He studied music under Charles Noble, organist at St Mary's Church, Nottingham, but also under other local teachers.Local teachers, ebooksread.com, retrieved 9 November 2014Charles William Pearce, A Biographical Sketch of Edmund Hart Turpin, 1911, pp. 5–6 He got on so well with his organ playing that when his father paid the fees for his last term's instruction, Mr. Noble insisted on returning the money, saying, My pupil now plays as well as I can myself: I can teach him nothing more. Early in 1847 – before his twelfth birthday – he became the organist of Friar Lane Congregational Church, Nottingham, which his family had attended for many years. He received no payment for his services. At age 13, the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. Barnabas at Nottingham being then newly built and was in need of an organist; E.H. Turpin applied for this post. The clergy were satisfied with what they heard but considered him altogether too young. He assured the reverend fathers that he should try for the post again whenever a vacancy occurred. Two years later, in 1850, he applied again and successfully obtained this position at St. Barnabas.Charles William Pearce, A Biographical Sketch of Edmund Hart Turpin, 1911, pp. 8–10
Besides these appointments as organists in local churches in Nottingham, Edmund was also Band Master to the Robin Hood Rifles.Charles William Pearce, A Biographical Sketch of Edmund Hart Turpin, 1911, pp. 12–13 At the age of 16 he gave his first London organ recital in 1851 at the Great Exhibition, Hyde Park.First organ recital , cyberhymnal.org, retrieved 25 October 2014 Later on he was heard at the Crystal Palace and upon other important organs in London, and from this time onwards he gradually increased his metropolitan work and connection; still, however, retaining his organistship at Nottingham, where he also acted as conductor for several musical societies. In 1857 he settled in London, but retained some appointments in Nottingham.London settlement, ebooksread.com, retrieved 9 November 2014 Having been introduced to the Catholic Apostolic (Irvingite) Church by Mr. Pearson, the father of his brother Samuel's wife – an influential member of the Irvingite body in Nottingham – E.H. Turpin was appointed in 1860 as organist and choir-director of the Church of Christ the King, Bloomsbury, the central church of the Catholic and Apostolic Church in London.Charles William Pearce, A Biographical Sketch of Edmund Hart Turpin, 1911, pp. 15–16
The amount of work he did for the Catholic Apostolic Church in London was described as phenomenal by Henry Strange Hume (1840–1928), its chief minister and elder in the Central Church in London.Charles William Pearce, A Biographical Sketch of Edmund Hart Turpin, 1911, p. 17Columba Graham Flegg, Gathered under Apostles: A Study of the Catholic Apostolic Church, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1992, p. 17. In the Musical Herald of 1 December 1907 Hume wrote: On the invitation of the chief minister of the church in Duncan Street, Islington, Mr. Turpin came in 1858 to instruct the choir in Plainsong. Two years later he was permanently engaged in the church in Gordon Square as musical director. For many years he assiduously trained the boys in the choir school, and conducted the weekly choir practices. Later, he was relieved of the laborious school work, but he continued to take oversight of the music, and frequently played the organ at the services. Besides this, he wrote almost all the music sung in the church, and here, it may perhaps be said, he put in some of his best work, including some very fine settings of the Te Deum, and many beautiful anthems. In all, he composed nearly forty complete services.Charles William Pearce, A Biographical Sketch of Edmund Hart Turpin, 1911, p. 17 His major contributions for the music in the Catholic Apostolic Church were: the Hymn Tunes, published in 1872. It provides tunes for the 320 hymns in the 1871 edition of the Hymns for the Use of the Churches, which was edited by Edward Wilton Eddis, a member of Catholic Apostolic Church, and John Bate Cardale, an apostle in the Catholic Apostolic Church. Furthermore, it provides four metrical chants, one of which was written by E.H. Turpin. Most of the hymns were taken out of other hymnals. Some came from the Hymns Ancient and Modern which his friend John Stainer was asked to help to revise and for which Charles Steggall republished the Complete edition in 1906.Charles Steggall, wikipedia.org, retrieved 29 October 2014 In total 39 tunes were newly written by E.H. Turpin; most of these new tunes were to support the hymns of Edward Wilton Eddis. the Versicles and Responses for use in the Service of the Catholic Apostolic Church during the Eucharist Service, arranged by Edmund Hart Turpin and published before 1873Versicles and Responses, Amazon, retrieved 10 November 2014 The Book of Psalms, Pointed in Accordance with the Twelve Ancient Tones, published in 1879.Turpin's Psalmbook , forgottenbooks.com, retrieved 30 October 2014The Book of Psalms, Pointed in Accordance with the Twelve Ancient Tones, Chiswick Press, London, 1879 As such it provided psalms in ancient style of plainchant.Plainchant, churchservicesociety.org, retrieved 30 October 2014 the Accompanying Harmonies to the tones for the Psalms in the twelve ancient church modes published in 1880.Accompanying Harmonies, Amazon, retrieved 30 October 2014Organ harmonies Psalmbook , forgottenbooks.com, retrieved 30 October 2014 It provided organ harmonies for the psalmtones in The Book of Psalms, Pointed in Accordance with the Twelve Ancient Tones from 1879. Services and Anthems in Vocal Score with Organ Accompaniment.
Finding as time went on that the continual travelling back and forth to Nottingham (frequently at night) was too great a strain upon his health, he resigned with great regret his post at the Roman Catholic cathedral in Nottingham, and finally, in 1865, he settled for good in London. His brother, James Turpin, succeeded him as organist in Nottingham. Early in 1869, he undertook in addition to all this heavy church work, the duties of organist and choirmaster at St. George's, Bloomsbury. Once settled in London Turpin rapidly made friends, two of the earliest being Edward John Hopkins of the Temple Church, and John Pyke Hullah. Another friend for nearly forty years was Charles William Pearce (1856–1928), organist and later Hon. Treasurer of the Royal College of Organists; the latter wrote E.H. Turpin's biography in 1911.Charles William Pearce, A Biographical Sketch of Edmund Hart Turpin, 1911, Preface In London, E.H. Turpin studied under John Pyke Hullah as well as Ernst Pauer.Hullah and Pauer , cyberhymnal.org, retrieved 26 October 2014 It is known that E.H. Turpin also acted as teacher. For example, Edwin Lemare, Henry Houseley and John Cullen received musical education from him.John Cullen, books.google.nl, retrieved 16 December 2014 Edwin Lemare even lived with the Turpin family for several years while E.H. Turpin groomed him for a recital career.Lemare living with Turpin's , orgel.com, retrieved 9 November 2014