Herbert Lincoln Clarke (September 12, 1867 – January 30, 1945) was an American
cornetist, feature soloist, bandmaster, and composer. He is considered the most prominent cornetist of his time.
Clarke's legacy includes composing a portion of the standard repertoire for the instrument, many recordings, as well as a seminal school of playing which emphasized not only technical aptitude, but also increased warmth and lyricism of tone. He also produced several
method books that are still used by brass students, for example the
Clarke Studies.
Early life
Clarke was born in
Woburn,
Massachusetts in 1867, the son of composer, organist, and organbuilder William Horatio Clarke. Herbert's family moved often to accommodate William's work engagements, from Massachusetts to
Ohio, to
Indiana, back to Massachusetts, and finally to
Toronto,
Canada in 1880. Herbert had two brothers, Edwin and Ernest. All three became prominent musicians: Edwin on cornet and
flugelhorn
The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...
(he also managed
Sousa's Band
John Philip Sousa ( ; November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era known primarily for American military marches. He is known as "The March King" or the "American March King", to dist ...
in its 1911 world tour), Ernest on
trombone (he became a professor of trombone at
Juilliard), and Herbert on cornet.
Clarke's early musical instruction had been on the
viola;
by 1881, he was a second viola in the
Toronto Philharmonic Society The Toronto Philharmonic Society was one of the first secular music organizations in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Society included both singers and instrumentalists.
History
The Society was founded in 1845 by John McCaul, who was at the time pres ...
. However, according to his autobiography, one of the formative moments in his musical upbringing was attending a concert of
D. W. Reeves'
American Band of
Providence
Providence often refers to:
* Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion
* Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity
* Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...
,
Rhode Island at the Horticultural Pavilion in Toronto in 1881, and hearing Bowen R. Church play a cornet solo.
Herbert subsequently began practicing his brother's cornet and took a chair as a cornetist in the Queen's Own Rifle Band in 1882, in order to obtain a government-issued cornet on which to practice.
Career
Between 1884, when he graduated from high school, and 1887, Clarke drifted between playing both viola and second cornet (when required) in the pit orchestra of English's Opera House in
Indianapolis
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
, where his family had moved; working (unhappily) at the John Kay store in Toronto, while playing second chair cornetist with the
Queens's Own Band & Bugles; and playing at the Ontario Beach lake resort in the summer. He had joined the Queen's Own at the age of 14 (even though the legal age was 18), in order to obtain his first Cornet, a band owned
Courtois Courtois can refer to:
Locations
*Courtois-sur-Yonne, a commune in Yonne department, France
*Courtois, Missouri, an unincorporated community
*Courtois Creek, a creek in Missouri
*Courtois Hills, a region in Missouri
Persons Painters
*Jean Cour ...
. In Indianapolis he would finally buy his own horn, a
Boston 3-star cornet. It was with the When Clothing Store Band that in 1886 Clarke won a solo cornet contest and received a one-of-a-kind pocket cornet made by the famous instrument maker, Henry Distin of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, which can be seen at the
Sousa Archives and Center for American Music
The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music (SACAM) documents American music through historical artifacts and archival records in multiple formats. The center is part of the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign's library system an ...
at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
In 1887, he joined the Citizen's Band of Toronto, under John Bayley, as the band's cornet soloist. He spent the next five years playing in and leading several bands around Toronto (the Taylor Safe Works Band,
Heintzman Piano Company Band, Streetsville Ontario Band) and teaching viola at the
Toronto Conservatory of Music (where he also played in the Toronto Conservatory String Quartet) and at the
Trinity College School in
Port Hope, Ontario. In the spring of 1892, he left Canada once again, after successfully auditioning for the 22nd Regiment N.Y.S.N.G Band in New York City, popularly known as "Gilmore's Band" and directed by
Patrick Gilmore. He was introduced to Gilmore by his brother Ernest, who was already playing trombone with the band, and the audition took place at Gilmore's residence.
In 1893, Herbert joined
John Philip Sousa’s band as a cornet soloist. After playing at the
Chicago World's Fair in the same year, he left to play with various other bands, continuing to do so over the next five years. During this period, he held temporary positions as second trumpet with the
New York Philharmonic and as principal trumpet in the
Metropolitan Opera, for which he temporarily switched to
trumpet.
In 1898 he returned to Sousa's band, with whom he toured extensively. However, in late 1901 Clarke himself became leader of The American Band, the band which had made such an impression on him in his youth, and he moved to Providence, Rhode Island. Ironically, after only a year the band voted Clarke out as director in favor of Bowen R. Church, the same cornetist Clarke had admired when he first heard the band under Reeves. Clarke then formed his own band in Providence and occasionally conducted other local ensembles; he also led both the American Band in 1902 and his own band ("Clarke's Band of Providence") in 1903 in recordings for the Victor Talking Machine Company. Clarke finally returned to Sousa's Band as solo cornet and assistant director in 1905 and conducted the band in many recording sessions for Victor at that time. Furthermore, he spent time testing and developing instruments for
Conn Instruments
C. G. Conn Ltd., sometimes called Conn Instruments or commonly just Conn, is a former American manufacturer of musical instruments incorporated in 1915. It bought the production facilities owned by Charles Gerard Conn, a major figure in early ...
in
Elkhart, Indiana, and making a considerable number of solo recordings for Victor, Edison, Columbia, Odeon, England, and finally Brunswick. He resigned from Sousa's band in September 1917, as he had determined to retire from active solo work at the age of fifty after hearing
Jules Levy continue to play well past his prime. (He did make a few final recordings for
Brunswick Records in New York in 1922, possibly to oblige his old friend
Walter Rogers, Brunswick's musical director at the time.) Clarke returned to Canada to lead the Anglo-Canadian Leather Company Band in
Huntsville, Ontario from 1918 to 1923; during this time he performed very little, instead focusing his efforts not only on conducting, but also composition, and setting up his own school of cornet playing in
Chicago.
He conducted the
Long Beach Municipal Band from 1923 to 1943. In April 1934, he was elected President of the
American Bandmasters Association. From 1936 until his death in 1945, he developed a friendship with and gave private lessons to
Claude Gordon.
Personal life
In September 1889 he married Elizabeth (Lizzie) Loudon, with whom he had two children: Vivian (Grace) in 1890 and James (Edward James Watkins) in 1892. He later divorced and married Lillian Bell Hause, with whom he had two more children, Ruby Bell and Herbert L. Clarke, Jr.
In 1923, he and his wife moved to
Long Beach,
California for her health.
Herbert Clarke died in 1945. His ashes were interred at the
Congressional Cemetery in
Washington, D.C., near the gravesite of John Philip Sousa. His papers and memorabilia are held at the Sousa Archives and Center for American Music at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Notable works
;Solo cornet compositions
Clarke composed over 50 solos for cornet, many of which have experienced several editions. Here are his most famous pieces, with the date of the earliest publication included.
*''Bride of the Waves'' (1904)
*''Sounds from the Hudson'' (1904)
*''Caprice Brilliante'' (1908)
*''Southern Cross'' (1911)
*''
The Carnival of Venice'' (1912)
*''From the Shores of the Mighty Pacific'' (1912)
*''The Maid of the Mist'' (1912)
*
The Debutante' (1912)
*''Sounds from the Hudson (Valse Brilliante)'' (1914)
*''Stars in a Velvety Sky'' (1919)
;Cornet and trombone
*''Cousins'' (1904)
*''Side Partners''
;
Clarke Studies
*''Elementary Studies'' (1909)
*''Technical Studies'' (1912)
*''Characteristic Studies'' (1915)
*''Setting Up Drills'' (1929)
;Prose
*''How I Became A Cornetist'' (1934): an autobiography
References
*
Further reading
*
*
External links
An extremely detailed biographyfrom 4barsrest.com, an online brass band resource.
*
*
How I Became a Cornetist textClarke's Technical Studies, then and nowby Jeff Purtle
Claude Gordon and Herbert L. Clarke and Their Teachingby Jeff Purtle, published December 2008 in ''The Brass Herald''
Cornet Soloist RecordingHerbert L. Clarke recordingsat the
Discography of American Historical Recordings
The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The DAHR provides some of these original recordings, free of charge, via audio streaming, along with ...
Letter from Herbert L. Clarke on Coronets, dislike for Trumpets and "jaz"The Canadian Encyclopedia Herbert L. ClarkeVirtual Gramophone, Herbert L. Clarke, Canadian Government
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Herbert L.
American cornetists
American bandleaders
American male conductors (music)
American classical trumpeters
American male trumpeters
Burials at the Congressional Cemetery
1867 births
1945 deaths
Pioneer recording artists
People from Woburn, Massachusetts
19th-century conductors (music)
19th-century American musicians
20th-century American conductors (music)
Classical musicians from Massachusetts
20th-century American male musicians
Canadian military musicians