Thurner was born on 9 December 1785 in Montbéliard, the first son of the flutist Anton Thurner. When Thurner was four years old, both parents died, and he was raised by his uncle in Kassel. There, his musical talent was recognized, and he learned to play the piano and received lessons in figured bass. Thurner already appeared in public as a pianist at the age of eight. From that time on he received lessons on the flute, and at about twelve he switched to the oboe. At age 16 he was sent to Munich to study as a pupil of the oboist Friedrich Ramm. He studied composition with Franz Danzi, and it was not long before Thurner presented two symphonies and a ballet. Numerous compositions for oboe followed.
In 1804 Thurner went to Vienna and associated with Beethoven. This was followed by a post in the chapel of the merchant Bernhard in Offenbach, then as principal oboist in the ducal chapel in Brunswick. With the founding of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Westphalia under King Jérôme in 1807, this court orchestra moved to Kassel. Here Thurner composed numerous works for piano and oboe, as well as other instruments. His close circle of friends included the violinist Friedrich Ernst Fesca, the two horn players Gottfried and Michael Schunke, and the flutist Karl Keller.
After the collapse of the kingdom in 1813, Thurner travelled through Europe as a virtuoso. This journey ended in Vienna, where he apparently fell unhappily in love and probably suffered from depression. Relatives cared for him, and after an apparent recovery Thurner left Vienna in 1817. By way of Prague and Leipzig he came to Frankfurt am Main, where his friend Louis Spohr secured him a position at the Frankfurt Opera. In February 1818, however, his illness relapsed. On the assumption that it might cure him, Thurner was advised to travel further. He chose Amsterdam, but soon after his arrival in 1819 the illness broke out again. He was admitted to the "house of the insane" in Amsterdam. It is reported that although a full recovery was no longer expected, Thurner often experienced months of clear-mindedness, during which he had social contact and continued to compose. Thurner died in Amsterdam on 21 March 1827.
This Sonata in E major for piano and horn (or viola) op. 29 was published in 1818 by the Leipzig publisher Peters. Why this edition was dedicated to Charles Fesca in Vienna cannot be fully established; perhaps he was among the friends who helped Thurner during his illness there. The sonata itself dates from 1812 and was performed on 18 October of that year in Kassel, in a concert given by Friedrich Ernst Fesca. The work was composed for the horn player Michael Schunke (1778–1821), who, alongside his brother Gottfried, worked as a low-horn player in Kassel. At that performance, Thurner played the virtuosic piano part and Michael Schunke the horn. The Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung reported on it in February 1813:
Sonata for Fortep. and French horn, comp. by Mr. Thurner, and performed by the same and Mr. Schunk [sic] the younger. Mr. T. here also showed himself to be a quick, accomplished piano player, which the wider public had not previously known him to be. The sonata itself is quite well crafted, worked out with much art and diligence — though more for the connoisseur than for the general public. Both parts are fairly difficult, but brilliant.
What is interesting is the wide range, making use of the low register and so-called "lazy tones" — very low notes outside the natural harmonic series (the work was still composed for the valveless natural horn), which can be achieved by skilfully lipping down from the fundamental.
