Frederick Robert Charles Clarke, known largely by his initials F. R. C. Clarke (August 7, 1931 – November 18, 2009) was a Canadian musician and composer who spent most of his musical career in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Clarke was born in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1931. He earned the University of Toronto degrees of Bachelor of Music in 1951 and Doctor of Music in 1954. A distinguished Canadian organist, he earned the Royal Canadian College of Organists' prestigious diplomas of Associate and Fellowship by examination. Among his teachers were George Laughlin, Eric Rollinson, Kenneth Ross,

Healey Willan James Healey Willan (12 October 1880 – 16 February 1968) was an Anglo-Canadian organist and composer. He composed more than 800 works including operas, symphonies, chamber music, a concerto, and pieces for band, orchestra, organ, and pia ...

, and

S. Drummond Wolff Stanley Drummond Wolff (4 February 1916 – 9 April 2004) was an English organist, choirmaster, composer, and music educator who was primarily active in North America. His compositional output primarily consists of anthems for choir and works for ...

. He served as organist-choirmaster for several Toronto-area churches during his time in the city. From 1957–58, he conducted the St. Catharines Civic Orchestra (now the Niagara Symphony Orchestra), before moving to Kingston and taking up the role of organist-choirmaster at

Sydenham Street United Church Sydenham Street United Church, formerly Sydenham Street Methodist Church, is a church in Kingston, Ontario, Canada that dates to 1852. It was originally a Methodist church, but since 1925 has belonged to the United Church of Canada. Origins The ...

, a role he served from 1958 until his retirement, after which he served as Organist Emeritus. He began teaching music at

Queen's University Queen's or Queens University may refer to: *Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada *Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK **Queen's University of Belfast (UK Parliament constituency) (1918–1950) **Queen's University of Belfast ...

in 1964, and was head of the Music Department (which became the School of Music during his tenure) from 1981–1991. Clarke's better-known compositions include "Bel and the Dragon" (1954), "Sing a New Song to the Lord" (1960), "Psalm 145" (1966), which won the 1967 CBC prize for choral music, "Festival Te Deum" (1972), and "Reginae" (1991). His was commissioned to write "Saugeenia" performed by the

Georgian Bay Symphony The award winning Georgian Bay Symphony (GBS) located in Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada was founded in 1972 by a small group of dedicated area musicians and became a Canadian Registered Charity in 1982. It is considered a significant cultural institut ...

and the Centennial Singers in 1981. Clarke also chaired the committee that produced ''The Hymn Book'' (1971) shared by the

Anglican Church of Canada The Anglican Church of Canada (ACC or ACoC) is the Ecclesiastical province#Anglican Communion, province of the Anglican Communion in Canada. The official French-language name is ''l'Église anglicane du Canada''. In 2017, the Anglican Church co ...

and the United Church of Canada, contributing several hymn tunes (including Concrete, Sydenham Street, Causa Divina, Tradition, Kingston, Orbis Terrarum and A Blessing) and arrangements. In 1982, Clarke published a biography of Canadian composer

. Clarke died of cancer at his home in Kingston on November 18, 2009 at the age of 78.

References

External links

Entry for F.R.C. Clarke
at ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''
Obituary
from the

Kingston Whig Standard ''The Kingston Whig-Standard'' is a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. It is published five days a week, from Tuesday to Saturday. It publishes a mix of community, national and international news and is currently owned by Postmedia. It has ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, F. R. C. Canadian male composers Members of the United Church of Canada Musicians from Vancouver University of Toronto alumni Academic staff of Queen's University at Kingston 2009 deaths 1931 births 20th-century Canadian composers 20th-century Canadian male musicians

See also

References

External links