On this date in 1886, two noteworthy figures in English music were born.
Rebecca Clarke entered London’s Royal College of Music at a time when female students were still considered anomalies. Her teacher, Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, persuaded her to switch from violin to viola, since from that vantage she would be better able to absorb the mechanics of the orchestra. Also, thanks to musicians like Lionel Tertis, the viola was just beginning to be viewed as a viable instrument in itself.
Clarke played in the Queen’s Hall Orchestra, under Sir Henry Wood. Then in 1916, she packed up and moved to America. Critics tended to praise her works which were listed in concert programs under male pseudonyms, while those identified as her own were often dismissed.
The notable exception of her career was her Viola Sonata, which tied for first place in a competition sponsored by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge with a work of Ernest Bloch. Even so, there were some who grumbled that the work couldn’t possibly have been composed by a woman, and that perhaps Bloch himself had even written it.
Clarke married James Friskin, a founding member of the Juilliard School faculty, in 1944, and although he was supportive of her endeavors, lack of recognition and struggles with depression resulted in her ultimately giving up on composing. She died in 1979, at the age of 93. Today, her sonata is considered one of the great works written for the viola.
Here’s Rebecca Clarke’s “Morpheus”:
By contrast, Eric Coates enjoyed enormous popularity as a master of British Light Music. Ironically, Coates had taken viola lessons with Tertis at the Royal Academy of Music.
Among his best-known works are his “London Suite,” and this one, the perfect Coates confection for a late summer day:
I hope you’ll join me this afternoon for works by Clarke and Coates. They’ll be among my featured composers between 4 and 7 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
