George Howard Clutsam (26 September 186617 November 1951) was an Australian pianist, composer and writer, best remembered as the arranger of '' Lilac Time''. Clutsam published over 150 songs.

Life

Clutsam was born in Sydney,

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, Australia. His career began as a pianist, at which he had little formal training. After establishing himself in Australia and New Zealand, he moved to London in 1889, where he continued as an accompanist to various artists including fellow Australian

Nellie Melba Dame Nellie Melba (born Helen Porter Mitchell; 19 May 186123 February 1931) was an Australian operatic dramatic coloratura soprano (three octaves). She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era and the early 20th centur ...

in 1893. From 1895 he increasingly moved to arrangement and composition of orchestral works and light opera. From 1888, Clutsam frequently shared the stage as pianist with Australian singer Minna Fischer, who was married to Herbert Flemming but separated with two sons. They were also paired or made a threesome with

Amy Sherwin Frances Amy Lillian Sherwin (23 March 1855 – 20 September 1935), the 'Tasmanian Nightingale', was an Australian soprano singer. Biography She was born at Forest Home, Huonville, Tasmania on 23 March 1855. She was taught singing by her mot ...

at social occasions such as the

Crossley Crossley, based in Manchester, United Kingdom, was a pioneering company in the production of internal combustion engines. Since 1988 it has been part of the Rolls-Royce Power Engineering group. More than 100,000 Crossley oil and gas engines ...

– Muecke wedding. Clutsam and Fischer married quietly on 12 December 1908, two months after the death of Flemming. Between 1908 and 1918 he wrote music criticism for ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'' and "

The Musical Times ''The Musical Times'' is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom and currently the oldest such journal still being published in the country. It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainzer ...

", while continuing to compose and arrange. In 1912, he wrote a biography of

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. Aside from his many stage works, he wrote numerous songs, including the popular "Ma Curly-Headed Babby". Later he became Vice-Chairman of the

Performing Right Society PRS for Music Limited (formerly The MCPS-PRS Alliance Limited) is a British music copyright collective, made up of two collection societies: the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) and the Performing Right Society (PRS). It undertake ...

. He also wrote music for the silent cinema and subsequently also composed for the "talkies". Clutsam published under a number of pseudonyms, namely Paul Aubry, Robert Harrington, H.S. Iseledon, Georges Latour and Ch.G. Mustal. His brother, Fred Clutsam (1869–1934), was a pianist described as George Marshall-Hall's prize pupil, an inventor and the conductor of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

's Orpheus Society. He died in London in 1951 at the age of 85.

Selected musicals and other works

*''Carnival Scenes'' (1895; orchestral work) *''The Queen's Jester'' (1904 opera) *''The Fool's Cap'' (1906 opera) *''A Summer Night'' (1910; opera) *''King Harlequin'' (1912; opera/masque) *''Carmen'' Ballet (1912; Alhambra Theatre, based on Bizet music) *''Young England'' (1916 musical) *'' A Southern Maid'' (1920; contributed additional music) *''101 original studies for the pianoforte'' (1920) *''The Green Lanes of England'' (1920; orchestral suite) *''Gabrielle'' (1921 musical, co-written with

Archibald Joyce Archibald Joyce (25 May 1873 – 22 March 1963) was an English light music composer of the early 20th century. Often regarded as the "English Waltz King," he is known for short compositions such as Dream of Autumn and Vision of Salome, both of w ...

) *''The Little Duchess'' (1922 play with music) *'' Lilac Time'' (1922 arrangement of

's music) *''The Damask Rose'' (1929; play with arrangements of Chopin music) *''Lavender'' (1930 musical) *''Barbara; or, The Broken Sixpence'' (1932 comic opera) *'' Mimi'' (1935; film score with arrangements from Puccini's

La bohème ''La bohème'' (; ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '' quadri'', '' tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giusep ...

) *'' Heart's Desire'' (1935; film score) *''Three Plantation Sketches'' (orchestral work) *''Plantation Songs''

References

Sources

"George Clutsam"
''Australian Variety Theatre Archive'', accessed 19 January 2014 *Scowcroft, Philip L

''Classical Music on the Web'', MusicWeb International (2001), accessed 19 January 2014 *Skinner, Graeme

''Graeme Skinner: Musicologist – Writer – Researcher'', 3 February 2012, accessed 19 January 2014
"Clutsam the Composer"
''The Register'', Adelaide, NLA.gov, 9 May 1914, p. 15, accessed 19 January 2014
"George H. Clutsam"
''AustLit: The Australian Literature Resource'' (subscription service), accessed 19 January 2014
"Chopin Music on the Stage: Mr. Clutsam's new opera"
''The Advertiser'', Adelaide, 24 June 1929, p. 13, accessed 19 January 2014

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clutsam, George H 1866 births 1951 deaths Australian male composers Australian composers Australian pianists Musicians from Sydney Male pianists