Judy Tarling, a pioneering figure in the performance of baroque music, has died of cancer at the age of 78. As a violinist, author, and tutor, she left an indelible mark on the early music scene, shaping how musicians approach 17th- and 18th-century repertoire.
A Life in Music
Tarling began her professional career in 1970 as a member of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, following studies in violin and viola. After two years in Canada, where she developed a passion for early music, she returned to Britain and took up the baroque violin. She formed her own ensemble, Brighton Baroque, and also performed as a viola player with period-instrument groups such as the Academy of Ancient Music, the Hanover Band, and the London Handel Orchestra.
In 1981, Tarling joined The Parley of Instruments, initially as a viola player and later as its leader. Her distinctive playing is captured on numerous Hyperion recordings with the group. She was instrumental in developing the Parley's consort of Renaissance violins, which was designed for performing music from the 16th and early 17th centuries.
Teaching and Writing
Tarling was an inspiring tutor, known for her deep understanding of baroque performance practice and its connections to classical rhetoric. She co-developed baroque orchestral courses with a colleague, first at Little Benslow Hills in Hitchin and later for the Cambridge Early Music Summer Schools, founded in 1993. She also led orchestras for the Suffolk Villages festival and Leeds Baroque, and taught on courses across Europe and the Americas.
Her expertise was encapsulated in five influential books. Her first, Baroque String Playing for Ingenious Learners (2000), was followed by The Weapons of Rhetoric: A Guide for Musicians and Performers (2004), which became required reading for musicians worldwide. Her later work, Landscapes of Eloquence: Finding Rhetoric in the English Landscape Garden (2020), reflected her interest in garden history, a passion she developed over decades.
Early Life and Legacy
Born in Brighton, Judy was the youngest child of William Tarling, a solicitor, and Beryl (née George), a homemaker. She studied violin and viola at Brighton and Hove High School, Dartington College of Arts in Devon, and in London at the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music.
In 1970, she married David Garside and moved with him to Toronto the following year, returning to the UK in 1973. The marriage ended in divorce in 1982. In 1985, she married Peter Lay, who survives her, along with her children Kathy and Thomas, her grandson Griffin, and her siblings Christine and John.
Her colleague and friend, who worked with her for decades, described her as an inspiring figure whose teaching and writing transformed the approach to baroque performance. Her legacy lives on through her books, recordings, and the many musicians she mentored.
