Has anyone heard anything by this composer, especially but not only his more ambitious (I assume) scores (at least 3 flute sonatas, at least one string quartet, for example, out of at least 350 published works or so)?
(http://diamond.boisestate.edu/gas/whowaswho/DOCImages/ClarkeHamilton.jpg)
Hamilton Clarke is best remembered as the arranger of the Overtures to Sullivan's The Sorcerer (1884 revival), The Mikado and Ruddigore (original 1887 version) as well as an orchestral Selection from H.M.S. Pinafore which, played at the Covent Garden Promenade Concerts, helped to increase audiences at the Opera Comique which were suffering because of a mid-1878 heatwave - http://math.boisestate.edu/GaS/articles/sull_proms/progs/1878/170878/index.html (http://math.boisestate.edu/GaS/articles/sull_proms/progs/1878/170878/index.html)
According to Brown and Stratton, his principal compositions were -
Incidental music [for Henry Irving at the Lyceum]: Hamlet (1878); The Merchant of Venice (1879); Eugene Aram (1879); The Iron Chest (1879); The Corsican Brothers (1880); The Cup (1881); King Lear (1892); Cymbeline (1896)
Comediettas and operettas: Martial Law; Castle Botherem (1880); A Pretty Bequest
Cantatas: Praise, Op.68; Ode to Industry, Op.90
Orchestral: Overtures; Symphony No.1 in F (1873); Piano Concerto, Op.78; Symphony No.2 in G minor, Op.122 (1879)
Chamber music: String Quartets; Piano Quartet; Flute Sonatas; Six Organ Sonatas
Despite the fact that many of his works were published, nothing appears to have been recorded.
I find it very odd that, despite the fact that a lot of his 350 compositions are supposed to have been published, only six titles are listed on COPAC, only half of which are pieces of music and, of these three two are arrangements of works by other composers. What has happened to it all?
Is the key to the puzzle contained in your phrase "supposed to have been published" I wonder, Gareth? I must say, though, that, whilst it's no guarantee of quality, that work list does look enticing.
Goodness, this site is a well of information. Yes, I only ever knew Clarke as the composer of those three Savoy overtures. I always thought it strange that the 'Sorcerer' overture is magnificent, the 'Mikado' one okay and then the 'Ruddigore' one is frankly tedious. Although I generally support the 'full' version of Ruddigore with all the deleted numbers restored, I think the Geoffrey Toye overture is far superior (there's another unsung composer, pupil of Stanford...)
HMB lists a few works, so I can confirm a few works were most likely published (2 of the flute sonatas and one of the string quartets, for instance.) IMSLP has two works of his. Worldcat (http://worldcat.org) mentions other things (191 scores in all but probably plenty of duplications), suggesting that some things do survive in libraries (unless miscatalogued etc.)
Among the libraries listed as having copies of the "3rd Grand Sonata" for flute and piano op.221 (Rudall, Carte, 1883?) are two in the US (UIUC and University Southern California) (which wouldn't be listed in COPAC.)
(Over 360 op.nos.- an operetta Hornpipe Harry op.358 is listed and a Romance for cello and piano op.363 (1896). (A fantasie without opus number for cornet was published a couple of years later still. Don't know about early 20th-century publications if any though the bio in Wikipedia suggests he may have done little composing late in life?) Not as prolific as e.g. Carl Böhm (the composer), Franz Abt, and others, true - though at least there's a string (sans piano) chamber work ;^) ... ok, not that that matters.)
I have just checked my shelves and come up with a nice autographed copy (dated 24th January 1884) of "Six Lyceum Overtures" composed and arranged as piano duets. They are: Hamlet, Lady of Lyons, Merechant of Venice, Corsican Brotheres, Iron Chest & The Cup. The whole collection is "Dedicated with great esteem to his Friend, Sir Arthur Sullivan" . Published by C Jefferys, London my copy also states that it is a subscribers copy!
I must admit that I have had this for several years but have never tried them out - they do at first glance look rather Sullivan-like though.
I also have several short flute/piano & clarinet/piano pieces, all published by Rudall Carte, who appear to have published quite a few of his works for woodwind, including the 3 flute sonatas. I have been promised a collection of (mainly Victorian) flute music, so I may be lucky here! I can only say that what I do have is typical of its time, and reasonably well written.
Fascinating, Martin - it would certainly be very interesting to hear these overtures, in piano duet form if need be in lieu of orchestral material, especially if they betray the stylistic influence of Clark's highly-esteemed friend.
:)
Ah, the vagaries of library search engines! If I hadn't been so tired last night I'd have persevered. A new search in COPAC today, entering "Hamilton Clarke", produces 248 hits (most in BL) and not a huge amount of duplication. No symphony or PC, though - which is, alas, as experience has led one to expect.
They're harder to produce and not necessarily more interesting (or necessarily less) anyway. I do see that the British Library has parts for that string quartet op.246 (ca.1895) (not his first but possibly his only surviving? - Champlin/Apthorp (Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians, volume 1, page 329, article written 1888 ("still living, 1888."), book published 1893) lists an earlier quartet, opus 93. Whether or not the works survive, first symphony in F was his opus 101, performed in 1873 or 1874; his 2nd in G minor, 1879, his opus 122. Also lists a polonaise for piano and orchestra, op.209, and other works. (Google downloadable-in-US pdf/EBook - may be at archive.org also.)
(Actually, see IMSLP (http://imslp.org/wiki/Cyclopedia_of_Music_and_Musicians_(Various)) for the Cyclopedia. - should be on page 329 of volume 1 - not of the PDF but internal page 329. I forgot I'd uploaded that...)
Another list of his works up to about op.214 and 1881, with some dates of premieres (admittedly the orchestras in question have long since donated their holdings to the British Museum I expect) is in James Duff Brown's Biographical dictionary of musicians: with a bibliography of English writings on music (1886) (pp165-6). (The first symphony was premiered at the Royal Albert Hall in August 1873, the 2nd symphony at the Promenade Concerts in August 1879 (that looks early- oh, ok, they started back in 1838?!!... ) It gives opus 93 as a -piano- quartet, not a string quartet, in E minor. (Looking at a google cache of Clarke's Wikipedia article there's a rather interesting Times review excerpted there of the 1st symphony's 1873 premiere suggesting that maybe I'm being too hasty above, and hope it might turn up :))
Thanks, Eric.
For convenience, here is a transcription from Brown (1886) of principal works in Clarke's catalogue up to 1881:
Op.1 - Capriccio for violin and piano (1852)
Op.7 - Overture, Thanistene (1859)
Op.44 - Anthem, The Lord is My Light
Op.68 - Praise, a sacred cantata (1867)
Op.78 - Piano Concerto in D minor
Op.79 - Romance and Polonaise for violin and piano
Op.80 - Ode to Industry
Op.93 - Piano Quartet in E minor
Op.95 - Parade March (1872)
Op.98 - Saltarello for orchestra (1874)
Op.100 - Ballet Overture
Op.101 - Symphony No.1 in F (1873)
Op.102 - Overture composed for Birket Foster (1874)
Op.122 - Symphony No.2 in G minor (1879)
Op.123 - Concert Overture
Op.134 - Overture, Hamlet (1875)
Op.135 - Romanza cromatica for flute
Op.136 - Music to a Ballet (1875)
Op.137 - Overture, Rob Roy
Op.153 - Gavotte [No.2] for Strings
Op.155 - Flute Sonata No.2
Op.156 - Three Sonatinas for piano
Op.157 - Romance for flute and piano
Op.159 - Six Sonatas for organ
Op.161 - Two Choruses and [additional] Ballet Music for Die Fledermaus (1876)
Op.166 - Six movements for organ [from a total of 36 pieces]
Op.168 - Six movements for organ [from a total of 36 pieces]
Op.169 - Six movements for organ [from a total of 36 pieces]
Op.179 - Two andantes for organ
Op.183 - Martial Law, a musical comedietta in one act
Op.187 - Overture, Nanon
Op.188 - Romance and Tarantella for cello and piano
Op.191 - Gavotte in F for orchestra
Op.192 - Overture and Incidental Music to Hamlet(1878)
Op.197 - Overture, The Lady of Lyons (1879)
Op.199 - Incidental Music to Eugene Aram (1879)
Op.200 - Romance and Valse for flute and orchestra
Op.201 - Incidental Music to Zillah (1879)
Op.202 - Overture and Incidental Music [partly from Storace] to The Iron Chest (1879)
Op.203 - Overture and Incidental Music to The Merchant of Venice (1879)
Op.206 - Castle Botherem; or, An Irish Stew, operetta (1880)
Op.207 - Incidental Music to Iolanthe (1880)
Op.208 - Overture and Incidental Music to The Corsican Brothers (1880)
Op.209 - Polonaise for piano and orchestra
Op.210 - Overture, Cecile (1880)
Op.214 - Overture and Incidental Music to The Cup (1881)
The Theatre and Performance Archive at the V & A hold incidental music by Georges Jacobi (1840-1906) for productions at the Lyceum under Irving's management.
I've contacted them to see whether or not they have any of Clarke's.
:)
Quote from: eschiss1 on Thursday 19 January 2012, 03:01(The first symphony was premiered at the Royal Albert Hall in August 1873, the 2nd symphony at the Promenade Concerts in August 1879 (that looks early- oh, ok, they started back in 1838?!!... )
The Promenade Concerts conducted by Henry Wood began in 1895 at Queen's Hall, but for decades before that Promenade Concert seasons were held at various venues in London, most notably Covent Garden Theatre. For Sullivan's involvement in this series (1878-79) including performances of Clarke's two symphonies, see http://math.boisestate.edu/GaS/articles/sull_proms/index.html (http://math.boisestate.edu/GaS/articles/sull_proms/index.html)
Eric, thanks for the Cyclopedia link. Are there any other similar reference books available at IMSLP, and how does one find them?
quite a few - Groves (early versions in all cases- almost nothing later than 1922 or so because of US law, very few exceptions), Fetis and others for example. One good way is to follow the "tags" at the top (some though not all of them are in the category Dictionaries (http://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Dictionaries). Some others are in Biographies (http://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Biographies) (often categorized by words in the title, in this case Biographies, like the Fétis.)) Or in
*Orchestration (http://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Orchestration)
*Music theory (http://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Music_theory)
for example.
Eric (and happy to :) thank you! )
(US and Canadian law are generally both considered- well, depends. Sometimes it's one -or- the other etc. etc. with restrictions on who can download what...)
Thanks, Eric. Something of a goldmine!
Quote from: Martin Eastick on Wednesday 18 January 2012, 13:34I have just checked my shelves and come up with a nice autographed copy (dated 24th January 1884) of "Six Lyceum Overtures" composed and arranged as piano duets. They are: Hamlet, Lady of Lyons, Merechant of Venice, Corsican Brotheres, Iron Chest & The Cup. The whole collection is "Dedicated with great esteem to his Friend, Sir Arthur Sullivan" . Published by C Jefferys, London my copy also states that it is a subscribers copy!
This appears to be a very scarce volume, with the only other traceable copy in Ellen Terry's collection held at her house (now National Trust) in Smallhythe (incidentally a wonderful place, well worth a visit) - another copy was apparently sold at Bonham's some years ago.
It would be of enormous value, given the importance of Clarke's involvement in the history of late-Victorian theatre, if this music could be made more widely available.
I wonder if Martin would consider the possibility of allowing a digital copy of his score(s) to appear, perhaps, on IMSLP.
???
I would be more than happy to make my copy of the Lyceum Overtures available if some kind person could do whatever is necessary to digitize/scan etc. etc. At present I don't have access to a scanner (mine is away being [hopefully?] repaired at the moment!) & I have never uploaded anything before & wouldn't know where or how to start!
However, I would have absolutely no objection to letting IMSLP use this material if this can be facilitated in any way. Just by way of information - there are some 97 pages in total and although in good condition, the binding has collapsed!
Martin, many thanks for this offer - I've sent you a PM.
:)
Martin has very kindly sent me his copy of Clarke's Lyceum Overtures, which I will digitise and submit to IMSLP.
:)
I have discovered that at least some of the Lyceum theatre music does survive, split between the Ellen Terry/ Edith Craig Collection and the British Library. The Manuscript Department at BL appears to have band parts for
The Amber Heart, music by Hamilton Clarke and Meredith Ball - ET SCB9 (BL)
The Dead Heart, music by Georges Jacobi
and there is a large trunk at Smallhythe containing a considerable quantity of music, including band parts for -
Far from the Madding Crowd
The Merchant of Venice, music by Hamilton Clarke
The Merry Wives of Windsor
The Mistress of the Robes
Much Ado About Nothing
Nance Oldfield
That's very good and exciting news. We need to get hold of some of this stuff.
I see you (or someone anticipating you :) ) have already uploaded it - thank you! (see IMSLP category for Hamilton Clarke (http://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Clarke,_Hamilton)).
Yes, Martin sent his score yesterday and I received it this morning. I have spent the day scanning and have just uploaded the following which wait for 'approval' -
Overtures (arranged for piano duet) to
Hamlet, Op.192 (1878)
The Lady of Lyons, Op.197 (1879)
The Iron Chest, Op.202 (1879)
The Merchant of Venice, Op.203 (1879)
The Corsican Brothers, Op.208 (1880)
The Cup, Op.214 (1881)
:)
Although not yet on the main Hamilton Clarke page, here are the six overtures -
Hamlet, Op.192 (1878) - http://imslp.org/wiki/Hamlet_Overture,_Op.192_(Clarke,_Hamilton) (http://imslp.org/wiki/Hamlet_Overture,_Op.192_(Clarke,_Hamilton))
The Lady of Lyons, Op.197 (1879) - http://imslp.org/wiki/The_Lady_of_Lyons_Overture,_Op.197_(Clarke,_Hamilton) (http://imslp.org/wiki/The_Lady_of_Lyons_Overture,_Op.197_(Clarke,_Hamilton))
The Iron Chest, Op.202 (1879) - http://imslp.org/wiki/The_Iron_Chest_Overture,_Op.202_(Clarke,_Hamilton) (http://imslp.org/wiki/The_Iron_Chest_Overture,_Op.202_(Clarke,_Hamilton))
The Merchant of Venice, Op.203 (1879) - http://imslp.org/wiki/The_Merchant_of_Venice_Overture,_Op.203_(Clarke,_Hamilton) (http://imslp.org/wiki/The_Merchant_of_Venice_Overture,_Op.203_(Clarke,_Hamilton))
The Corsican Brothers, Op.208 (1880) - http://imslp.org/wiki/The_Corsican_Brothers_Overture,_Op.208_(Clarke,_Hamilton) (http://imslp.org/wiki/The_Corsican_Brothers_Overture,_Op.208_(Clarke,_Hamilton))
The Cup, Op.214 (1881)[/b] - http://imslp.org/wiki/The_Cup_Overture,_Op.214_(Clarke,_Hamilton) (http://imslp.org/wiki/The_Cup_Overture,_Op.214_(Clarke,_Hamilton))
not yet on what Hamilton Clarke page?
On this one - http://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Clarke,_Hamilton (http://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Clarke,_Hamilton), unless you are logged in as a member.
since they've been copyright-approved & etc., they should be now... hrm. I'll check. You're quite right, they aren't, I don't know why- might take a few days as a matter of standard practice, I just don't know. (Checked a few of the copyright-tags - they say v/v/v , which I believe means ok-in-all-three basic areas, which should mean ok even if you're logged out, but I'm not sure. And if so why the first three and not the overtures... that's a puzzlement. It is true that it would help if we knew, of a -certainty-, who the arrangers were, though given that they did the arrangements in the 1880s the chance that anyone involved in that fashion with those scores was still alive in 1962 (I think the limiting year is now) is negligible :)
Might it be because the titles have been changed by Carolus, who has removed the commas before the word 'Overture' and there has been a redirection?
???
A constituent part of Add. 44919 in the Manuscripts Department at the British Library is -
HH. List of the manuscript compositions of James Hamilton Siree Clarke (b. 1840, d. 1912), conductor and composer. Typewritten. Clarke's First String Quartet in A Major, Op. 246, the second item listed, is now Add. MS. 44880, and the present list was acquired with it. ff. 171-174. Presented by R.R. Trout, Esq.
I wonder what year this list dates from (it is typewritten) and who was Mr Trout?
??? ???
Hrm. Well, they are published works - if they were typeset or scanned-by-you (or by a library) manuscripts that would be a different issue. (Manuscript-related law is tetchy and varies by country, I have learned, and has to do with several different things. The case of the still-in-copyright in-manuscript music of Percy H. Miles (d.1922) comes to mind...
Quote from: eschiss1 on Sunday 22 January 2012, 12:41It is true that it would help if we knew, of a -certainty-, who the arrangers were
They were arranged by Clarke himself -
Composed and Arranged as Pianoforte Duets by Hamilton Clarke.
I'll put that in. (A quick search about Trout "Clarke" first reveals his operetta The Silver Trout, but I'm guessing that was not what was meant. Will look more for a bit :) )
Judging from the British Museum Quarterly scanned online, the entry was added around 1936. Hrm. Doesn't necessarily tell me anything unless it was in Trout's will...
Having just bashed though Hamlet, The Lady of Lyons and The Merchant of Venice with a fellow pianist, I think that the quality of Clarke's music (in spite of the fistfuls of sight-read wrong notes) is really very impressive, making it is easy to see why he was a such a successful composer for the Lyceum: extremely well constructed, harmonically sophisticated in the late-Romantic style, with a few memorable and varied themes used in each, these Overtures (and presumably the rest of his incidental music) would have served their purpose admirably - the average duration seemed to be around 7 or 8 minutes.
;D
Given the general idiom it would be good to hear them orchestrated a la Sullivan (it appears that only The Merchant of Venice survives in band parts), but in the meantime they certainly afford a valuable glimpse into a largely forgotten genre.
The Theatre Museum at the V & A have some material (describing each as sheets of manuscript music bound in a decorated leather cover with the title on the front under which is printed 'Henry Irving Esq.') for the following Lyceum productions -
Incidental music for Iolanthe, produced at the Lyceum Theatre on 20 May 1880 - Hamilton Clarke (S.600)
Incidental music for The Cup at the Lyceum Theatre on 3 January 1881 - Hamilton Clarke (S.599)
Entr'acte and incidental music for the play The Belle's Stratagem, produced at the Lyceum on 16 April 1881 - composer? [including the Gavotte from Handel's Otho] (S.601)
Incidental music for an unspecified production of Othello - composer? (S.602)
Exactly what these volumes contain is not detailed, but it is nevertheless encouraging.
:)
Because of the high quality of the Irving overtures recently posted - many thanks indeed for such generosity and hard work!! - I've been looking into Clarke myself and found a few things. The BL has a set of parts for his incidental music to THE ONLY WAY (of which I'm trying to obtain copies for a Dickens conference this April), there are five works in manuscript in the RCM's Novello collection, including a "Sinfonia da camera [symphony no. 3]", and a friend of mine has examined some of the full scores for the incidental music he wrote for Irving, which are now at the University of Texas. I think the opus no. listing may be reasonably truthful; if he wrote that much music, more's got to exist somewhere, and _some's_ got to be good. I'd be really interested to see his First Symphony, if it still exists, as it got such good notices at its performances; barring that, what does the "Sinfonia da camera" consist of? And what's the string quartet like? (It might make a nice CD pairing with Julius Benedict's.)
Quotesome's_ got to be good.
Umm, I'm not sure that that follows, though it would be good if it was.
Well, if he kept getting published, unless he was blackmailing someone, his music probably satisfied somebody. I realize "good" is a relative term, and there is more than one Baroque composer whose fecundity is not matched by equal imagination. (Hence Peter Schickele's little bit on "Arcangelo Spumoni" on one of his P. D. Q. Bach albums.) As it is, one of Clarke's flute sonatas is being performed publicly this month in Australia, according to my recent search on him, and playing through his overtures to THE CUP and HAMLET I was rather impressed. Any of the Lyceum overtures seem better to me than his overtures to THE MIKADO and RUDDIGORE.
One of his flute sonatas has now appeared at Sibley.