Hubert Charles Bath (6 November 188324 April 1945) was a British film composer, music director, and conductor. His credits include the music to the Oscar-winning documentary ''

Wings Over Everest ''Wings over Everest'' is a 1934 British short documentary film directed by Geoffrey Barkas and Ivor Montagu. It won an Academy Award in 1936 for Best Short Subject (Novelty). It described the 1933 Houston-Mount Everest flight expedition, in w ...

'' (1934), as well as to the films ''

Tudor Rose The Tudor rose (sometimes called the Union rose) is the traditional floral heraldic badge, heraldic emblem of England and takes its name and origins from the House of Tudor, which united the House of Lancaster and the House of York. The Tudor ...

'' (1936), ''

A Yank at Oxford ''A Yank at Oxford'' is a 1938 comedy-drama film directed by Jack Conway and starring Robert Taylor, Lionel Barrymore, Maureen O'Sullivan, Vivien Leigh and Edmund Gwenn. The screenplay was written by John Monk Saunders and Leon Gordon. The ...

'' (1938) and '' Love Story'' (1944).

Biography

Bath was born in

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

in 1883. He sang in the local church choir and in 1899 attended the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...

, studying piano with

Oscar Beringer Oscar Beringer (14 July 1844 – 21 February 1922) was an English pianist and teacher of German descent. He was born in Furtwangen in the Black Forest, but by 1849 he had moved to London when his father became a political refugee. Due to impo ...

and composition with

Frederick Corder Frederick Corder (26 January 1852 – 21 August 1932) was an English composer and music teacher. Life Corder was born in Hackney, the son of Micah Corder and his wife Charlotte Hill. He was educated at Blackheath Proprietary School and start ...

. In 1913-14 he conducted Thomas Quinlan's opera troupe on its world tour, also acting as chorus master. He conducted "Madame Butterfly" at the London Opera House in July 1915, in a performance that starred

Tamaki Miura , was a Japanese opera singer who performed as Cio-Cio-San in Puccini's ''Madama Butterfly''. Early life Miura was born the first daughter of Shibata Mōho and Shibata Towa () on February 22, 1884 in Tokyo, Japan. Shibata, a music lover had hi ...

. After that he established himself as a composer of light operas, including ''Young England'' (Birmingham, 1915) and '' Bubbole'' (Milan, 1920), extending the genre towards grand opera with ''Trilby''. He went on to compose many film scores (including part of the soundtrack of

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

's ''

Blackmail Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...

'' in 1929), marches for brass bands, orchestral suites, theatre music and choral works. His composition ''Out of the Blue'' has been used as the theme music of '' Sports Report'' since the programme started in 1948. Also well-known is his ''Cornish Rhapsody'', written for, and essential to the plot of, the 1944 film '' Love Story''. Humorous cantatas such as ''The Wedding of Shon Maclean'' (1909), ''Look at the Clock'' (1910) and ''The Wake of O'Connor'' (1914) were popular with choral societies in their day. There are also many suites of character pieces for piano, including ''Shakespeare Pieces'' (1916), ''My Lady'' (1923), the ''Italian Suite'' (1924), the ''Gaelic Suite'' (five Irish sketches for piano), published in 1927, and the ''Sonnet Suite'' (1933). In 1924, Bath was named as

co-respondent In English law, a co-respondent is, in general, a respondent to a petition, or other legal proceeding, along with another or others, or a person called upon to answer in some other way. 7.4.19 Divorce More particularly, since the Matrimonial C ...

in the divorce case between Colonel Alfred Rawlinson and the actress

Jean Aylwin Jean Aylwin (10 October 18851964), also known as Jean Isabella Griffin Aitkin, was a Scottish actress and singer, often billed as "The Lady Harry Lauder". Aylwin was best known for creating character roles in successful Edwardian musical comedie ...

. Bath died in

Harefield Harefield is a village in the London Borough of Hillingdon, England, northwest of Charing Cross near Greater London's boundary with Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the north. The population at the 2011 Census was 7,399. Haref ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

in 1945, aged 61. His son John Bath (1915–2004) was also a film composer.

Selected filmography

* ''

Under the Greenwood Tree ''Under the Greenwood Tree: A Rural Painting of the Dutch School'' is a novel by the English writer Thomas Hardy, published anonymously in 1872. It was Hardy's second published novel, and the first of what was to become his series of Wessex n ...

'' (1929) * '' The Informer'' (1929) * ''

The Plaything ''The Plaything'' is a 1929 British romance film directed by Castleton Knight and starring Estelle Brody, Heather Thatcher and Nigel Barrie. The film was a mixture of silent and sound film as it was released during the transition period follow ...

'' (1929) * ''

Tell England ''Tell England: A Study in a Generation'' is a novel written by Ernest Raymond and published in February 1922 in the United Kingdom. Its themes are the First World War and the young men sent to fight in it. The book became a bestseller, some 3 ...

'' (1931) * ''

Evensong Evensong is a church service traditionally held near sunset focused on singing psalms and other biblical canticles. In origin, it is identical to the canonical hour of vespers. Old English speakers translated the Latin word as , which became ...

'' (1934 - uncredited) * ''

'' (1934) * '' His Lordship'' (1936) * '' The Luck of the Irish'' (1936) *''

'' (1936) * ''

Non-Stop New York ''Non-Stop New York'' (also known as ''Lisbon Clipper Mystery'') is a 1937 British science fiction crime film directed by Robert Stevenson and starring John Loder, Anna Lee and Francis L. Sullivan. It is based on the 1936 novel ''Sky Stewar ...

'' (1937) * '' The Great Barrier'' (1937) *''

'' (1938) *''

Dear Octopus ''Dear Octopus'' is a comedy by the playwright and novelist Dodie Smith. It opened at the Queen's Theatre, London on 14 September 1938. On the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 the run was halted after 373 performances; after ...

'' (1943) * '' Love Story'' (1944)

Notes

External links

* * * * 1883 births 1945 deaths English film score composers English male film score composers Musicians from Barnstaple 20th-century British male musicians {{UK-composer-stub