Clytie May Hine, (later Mundy) (8 May 188727 June 1983) was an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

-born operatic soprano who became a renowned voice teacher in New York.

Biography

Clytie Hine was an only child, born in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, South Australia in 1887 to William Henry Hine, a jeweller and Mary McDonald. At age 16, having studied piano privately since age 7, she commenced studies wit
Bryceson Treharne
at the

Elder Conservatorium The Elder Conservatorium of Music, also known as "The Con", is Australia's senior academy of music and is located in the centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It is named in honour of its benefactor, Sir Thomas Elder. Dating in ...

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

. Her voice studies were unde
Frederick Bevan
She graduated AMUA in 1908 and the following year travelled to London to study under Medora Henson at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including performanc ...

. On the strength of her performance in

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 ...

's ''

Genoveva ''Genoveva'', Op. 81, is an opera in four acts by Robert Schumann in the genre of German Romanticism with a libretto by Robert Reinick and the composer. The only opera Schumann ever wrote, it received its first performance on 25 June 1850 at ...

'' at the RCM, she made her professional debut as Freia in

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

's ''

Das Rheingold ''Das Rheingold'' (; ''The Rhinegold''), WWV 86A, is the first of the four music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's '' Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). It was performed, as a single opera, at the National ...

'' at Covent Garden in 1911, with the Denhof Opera Company. She later sang with the

Beecham Opera Company The Beecham Opera Company was an opera company founded by Thomas Beecham which presented opera in English in London and on tour between 1916 and 1920.Jefferson, Alan (2004) "Beecham, Sir Thomas, second baronet (1879–1961)" ''Oxford Dictionary of ...

in roles such as Nedda, Santuzza, Musetta, Elsa,

Desdemona Desdemona () is a character in William Shakespeare's play ''Othello'' (c. 1601–1604). Shakespeare's Desdemona is a Venetian beauty who enrages and disappoints her father, a Venetian senator, when she elopes with Othello, a Moorish Venetian ...

, Sophie, and the Countess in '' The Marriage of Figaro''. In 1915 she was the soprano soloist in Sir Edward Elgar's incidental music for the first production of

Algernon Blackwood Algernon Henry Blackwood, CBE (14 March 1869 – 10 December 1951) was an English broadcasting narrator, journalist, novelist and short story writer, and among the most prolific ghost story writers in the history of the genre. The literary cri ...

's '' The Starlight Express''. During the development of the production, she and the other soloists were regular visitors at Elgar's home. In 1914 she married

John Hine Mundy John Hine Mundy (December 29, 1917 – April 13, 2004) was a British-American medievalist. He was professor of history emeritus at Columbia University, where he taught for more than forty years. Biography Mundy was born on December 29, 1917, in ...

, a free-lance cellist who worked with the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orc ...

, Albert Hall Orchestra, Beecham Opera Company and elsewhere. They had two children in London: a daughter, Margaret "Meg" Mundy (born 1915), later an actress and singer, and a son,

(1917–2004), later a renowned medievalist and Professor Emeritus of History at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. In 1921 they left for the United States with their children, settling in New York, and becoming well known for their joint recitals featuring early English music. She also sang in opera in America and beyond while contracted t
William Wade Hinshaw

Retrieved 27 June 2014 and her husband became principal cellist and orchestra manager for the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...

. He also collaborated with Edward Eager on composing a musical comedy, ''The Burglar's Opera'', which was also staged under other titles, such as ''The Liar'', ''The Burglar'', ''The Rascal'' and ''The Gay Rascal''. Clytie Mundy retired from performing in the late 1920s, and became a renowned singing teacher. She maintained a private class of twenty-five vocal students, a choral class of about twenty, two vocal quartet parties, and a women's trio. Her notable students included

Marge Champion Marjorie Celeste Champion ( Belcher; September 2, 1919October 21, 2020) was an American dancer and actress. At fourteen, she was hired as a dance model for Walt Disney Studios animated films. Later, she performed as an actress and dancer in film ...

(who was sent to her on Richard Rodgers' recommendation),

Alfred Drake Alfred Drake (October 7, 1914 – July 25, 1992) was an American actor and singer. Biography Born as Alfred Capurro in New York City, the son of parents emigrated from Recco, Genoa, Drake began his Broadway career while still a student at Broo ...

Nanette Fabray Nanette Fabray (born Ruby Bernadette Nanette Theresa Fabares; October 27, 1920 – February 22, 2018) was an American actress, singer, and dancer. She began her career performing in vaudeville as a child and became a musical-theatre actress dur ...

Kathleen Ferrier Kathleen Mary Ferrier, CBE (22 April 19128 October 1953) was an English contralto singer who achieved an international reputation as a stage, concert and recording artist, with a repertoire extending from folksong and popular ballads to the c ...

Celeste Holm Celeste Holm (April 29, 1917 – July 15, 2012) was an American stage, film and television actress. Holm won an Academy Award for her performance in Elia Kazan's '' Gentleman's Agreement'' (1947), and was nominated for her roles in ''Come to ...

Peter Pears Sir Peter Neville Luard Pears ( ; 22 June 19103 April 1986) was an English tenor. His career was closely associated with the composer Benjamin Britten, his personal and professional partner for nearly forty years. Pears' musical career starte ...

and

David Wayne David Wayne (born Wayne James McMeekan, January 30, 1914 – February 9, 1995) was an American stage and screen actor with a career spanning over 50 years. Early life and career Wayne was born in Traverse City, Michigan, the son of Helen M ...

. Peter Pears had been studying singing under

Therese Behr Therese Schnabel (''née'' Behr; 14 September 1876 – 30 January 1959) was a German contralto. She was best known for her interpretations of lieder. Life Therese Behr was born to interior designer Carl Behr and his wife Lina Behr (née Zenegg) i ...

(the wife of pianist

Artur Schnabel Artur Schnabel (17 April 1882 – 15 August 1951) was an Austrian-American classical pianist, composer and pedagogue. Schnabel was known for his intellectual seriousness as a musician, avoiding pure technical bravura. Among the 20th centur ...

), but transferred to Mundy in 1940. He had almost daily lessons with her, and his partner

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

would often also attend, as accompanist. Pears found her "a wonderful woman to work with, very sympathetic and forthright". She became lifelong friends with Pears and Britten. To help secure an American premiere of Britten's opera ''

Peter Grimes ''Peter Grimes'', Op. 33, is an opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten, with a libretto by Montagu Slater based on the section "Peter Grimes", in George Crabbe's long narrative poem '' The Borough''. The "borough" of the opera is a fictional ...

'' in 1946, she hosted three private performances of excerpts at her apartment for Serge Koussevitzky (who had commissioned the opera), Leonard Bernstein, Ralph Hawkes and others. Pears returned to her for some more lessons in 1948. Britten dedicated his setting of the song " Down by the Salley Gardens" to Clytie Mundy, and his setting of the Scottish lullaby "O can ye sew cushions?" to her daughter Meg.John Bridcut
Essential Britten: A Pocket Guide for the Britten Centenary
Retrieved 27 June 2014 They also named their pet miniature dachsund "Clytie" after her.Paul Kildea, ''Benjamin Britten: A Life in the Twentieth Century'', p. 409

Teaching

She taught at the

Academy of Vocal Arts The Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA) is a school dedicated to providing higher education to aspiring opera singers. It is the only tuition-free institution in the world devoted solely to operatic training and performance. The school was founded in 1934 ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, and was musical adviser to the

American Theatre Wing The American Theatre Wing (the Wing for short) is a New York City–based non-profit organization "dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theatre", according to its mission statement. Originally known as the Stage Women's War Relief ...

. Actors such as Kirk Douglas and

John Forsythe John Forsythe (January 29, 1918 – April 1, 2010) was an American stage, film/television actor, producer, narrator, drama teacher and philanthropist whose career spanned six decades. He also appeared as a guest on several talk and variety s ...

studied speech with her. She retired in the late 1950s; in 1970 the Royal College of Music established an annual scholarship in her name
The Clytie Hine Mundy Recital Prize
which was discontinued after her death.

Personal life

Her husband John Mundy died in 1971. She died on 27 June 1983 in New York, aged 96, survived by her two children and three grandchildren.

Sources

* Hancock, Wayne
Australian Dictionary of Biography: Clytie May Hine
retrieved 27 June 2014

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hine, Clytie 1887 births 1983 deaths Australian operatic sopranos 20th-century Australian women opera singers Australian music educators Voice teachers Alumni of the Royal College of Music University of Adelaide alumni Academy of Vocal Arts faculty Musicians from Adelaide Australian expatriates in the United States Benjamin Britten