Introducing Hubert Clifford

Hubert Clifford (1904–1959) was a distinguished Commonwealth composer and conductor, recognised for his contributions to both classical and film music. His early career focused on conducting and teaching as well as composing. He also held positions at the BBC, where he worked on a wide range of performances and broadcasts.

Clifford is best known for his association with British films in the 1940s and 1950s. His task involved commissioning and adapting scores for popular films such as The Winslow Boy (1948), and Cry, the Beloved Country (1951). His own original scores included Mystery Junction (1951), House of Secrets (1956) and Bachelor of Heart (1958). He also provided scores for a number of short documentary films.

In addition to his work in film, Clifford wrote orchestral pieces, including a Symphony and a String Quartet. His music is characterised by a clear, lyrical style, with strong influences of English romanticism and a degree of pastoralism. Unfortunately, his life was cut short by illness, and he passed away at the age of fifty-one.

Biography

• Hubert Clifford was born on 31 May 1904 at Bairnsdale, Victoria, Australia.
• He initially read chemistry at University of Melbourne.
• Became a pupil of Fritz Hart at the Melbourne Conservatorium,
• Conducted the Victoria Opera Company in the late 1920s.
• Emigrated to England during May 1930
• Studied at the Royal College of Music under Ralph Vaughan Williams and C.H. Kitson
• Befriended Benjamin Frankel and Mátyás Seiber.
• Employed as a schoolmaster at the Beckenham County School for Boys.
• Gained his Doctor of Music from the University of London
• Won the W.W. Cobbett prize for A Kentish Suite, devised for school orchestras.
• Employed by the BBC as Empire Music Supervisor between 1941 and 1944.
• Broadcast of the Symphony on the BBC Home Service on 26 January 1945.
• From 1946 to 1950 he was Musical Director to London Film Productions.
• Commissioned scores for many films including Anna Karenina, The Fallen Idol, and The Third Man.
• Between 1952 and 1954 he was on the staff of the BBC Light Music Department.
• Appointed professor at the Royal Academy of Music, London
• Hubert Clifford died of a heart attack in Singapore on 4 September 1959, aged 55 years. He was in that country administering music examinations for the Associated Board.

Twelve Selected Works

The pieces chosen provides an excellent overview of Hubert Clifford’s oeuvre. It covers various genres and gives a good introduction to his concert hall music as well as his lighter compositions. All are available on CD or streaming.

1.  A Pageant of Youth orchestral overture (1926)
2. Voyage at Dusk - Fantasy for Orchestra (1928)
3. Dargo: A Mountain Rhapsody (1929)
4. Irish Comedy Overture (1930)
5. A Kentish Suite for orchestra (1935)
6. String Quartet in D (1935)
7. The Casanova Melody for orchestra (1949) (orchestrated by Rodney Newton, 2000)
8. Symphony 1940 (1940)
9. Five English Nursery Tunes suite for orchestra (1941)
10. Serenade for Strings (1943)
11. Shanagolden orchestral tone poem (1953)
12. The Cowes Suite (1958)

Further Reading

Sadly, there is no Hubert Clifford Society to promote his work. Neither is there a dedicated biography or major study of his music. Listeners must piece together information from a variety of sources. A good place to start is with the liner notes for the four dedicated CDs that have been issued in the last quarter of a century. These have been prepared by Lewis Foreman. There is an entry in the fifth edition of Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians, but no mention in the current on-line version. A short Wikipedia article gives a succinct introduction and a works list along with a few cross references.

There are two important studies of Clifford’s Symphony. The first was published in Volume 1 of Jürgen Schaarwächter’s Two Centuries of British Symphonism From the beginnings to 1945 (2015) and the second appeared in Rhoderick McNeill’s The Australian Symphony from Federation to 1960 (2016). Both essays give a brief biographical introduction as well as a detailed study of the symphony.

Hubert Clifford on Disc….

In 1999 Chandos Records (CHAN 9757) released an edition of Hubert Clifford’s Symphony 1940, coupled with Edgar Bainton’s Symphony No.2 in D minor (1939-40) as well as John Gough’s Serenade for small orchestra (1931). The BBC Philharmonic was conducted by Vernon Handley. Four years later, Chandos issued a follow-up disc (CHAN 10019) featuring Clifford’s A Kentish Suite, The Casanova Melody, Five English Nursery Tunes and Shanagolden: An Irish Pastoral Sketch. This was coupled with Bainton’s Epithalamion for full orchestra (1929) and An English Idyll (1946). Once again, they were performed by the BBC Philharmonic, this time conducted by Martyn Brabbins.

Clifford’s Serenade for Strings was released by Dutton Epoch (CDLX 7174) in 2006. This was played by the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Barry Wordsworth. It was coupled with a selection of music by Julius Harrison, including his remarkable Bredon Hill: Rhapsody for violin and orchestra (1941). Also in 2006, Dutton Epoch issued the String Quartets by Edgar Bainton and Hubert Clifford (CDLX 7163), performed by the Locrian Ensemble.

There is only one disc dedicated entirely to Hubert Clifford. This was the remarkable 2017 Dutton Epoch (CDLX 7338) disc featuring a broad selection of his orchestral music. This included several “lighter” pieces such as The Cowes Suite, An Irish Comedy, Voyage at Dusk: Fantasy for orchestra, Dargo: A Mountain Rhapsody and A Pageant of Youth. Two film score tracks were included: Left of the Line (1945) and Hunted (1952). The BBC Concert Orchestra was conducted by Ronald Corp.

Finally, if you can only listen to one work…

Hubert Clifford’s Serenade for strings a bit of a crossover between his ‘light’ and more ‘serious’ styles. It gives a pleasant introduction to his music. As Lewis Foreman has pointed out in the liner notes for CDLX 7174, “Hubert Clifford writes in a diatonic and diffuse style influenced by English folksong yet enlivened with some taut harmonies and unexpected enharmonic modulations.”

The Serenade is presented in four movements, each of sufficient length and depth to be approaching symphonic breadth. Rob Barnett (MusicWeb International 10 March 2010) has suggested that Clifford’s style “is gracious and pastoral-romantic and steps easily between the realms of light music and the rural idylls espoused by Butterworth, Bridge and Howells.” The opening Allegro moderato is light-hearted and sounds familiar. The Scherzo is slightly darker in mood. It is the Lento that is the core of the work, with nods to Gerald Finzi and Gustav Holst. The work ends with optimism and enthusiasm with Barnett suggesting a nod to Frank Bridge. 

This delightful composition was first performed on 8 December 1944 by the BBC Empire String Orchestra.