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Well.....it happened. On Sunday, for the first time in over 100 years, around 100 people gathered to listen to a concert of songs by Frederic Cliffe.

Singers: Lucy Wormsley, Lucy Scriven, Fiona Smyth, Ian Smyth
Piano: Robert Sudall and Ian Smyth

Programme:

• 10 songs by Frederic Cliffe
• Spring Sorrow, Sea Fever and When I Am Dead by John Ireland
• Over the Mountain High and The Nightingale by Fredrick Delius
• Piano pieces - Daydream by Ireland, and First Cuckoo in Spring by Delius

 
Plus short talks about Cliffe covering:

• His early life
• His career and rise to fame
• His students - Benjamin and Ireland
• His other works
• His music at the Proms
• His examining career
• His son, Cedric Cliffe
• Memories of Cliffe

Next steps....finish engraving all the songs and get them on IMSLP 

Hi all

Thought some might appreciate an update on my project.....there is going to be a concert of Cliffe's songs.

It's going to be on Sunday 12 October in Wyke, Bradford, at the church where Cliffe got his first organist position at the age of 11. The John Ireland Trust have very generously funded the bulk of the costs, as a tribute to Ireland's piano teacher at the RCM.

The programme isn't finalised yet, but will include most of Cliffe's 12 songs. There will also be a selection of Ireland's music - the piano piece he wrote while a student of Cliffe's, a setting of a Rossetti text that Cliffe also set, plus one or two songs from the current ABRSM syllabus - as a tribute to Cliffe's work as an ABRSM examiner. I might even slot in a couple of Delius's early songs. All subject to timings!

I will also recount Cliffe's life, including a few words from his brother Thomas, and Cedric Cliffe's view on Delius 

If any of you are in the Bradford area, you would of course be very welcome. Free tickets are at https://fredericcliffe.eventbrite.co.uk

Or you can follow developments on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/frederic.cliffe (and if the link doesn't work, search for "Bradford's Forgotten Composer"). There's not a lot on there at the moment - just a trailer featuring his 1st symphony (thanks to Sterling Records) - only confirmed the concert yesterday, so need to get on with advertising it now!

Thanks again for your collective early help.

I haven't got anything on that yet - every reference I've found so far, apart from his birth record, is Frederic.

I've asked the church where he was organist (at age 11 apparently) to see if they can find him in any of their records. So maybe I'll see if he had started using Frederic at that point.

I did wonder if he'd done it to avoid confusion with Fred E Cliffe (of When I'm Cleaning Windows fame). But the timing's not quite right.

An update - I've progressed quite a lot in the last couple of weeks.

I've managed to buy an original copy of the Ode, which is great to have. And I bought a copy of Alcestis from Recital Publications - thanks for that tip - apparently I'm the only person to have ever bought one! It's quite an odd piece, hopefully it will grow on me 

The Bodleian are sending me a copy of Out of the Deep this week and I'm going to see a bunch of stuff at another library on Friday. There is one set of four songs that are only available to view in London, which I'm hoping to do next month. But in the meantime I found one of the songs online - When I am Dead, words by Christina Rossetti. It's quite lovely.

Oh, and according to his birth certificate, his name is actually "Fred"

Thanks again for putting me on the right track.

Thank you both so much. If I can get to Leeds Uni library, then it looks like I might be onto something.

Hi all

Bradford being the City of Culture this year has led me here. Bradford-born are few and far between, but even those we have (principally Delius) aren't terrifically well represented in the programme so far.

Which led me to Frederic Cliffe. I'm a (very amateur) pianist and singer, so I'm not going to be able to mount a performance of the symphonies. But I'm trying to find out more about some of his other works - whether they are performable, or could be adapted/arranged.

- Ode to the North-East Wind (Choral Ballad)
- A Silent Voice (song)
- Out of the Deep (anthem)

There appears to be a copy of North-East Wind at Huddersfield Uni, which I am trying to get access to. But I am otherwise drawing a blank.

If anybody has come across these works or has any ideas where to find them, I'd love to hear about it.

Thanks

Ian.