Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979)

Series

Episode

Title

First
Broadcast

Repeated

Comments

2017

Studying With Stanford

20170529

Donald Macleod explores the period Rebecca Clarke studied with Stanford at the Royal College of Music

Rebecca Clarke was one of the leading viola-players of her generation and composed over one hundred works, many for her own instrument. In 1912 and aged only twenty-five, Sir Henry Wood engaged Clarke to play in his Queen's Hall Orchestra, and from then on she also performed with such luminaries as Pablo Casals, Jascha Heifetz and Myra Hess in orchestral and chamber settings. Clarke was at the pinnacle of music making both in the UK, and also giving concerts as she toured around the globe. Arthur Rubenstein called her 'the glorious Rebecca Clarke'. As a composer, her viola sonata has stayed firmly in the repertoire yet few other works are remembered today, despite at one point having three publishers negotiating to publish her works. Donald Macleod is joined by Christopher Johnson who married into Clarke's family, and also Ian Jones, Deputy Head of Keyboard at the Royal College of Music, to lift the veil on this once highly regarded performer and composer.

Rebecca Clarke was born in Harrow-on-the-Hill to the north of London in 1886. Her mother's family were mainly doctors, professors and clergymen from Bavaria. Her father, on the other hand, was from the United States and was a restless and colourful character, often given to beating his children. Clarke started to study the violin when she was young and in 1903 went to the Royal Academy of Music. However she didn't remain there long, for when her father found out she'd been proposed to by one of her teachers, he withdrew his daughter from the Academy. Soon she was enrolled at the Royal College of Music and started composition lessons with Stanford. A fellow student advised her to stand up to Stanford in her lessons, which she did, and Stanford and Clarke subsequently became very good friends. During this period at the RCM, which Clarke describes as an ecstatic time, she composed a number of works, including her Violin Sonata in D major and also her Danse Bizarre and Nocturne.

Lullaby

Philip Dukes, viola

Sophia Rahman, piano

Music, When Soft Voices Die

Choir of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge

Geoffrey Webber, conductor

Theme and Variations in G major (excerpt)

Ian Jones, piano

Lorraine McAslan, violin

David Juritz, violin

Producer Luke Whitlock.

Donald Macleod focuses on period Rebecca Clarke studied with Charles Villiers Stanford.

2017

The Famous Viola Sonata

20170529

20170530 (R3)

Donald Macleod focuses upon the period Rebecca Clarke composed her famous viola sonata for a competition

In her twenties, Rebecca Clarke found herself thrown out of her home by her father and having to make her way in the world as a jobbing viola-player in London. She was engaged by Sir Henry Wood to play in his Queen's Hall Orchestra in 1912, and many other opportunities for freelance playing came her way, including travelling the globe. It was during the Great War that she toured the United States of America with fellow musicians, giving benefit concerts. Then in 1919 came an opportunity to enter the Berkshire Festival Competition, for which she composed her Viola Sonata. The judges didn't know the names of those composers who had entered the competition, and thought this work must have been by Ravel given its quality. In the end her Viola Sonata came second place to a work by Bloch, but this success propelled her music into the limelight.

Philomela

Choir of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge

Geoffrey Webber, conductor

Morpheus

Philip Dukes, viola

Sophia Rahman, piano

Two Pieces for viola and cello

Michael Ponder, viola

Justin Pearson, cello

The Cloths of Heaven

Patricia Wright, soprano

Kathron Sturrock, piano

Shy One

A Dream

Down by the Salley Gardens

Paul Coletti, viola

Leslie Howard, piano

Producer Luke Whitlock.

Donald Macleod focuses upon the period Rebecca Clarke composed her famous Viola Sonata.

2017

Clarke's Ascending Star

20170531

Donald Macloed explores the period when Rebecca Clarke's fame as a composer and performer was rising, in the 1920s

The 1920s was a period in which Rebecca Clarke was very active as both a composer and performer. Clarke kept diaries between 1919 and 1933, and although these documents tell us little about her composing activities, we do get a glimpse of how hard she was working to promote herself including finding publishers and performance opportunities. In the wake of the success of her viola sonata, Clarke was still primarily living in London, and then came another milestone in her compositional output, the Trio for violin, cello and piano, composed not long after the death of her father. This work was premiered at the Wigmore Hall, with Myra Hess as one of the performers. Rebecca Clarke also knew many other composers from the time including Holst, Ravel, Bartok and Bax, and it's in her single-movement string quartet that we can hear her interest in Debussy and French Impressionism.

Epilogue

Justin Pearson, cello

Ian Jones, piano

Chinese Puzzle

Kenneth Martinson, viola

Christopher Taylor, piano

The Seal Man

Sarah Walker, mezzo-soprano

Roger Vignoles, piano

The Bekova Sisters

String Quartet (Comodo e amabile)

Flesch Quartet

Sleep

Mark Dobell, tenor

Timothy Mirfin, baritone

Jeremy Bines, piano

Producer Luke Whitlock.

Donald Macloed explores the period when Rebecca Clarke's fame was rising: the 1920s.

2017

An Unproductive Mouth

20170601

Donald Macleod explores Rebecca Clarke's experiences during the Second World War when she was unable to return to the UK

In 1923 Rebecca Clarke received a prestigious commission to compose a new work for cello from the famous American patroness of the arts, Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, sometimes called the patroness of American chamber music. The result was Clarke's Rhapsody for cello and piano, considered by some as the composer's masterpiece. By the 1930s however Clarke's output had started to tail away. This was a period of great unhappiness for Clarke, when she was having an affair with a married man, the baritone singer John Goss. With the outbreak of World War Two, Clarke found herself living with her brothers in America. She was not allowed to return to the UK as she was considered an unproductive mouth. It was during the war period that she composed her Prelude, Allegro and Pastorale for clarinet and viola.

The Aspidistra

Anthony Rolfe Johnson, tenor

Graham Johnson, piano

Raphael Wallfisch, cello

John York, piano

Three Irish Country Songs

Patricia Wright, soprano

Jonathan Rees, violin

Robert Plane, clarinet

Philip Dukes, viola

Ave Maria

Choir of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge

Geoffrey Webber, conductor

Producer Luke Whitlock.

Donald Macleod focuses on Rebecca Clarke's experiences during the Second World War.

2017

05 LAST

Clarke Fades From View

20170602

Donald Macleod explores Rebecca Clarke's final years, when she rarely finished any new works and faded from public view.

In 1940 Rebecca Clarke was active as a radio presenter, introducing listeners to string quartets by a variety of composers. It was in 1941 that she composed her tongue-in-cheek 'Get 'em all over at Once', for string quartet. It was also in the mid-1940s that Clarke became reacquainted with an old college friend, the musician James Friskin. Friskin said he'd long held a candle for Clarke, and they married in 1944. As both Clarke and Friskin loved Bach, it could have been for him that she made an arrangement of Bach's Magnificat for piano. Similarly, as Clarke played the viola and Friskin the piano, she may also have composed for him, around this same time, 'I'll Bid My Heart Be Still'. Clarke lived on into her nineties and died in 1979. In those last few decades her compositional output faded away, and it's only in more recent years that we've begun to re-evaluate and appreciate the importance of Rebecca Clarke.

Combined Carols (Get 'em all over at Once)

The Julstrom String Quartet

Bach arr. Rebecca Clarke

Magnificat, BWV243 (He Hath Filled the Hungry)

Ian Jones, piano

Dumka

Lorraine McAslan, violin

Michael Ponder, viola

Kenneth Martinson, viola

Christopher Taylor, piano

Chorus from Shelley's 'Hellas

Choir of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge

Geoffrey Webber, conductor

Cello Sonata

Raphael Wallfisch, cello

John York, piano

Producer Luke Whitlock.

Donald Macleod on Rebecca Clarke's final years, when she rarely finished any new works.

Episodes

Series	Episode	Title	First Broadcast	Repeated	Comments
2017	01	Studying With Stanford	20170529		Donald Macleod explores the period Rebecca Clarke studied with Stanford at the Royal College of Music Rebecca Clarke was one of the leading viola-players of her generation and composed over one hundred works, many for her own instrument. In 1912 and aged only twenty-five, Sir Henry Wood engaged Clarke to play in his Queen's Hall Orchestra, and from then on she also performed with such luminaries as Pablo Casals, Jascha Heifetz and Myra Hess in orchestral and chamber settings. Clarke was at the pinnacle of music making both in the UK, and also giving concerts as she toured around the globe. Arthur Rubenstein called her 'the glorious Rebecca Clarke'. As a composer, her viola sonata has stayed firmly in the repertoire yet few other works are remembered today, despite at one point having three publishers negotiating to publish her works. Donald Macleod is joined by Christopher Johnson who married into Clarke's family, and also Ian Jones, Deputy Head of Keyboard at the Royal College of Music, to lift the veil on this once highly regarded performer and composer. Rebecca Clarke was born in Harrow-on-the-Hill to the north of London in 1886. Her mother's family were mainly doctors, professors and clergymen from Bavaria. Her father, on the other hand, was from the United States and was a restless and colourful character, often given to beating his children. Clarke started to study the violin when she was young and in 1903 went to the Royal Academy of Music. However she didn't remain there long, for when her father found out she'd been proposed to by one of her teachers, he withdrew his daughter from the Academy. Soon she was enrolled at the Royal College of Music and started composition lessons with Stanford. A fellow student advised her to stand up to Stanford in her lessons, which she did, and Stanford and Clarke subsequently became very good friends. During this period at the RCM, which Clarke describes as an ecstatic time, she composed a number of works, including her Violin Sonata in D major and also her Danse Bizarre and Nocturne. Lullaby Philip Dukes, viola Sophia Rahman, piano Music, When Soft Voices Die Choir of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge Geoffrey Webber, conductor Theme and Variations in G major (excerpt) Ian Jones, piano Lorraine McAslan, violin David Juritz, violin Producer Luke Whitlock. Donald Macleod focuses on period Rebecca Clarke studied with Charles Villiers Stanford.
2017	02	The Famous Viola Sonata	20170529	20170530 (R3)	Donald Macleod focuses upon the period Rebecca Clarke composed her famous viola sonata for a competition Rebecca Clarke was one of the leading viola-players of her generation and composed over one hundred works, many for her own instrument. In 1912 and aged only twenty-five, Sir Henry Wood engaged Clarke to play in his Queen's Hall Orchestra, and from then on she also performed with such luminaries as Pablo Casals, Jascha Heifetz and Myra Hess in orchestral and chamber settings. Clarke was at the pinnacle of music making both in the UK, and also giving concerts as she toured around the globe. Arthur Rubenstein called her 'the glorious Rebecca Clarke'. As a composer, her viola sonata has stayed firmly in the repertoire yet few other works are remembered today, despite at one point having three publishers negotiating to publish her works. Donald Macleod is joined by Christopher Johnson who married into Clarke's family, and also Ian Jones, Deputy Head of Keyboard at the Royal College of Music, to lift the veil on this once highly regarded performer and composer. In her twenties, Rebecca Clarke found herself thrown out of her home by her father and having to make her way in the world as a jobbing viola-player in London. She was engaged by Sir Henry Wood to play in his Queen's Hall Orchestra in 1912, and many other opportunities for freelance playing came her way, including travelling the globe. It was during the Great War that she toured the United States of America with fellow musicians, giving benefit concerts. Then in 1919 came an opportunity to enter the Berkshire Festival Competition, for which she composed her Viola Sonata. The judges didn't know the names of those composers who had entered the competition, and thought this work must have been by Ravel given its quality. In the end her Viola Sonata came second place to a work by Bloch, but this success propelled her music into the limelight. Philomela Choir of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge Geoffrey Webber, conductor Morpheus Philip Dukes, viola Sophia Rahman, piano Two Pieces for viola and cello Michael Ponder, viola Justin Pearson, cello The Cloths of Heaven Patricia Wright, soprano Kathron Sturrock, piano Shy One A Dream Down by the Salley Gardens Paul Coletti, viola Leslie Howard, piano Producer Luke Whitlock. Donald Macleod focuses upon the period Rebecca Clarke composed her famous Viola Sonata.
2017	03	Clarke's Ascending Star	20170531		Donald Macloed explores the period when Rebecca Clarke's fame as a composer and performer was rising, in the 1920s Rebecca Clarke was one of the leading viola-players of her generation and composed over one hundred works, many for her own instrument. In 1912 and aged only twenty-five, Sir Henry Wood engaged Clarke to play in his Queen's Hall Orchestra, and from then on she also performed with such luminaries as Pablo Casals, Jascha Heifetz and Myra Hess in orchestral and chamber settings. Clarke was at the pinnacle of music making both in the UK, and also giving concerts as she toured around the globe. Arthur Rubenstein called her 'the glorious Rebecca Clarke'. As a composer, her viola sonata has stayed firmly in the repertoire yet few other works are remembered today, despite at one point having three publishers negotiating to publish her works. Donald Macleod is joined by Christopher Johnson who married into Clarke's family, and also Ian Jones, Deputy Head of Keyboard at the Royal College of Music, to lift the veil on this once highly regarded performer and composer. The 1920s was a period in which Rebecca Clarke was very active as both a composer and performer. Clarke kept diaries between 1919 and 1933, and although these documents tell us little about her composing activities, we do get a glimpse of how hard she was working to promote herself including finding publishers and performance opportunities. In the wake of the success of her viola sonata, Clarke was still primarily living in London, and then came another milestone in her compositional output, the Trio for violin, cello and piano, composed not long after the death of her father. This work was premiered at the Wigmore Hall, with Myra Hess as one of the performers. Rebecca Clarke also knew many other composers from the time including Holst, Ravel, Bartok and Bax, and it's in her single-movement string quartet that we can hear her interest in Debussy and French Impressionism. Epilogue Justin Pearson, cello Ian Jones, piano Chinese Puzzle Kenneth Martinson, viola Christopher Taylor, piano The Seal Man Sarah Walker, mezzo-soprano Roger Vignoles, piano The Bekova Sisters String Quartet (Comodo e amabile) Flesch Quartet Sleep Mark Dobell, tenor Timothy Mirfin, baritone Jeremy Bines, piano Producer Luke Whitlock. Donald Macloed explores the period when Rebecca Clarke's fame was rising: the 1920s.
2017	04	An Unproductive Mouth	20170601		Donald Macleod explores Rebecca Clarke's experiences during the Second World War when she was unable to return to the UK Rebecca Clarke was one of the leading viola-players of her generation and composed over one hundred works, many for her own instrument. In 1912 and aged only twenty-five, Sir Henry Wood engaged Clarke to play in his Queen's Hall Orchestra, and from then on she also performed with such luminaries as Pablo Casals, Jascha Heifetz and Myra Hess in orchestral and chamber settings. Clarke was at the pinnacle of music making both in the UK, and also giving concerts as she toured around the globe. Arthur Rubenstein called her 'the glorious Rebecca Clarke'. As a composer, her viola sonata has stayed firmly in the repertoire yet few other works are remembered today, despite at one point having three publishers negotiating to publish her works. Donald Macleod is joined by Christopher Johnson who married into Clarke's family, and also Ian Jones, Deputy Head of Keyboard at the Royal College of Music, to lift the veil on this once highly regarded performer and composer. In 1923 Rebecca Clarke received a prestigious commission to compose a new work for cello from the famous American patroness of the arts, Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, sometimes called the patroness of American chamber music. The result was Clarke's Rhapsody for cello and piano, considered by some as the composer's masterpiece. By the 1930s however Clarke's output had started to tail away. This was a period of great unhappiness for Clarke, when she was having an affair with a married man, the baritone singer John Goss. With the outbreak of World War Two, Clarke found herself living with her brothers in America. She was not allowed to return to the UK as she was considered an unproductive mouth. It was during the war period that she composed her Prelude, Allegro and Pastorale for clarinet and viola. The Aspidistra Anthony Rolfe Johnson, tenor Graham Johnson, piano Raphael Wallfisch, cello John York, piano Three Irish Country Songs Patricia Wright, soprano Jonathan Rees, violin Robert Plane, clarinet Philip Dukes, viola Ave Maria Choir of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge Geoffrey Webber, conductor Producer Luke Whitlock. Donald Macleod focuses on Rebecca Clarke's experiences during the Second World War.
2017	05 LAST	Clarke Fades From View	20170602		Donald Macleod explores Rebecca Clarke's final years, when she rarely finished any new works and faded from public view. Rebecca Clarke was one of the leading viola-players of her generation and composed over one hundred works, many for her own instrument. In 1912 and aged only twenty-five, Sir Henry Wood engaged Clarke to play in his Queen's Hall Orchestra, and from then on she also performed with such luminaries as Pablo Casals, Jascha Heifetz and Myra Hess in orchestral and chamber settings. Clarke was at the pinnacle of music making both in the UK, and also giving concerts as she toured around the globe. Arthur Rubenstein called her 'the glorious Rebecca Clarke'. As a composer, her viola sonata has stayed firmly in the repertoire yet few other works are remembered today, despite at one point having three publishers negotiating to publish her works. Donald Macleod is joined by Christopher Johnson who married into Clarke's family, and also Ian Jones, Deputy Head of Keyboard at the Royal College of Music, to lift the veil on this once highly regarded performer and composer. In 1940 Rebecca Clarke was active as a radio presenter, introducing listeners to string quartets by a variety of composers. It was in 1941 that she composed her tongue-in-cheek 'Get 'em all over at Once', for string quartet. It was also in the mid-1940s that Clarke became reacquainted with an old college friend, the musician James Friskin. Friskin said he'd long held a candle for Clarke, and they married in 1944. As both Clarke and Friskin loved Bach, it could have been for him that she made an arrangement of Bach's Magnificat for piano. Similarly, as Clarke played the viola and Friskin the piano, she may also have composed for him, around this same time, 'I'll Bid My Heart Be Still'. Clarke lived on into her nineties and died in 1979. In those last few decades her compositional output faded away, and it's only in more recent years that we've begun to re-evaluate and appreciate the importance of Rebecca Clarke. Combined Carols (Get 'em all over at Once) The Julstrom String Quartet Bach arr. Rebecca Clarke Magnificat, BWV243 (He Hath Filled the Hungry) Ian Jones, piano Dumka Lorraine McAslan, violin Michael Ponder, viola Kenneth Martinson, viola Christopher Taylor, piano Chorus from Shelley's 'Hellas Choir of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge Geoffrey Webber, conductor Cello Sonata Raphael Wallfisch, cello John York, piano Producer Luke Whitlock. Donald Macleod on Rebecca Clarke's final years, when she rarely finished any new works.