Gervase Alfred Booth Hughes (1 September 1905 – July 1984) was an English composer, conductor and writer on music. From 1926 to 1933, Hughes pursued a career as a conductor and chorus master, principally at the

British National Opera Company The British National Opera Company presented opera in English in London and on tour in the British provinces between 1922 and 1929. It was founded in December 1921 by singers and instrumentalists from Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham's Beecham O ...

, and also co-produced

Shakespeare plays Shakespeare's plays are a canon of approximately 39 dramatic works written by English poet, playwright, and actor William Shakespeare. The exact number of plays—as well as their classifications as tragedy, history, comedy, or otherwise—is a ...

. He left the musical profession in 1933, raising a family and working first as an executive in a railway company and later running luxury European tours. From 1960 to 1972 he published a series of books on musical subjects, beginning with a study of the music of

Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...

, published in 1960.

Biography

Hughes was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, England, the son of Alfred Hughes, a university professor, and his wife Hester, ''née'' Booth.Gervase Hughes
at ''Gale Contemporary Authors Online'', accessed 7 September 2009 (subscription required) He was educated at

Malvern College Malvern College is an Independent school (United Kingdom), independent coeducational day and boarding school in Malvern, Worcestershire, Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It is a public school (United Kingdom), public school in the British sen ...

and

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12th ...

, where he was active in the Oxford University Opera Club for whom he composed a

light opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...

. He graduated with the degrees of

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

and

Bachelor of Music Bachelor of Music (BM or BMus) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree, and the majority of work consists of prescr ...

in 1927.Gervase Hughes
at ''Grove Music Online'', accessed 7 September 2009 (subscription required) From 1926 to 1929 Hughes was on the staff of the

and conducted ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...

'', ''

Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroads ...

'' and ''

Samson et Dalila ''Samson and Delilah'' (french: Samson et Dalila, links=no), Op. 47, is a grand opera in three acts and four scenes by Camille Saint-Saëns to a French libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire. It was first performed in Weimar at the (Grand Ducal) Theater (n ...

''. The company gave several performances of his one-act operetta, ''Castle Creevey'', in 1928–30, and the score was published by

Novello & Co Wise Music Group is a global music publisher, with headquarters in Berners Street, London. In February 2020, Wise Music Group changed its name from The Music Sales Group. In 2014 Wise Music Group (as The Music Sales Group) acquired French cla ...

. In 1929–30 along with

Sir Thomas Beecham Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, CH (29 April 18798 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras. He was also closely associated with th ...

and

Jack Westrup Sir Jack Westrup (26 July 190421 April 1975) was an English musicologist, writer, teacher and occasional conductor and composer. Biography Jack Allan Westrup was the second of the three sons of George Westrup, insurance clerk, of Dulwich, and his ...

, he was one of three conductors of the London Opera Festival, for which he arranged and conducted

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...

's ''

Giulio Cesare ''Giulio Cesare in Egitto'' (; , HWV 17), commonly known as ''Giulio Cesare'', is a dramma per musica ('' opera seria'') in three acts composed by George Frideric Handel for the Royal Academy of Music in 1724. The libretto was written by Nic ...

'', its first British performance since the composer's lifetime.

Herman Klein Herman Klein (born Hermann Klein; 23 July 1856 – 10 March 1934) was an English music critic, author and teacher of singing. Klein's famous brothers included Charles and Manuel Klein. His second wife was the writer Kathleen Clarice Louise Co ...

in ''

The Gramophone ''Gramophone'' is a magazine published monthly in London, devoted to classical music, particularly to reviews of recordings. It was founded in 1923 by the Scottish author Compton Mackenzie who continued to edit the magazine until 1961. It was a ...

'' commented that the costumes, the lines and the acting "made the audience rock with laughter," but added, "One reservation should be made, however, and that applies to the admirable work of Mr. Gervase Hughes, both in arranging the score and conducting the efficient orchestra, including the faultless accompaniments played upon the harpsichord by Mr.

Boris Ord Boris Ord (born Bernhard Ord), (9 July 1897 – 30 December 1961) was a British organist and Director of music, choirmaster of Choir of King's College, Cambridge, King's College, Cambridge (1929-1957). During World War II he served in the Royal ...

." Between 1926–33 he was associated with Sir Frank Benson and

Oscar Asche John Stange(r) Heiss Oscar Asche (24 January 1871 – 23 March 1936), better known as Oscar Asche, was an Australian actor, director, and writer, best known for having written, directed, and acted in the record-breaking musical ''Chu Chin C ...

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

productions, presented under the management of "Gervase Hughes Ltd". In 1933 Hughes gave up music as a profession, though he continued to compose. He married Gwyneth Edwards, formerly an operatic

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

, in April 1934, and the couple had two daughters. From 1934–46 Hughes worked as an executive for the

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...

. From 1947–59 he ran a specialist travel agency offering European tours in

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

cars. In 1960 he embarked on a new career as an author of books on musical subjects, publishing eight books in the next twelve years. In 1967 he was appointed a Vice-President of the

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian era, Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which ...

Society, a post he held until his death.''Gilbert & Sullivan News'', Volume 1, No. 6, November 1984, p. 2. Hughes died in July 1984 at the age of 78.

Works

Books

Hughes's first book on musical subjects was
The Music of Arthur Sullivan
' (1960), the first full-length study of the composer, in which he was assisted by Eric Blom. The book received good reviews and was followed by a wider study of operetta in 1962 called ''Composers of Operetta'' (reissued in 1974). His later books were ''The Pan Book of Great Composers'' (1964), reissued in an expanded version as ''Fifty Famous Composers'' (1972); ''Great Composers of the World'' (1964); ''The Handbook of Great Composers'' (1965); '' Dvořák: His Life and Music'' (1967); ''Sidelights on a Century of Music: 1825–1924'' (1969); and (with Herbert Van Thal) an anthology, ''The Music Lover's Companion'' (1971). Hughes was a contributor to ''

Opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

'' magazine, ''Monthly Musical Record'', ''Railway Magazine'' and other periodicals.

Music

Hughes completed one

grand opera Grand opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterized by large-scale casts and orchestras, and (in their original productions) lavish and spectacular design and stage effects, normally with plots based on o ...

, ''Imogen's Choice'', which was staged in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

in 1929. He started another, based on ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vio ...

'', but it was not completed. He wrote three operettas: ''Castle Creevey'', ''Penelope'' and ''Venetian Fantasy''. He also composed orchestral works, works for the piano, and songs.From dust jacket of ''Great Composers of the World'' by Hughes (1964)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Gervase 1905 births 1984 deaths English male classical composers English classical composers English musicologists People educated at Malvern College English opera composers Male opera composers People associated with Gilbert and Sullivan Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford 20th-century classical composers 20th-century English musicians 20th-century British composers 20th-century British musicologists 20th-century British male musicians