Alan Clifford Frank (10 October 1910 – 23 June 1994), was a music publisher, clarinetist and composer, who headed the

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

Music Department between 1954 and 1975. He was married to the composer

Phyllis Tate Phyllis Tate (6 April 1911 – 29 May 1987) was an English composer known for forming unusual instrumental combinations in her output. Much of her work was written for the use of amateur performers and children. Biography Phyllis Margaret Duncan ...

. Frank grew up in the Brixton area of London. His mother Fanny played the violin and had been taught by

Joseph Joachim Joseph Joachim (28 June 1831 – 15 August 1907) was a Hungarian violinist, conductor, composer and teacher who made an international career, based in Hanover and Berlin. A close collaborator of Johannes Brahms, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

. Gaining a scholarship to

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2–19 independent, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

he studied clarinet with

Frederick Thurston Frederick John Thurston (21 September 1901 – 12 December 1953) was an English clarinettist. Career From the age of 7 he was taught by his father and he won an open scholarship to the Royal College of Music, becoming a pupil of Charles Drap ...

. In 1927, aged 17, he began working at the music department of Oxford University Press under Hubert Foss.History of Oxford University Press, Vol 3 (1896–1970)
/ref> There he met Phyllis Tate. They were married in 1935. They had two children: a son Colin, born in 1940 and a daughter Celia, in 1952. During the war Frank served as an intelligence officer for the RAF and was posted to Ceylon. After the war he returned to OUP as music editor (1947), becoming head of the Music Department in 1954 (succeeding

Norman Peterkin George Norman Peterkin (Liverpool, 21 December 1886 - Guildford, 15 December 1982) was an English composer and music publisher. He is perhaps best known today for his brief song “I heard a piper piping”. Peterkin was born in Liverpool and wa ...

) and remained there until his retirement in 1975. At the OUP offices (at 44

Conduit Street Conduit Street is a street in Mayfair, London. It connects Bond Street to Regent Street. History The street was first developed in the early 18th century on the Conduit Mead Estate, which the Corporation of London had owned since the 15th centu ...

) Frank worked with composers including Ralph Vaughan Williams,

William Walton Sir William Turner Walton (29 March 19028 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include ''Façade'', the cantat ...

, Alan Rawsthorne and

Alun Hoddinott Alun Hoddinott CBE (11 August 1929 – 11 March 2008) was a Welsh composer of classical music, one of the first to receive international recognition. Life and works Hoddinott was born in Bargoed, Glamorganshire, Wales. He was educated at Gowe ...

. Frank kept up his interest in the clarinet. The Suite for Two Clarinets (1934) is his only composition to have maintained its place in the teaching repertoire. Later in life, in collaboration with his teacher Jack Thurston he wrote ''The Clarinet: A Comprehensive Method'' (1966), a book that is also still in use today by students. Frank also collaborated with Thurston's widow, the composer and clarinetist

Thea King Dame Thea King DBE FRCM FGSM (26 December 1925 – 26 June 2007) was a British clarinettist. Biography Early life Thea King was born in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, the daughter of Henry Walter Mayer King, the manager of his family engine ...

on arrangements of

Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

and

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sym ...

for clarinet and piano, used as examination material for the Associated Board of Music.ABRSM: ''Schumann for the Clarinet''
/ref> His other publications included ''The Playing of Chamber Music'' with violinist and leader of the London Symphony Orchestra George Stratton (1935, 2nd. ed. 1951), and ''Modern British Composers'' (1953).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frank, Alan 1910 births 1994 deaths Oxford University Press people 20th-century British composers British music publishers (people) English music publishers (people)