# Barbara Thornton

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{{short description|American singer and musicologist (1950–1998)}}
{{Use shortened footnotes|date=March 2021}}
'''Barbara Thornton''' (January 6, 1950 – November 8, 1998) was an American singer, [musicologist](/source/Musicology), and groundbreaking performer of [medieval music](/source/medieval_music).

Thornton, described as “one of the most eminent medieval voices of our time”,{{sfn|Neumann|1999}} was born in Summit, New Jersey and educated at [Sarah Lawrence College](/source/Sarah_Lawrence_College), the [Conservatorium van Amsterdam](/source/Conservatorium_van_Amsterdam), and the [Schola Cantorum Basiliensis](/source/Schola_Cantorum_Basiliensis). In 1977, she founded the ensemble [Sequentia](/source/Sequentia_(music_group)) with [Benjamin Bagby](/source/Benjamin_Bagby) in [Basel](/source/Basel). They moved to [Cologne](/source/Cologne) that same year, where they lived and worked together for 21 years.{{sfnm|Anderson|1998|Neumann|1999|Zahn|2001}}

Sequentia has released many recordings, most of them on [Deutsche Harmonia Mundi](/source/Deutsche_Harmonia_Mundi).{{sfn|Weber|2001}} In 1982, the group began to stage [Hildegard of Bingen](/source/Hildegard_of_Bingen)’s ''[Ordo Virtutum](/source/Ordo_Virtutum)'', which proved so successful, both in concert and on record, that they undertook to record all of Hildegard's musical output—a project completed in 1998 for the celebration of the abbess's 900th birthday.{{sfn|Neumann|1999}} The group has also performed music written in the 12th century from the musical centers [Santiago de Compostela](/source/Santiago_de_Compostela), [Aquitaine](/source/Aquitaine), and [Notre Dame](/source/Notre_Dame_de_Paris).

Thornton died in [Cologne](/source/Cologne) on November 8, 1998, at the age of 48, after having suffered for a number of years from an inoperable brain tumour.{{sfnm|Anderson|1998|Neumann|1999}}

==Sources==
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Anderson|1998}}|reference=Anderson, Martin. 1998. [https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-barbara-thornton-1185810.html Obituary: Barbara Thornton]. ‘’Independent’’ (18 November).}}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Neumann|1999}}|reference=Neumann, Klaus L. 1999. "Barbara Thornton, 1950–98". ''Early Music'' 27, no. 1 (February): 169.}}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Tick|2001}}|reference=Tick, Judith. 2001. "Women in Music, §I: Historiography". ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by [Stanley Sadie](/source/Stanley_Sadie) and [John Tyrrell](/source/John_Tyrrell_(musicologist)). London: Macmillan Publishers.}}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Weber|2001}}|reference=Weber, Jerome F. 2001. "Harmonia Mundi". ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers.}}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Zahn|2001}}|reference=Zahn, Robert von. 2001. "Cologne". ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers.}}

===Footnotes===
{{reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thornton, Barbara}}
Category:1950 births
Category:1998 deaths
Category:American performers of early music
Category:Women performers of early music
Category:Schola Cantorum Basiliensis alumni
Category:20th-century American singers
Category:20th-century American classical musicians
Category:20th-century American musicologists
Category:American musicologists
Category:American women musicologists
Category:Conservatorium van Amsterdam alumni

{{US-singer-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Barbara Thornton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Thornton) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Thornton?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.