Hubert Clifford
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__NOTOC__ Hubert John Clifford (31 May 1904 – 4 September 1959) was an Australian-born British composer, conductor and musical director for films. A native of
Bairnsdale Bairnsdale () ( Ganai: ''Wy-yung'') is a city in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia in a region traditionally owned by the Tatungalung clan of the Gunaikurnai people. The estimated population of Bairnsdale urban area was 15,411 at Ju ...
in rural
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...
, he studied chemistry before taking up music at the
Melbourne Conservatorium 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 metr ...
, under
Fritz Hart Fritz Bennicke Hart (11 February 1874 – 9 July 1949) was an English composer, conductor, teacher and unpublished novelist, who spent considerable periods in Australia and Hawaii. Early life Hart was born at Brockley, Greenwich, England, eldest ...
.Leach, Gerald. ''British Composer Profiles'' (3rd Edition), British Music Society (2012), p 58-9 He began making a name for himself in the late 1920s as a conductor, particular for his work with the Victorian Opera Company.Foreman, Lewis. Notes to Chandos CD 9597 (1999)
/ref> Following the advice of Hart (who himself had been a pupil of
Charles Villiers Stanford Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (30 September 1852 – 29 March 1924) was an Anglo-Irish composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Romantic music, Romantic era. Born to a well-off and highly musical family in Dublin, Stanford was ed ...
) Clifford sailed for Britain in May 1930 to continue his studies at the
Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...
.Foreman, Lewis. Notes to Chandos CD 10019 (2003)
/ref> There he was taught by C H Kitson and
Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...
. In the mid-1930s he turned to teaching. While music master at the Beckenham County School for Boys in Kent he won a
William Cobbett William Cobbett (9 March 1763 – 18 June 1835) was an English pamphleteer, journalist, politician, and farmer born in Farnham, Surrey. He was one of an agrarian faction seeking to reform Parliament, abolish "rotten boroughs", restrain foreign ...
prize of £20 for composing an original Suite for School Orchestra. This became ''A Kentish Suite''. A text book, ''The School Orchestra: A Comprehensive Manual for Conductors'', was published in 1939. He joined the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
in 1940, and was Empire Music Supervisor from 1941-1944, with frequent conducting duties for the BBC's overseas broadcast service. A photograph exists of Clifford with his friend and fellow-countryman, the composer and radio producer John Gough, and the British conductor Sir Henry Wood, inspecting the ruins of the Queen's Hall, London soon after it had been destroyed by German bombing on 10 May 1941. After leaving the BBC he began teaching at 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 ...
. From 1944 until 1950 Clifford was Musical Director for
Alexander Korda Sir Alexander Korda (; born Sándor László Kellner; hu, Korda Sándor; 16 September 1893 – 23 January 1956)London Film Productions London Films Productions is a British film and television production company founded in 1932 by Alexander Korda and from 1936 based at Denham Film Studios in Buckinghamshire, near London. The company's productions included ''The Private Life o ...
, where (like his contemporaries in similar positions
Muir Mathieson James Muir Mathieson, OBE (24 January 19112 August 1975) was a Scottish conductor and composer. Mathieson was almost always described as a "Musical Director" on many British films. Career Mathieson was born in Stirling, Scotland, in 1911. A ...
and
Ernest Irving Kelville Ernest Irving (6 November 1878 – 24 October 1953) was an English music director, conductor and composer, primarily remembered as a theatre musician in London between the wars, and for his key contributions to British film music as m ...
) he encouraged established classical composers to write for film, adapting and conducting their scores to fit the soundtrack. Notable commissions included ''
Anna Karenina ''Anna Karenina'' ( rus, «Анна Каренина», p=ˈanːə kɐˈrʲenʲɪnə) is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878. Widely considered to be one of the greatest works of literature ever writt ...
'' (score by
Constant Lambert Leonard Constant Lambert (23 August 190521 August 1951) was a British composer, conductor, and author. He was the founder and music director of the Royal Ballet, and (alongside Ninette de Valois and Frederick Ashton) he was a major figure in th ...
), ''
The Winslow Boy ''The Winslow Boy'' is an English play from 1946 by Terence Rattigan based on an incident involving George Archer-Shee in the Edwardian era. The incident took place at the Royal Naval College, Osborne. Background Set against the strict c ...
'', '' The Fallen Idol'' (both scores by
William Alwyn William Alwyn (born William Alwyn Smith; 7 November 1905 – 11 September 1985), was an English composer, conductor, and music teacher. Life and music William Alwyn was born William Alwyn Smith in Northampton, the son of Ada Tyler (Tompkins ...
) and '' The Happiest Days of Your Life'' (score by
Mischa Spoliansky Mischa Spoliansky (28 December 1898 – 28 June 1985) was a Russian-born composer who made his name writing cabaret and revue songs in the Weimar Republic of the 1920s and early 1930s, before he was forced to emigrate to London in 1933 when Hi ...
). Clifford also composed original scores of his own. During a second two-year stint at the BBC from 1952 Clifford became Head of Light Music.Obituary, ''Musical Times'', October 1959, p 546
/ref> His concert music is mostly orchestral and ranges from light overtures and suites to the wartime Symphony 1940. There is also a String Quartet from 1935. Many of his works have been recorded recently. During the 1950s Clifford's address was 'Belmore', Queen's Road, Cowes, Isle of Wight.''Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association (1957-1958)', p 99
/ref> He died at the age of 55 in Singapore, where he was examining for the Associated Board.


Selected concert works

* ''A Pageant of Youth'' orchestral overture (1926) * ''Voyage at Dusk - Fantasy for Orchestra'' (1928) * ''Dargo: A Mountain Rhapsody'' (1929) * ''Irish Comedy Overture'' (1930) * ''A Kentish Suite'' for orchestra (1935) * String Quartet in D (1935) * ''Four Sketches from 'As You Like It for string orchestra (1937) * ''Victorian Polka'' (1939) * ''The Casanova Melody'' for orchestra (1949) (orchestrated by Rodney Newton, 2000) * Symphony 1940 (1940) * ''Berceuses Anglaises'' for orchestra (1941) * ''Five English Nursery Tunes'' suite for orchestra (1941) * ''Serenade for Strings'' (1943) * ''Shanagolden'' orchestral tone poem (1953) * ''The Cowes Suite'' (1958)


Selected filmography

* ''Left of the Line'' (Canadian Army Film Unit documentary, 1944) * ''
Anna Karenina ''Anna Karenina'' ( rus, «Анна Каренина», p=ˈanːə kɐˈrʲenʲɪnə) is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878. Widely considered to be one of the greatest works of literature ever writt ...
'' (1948) (music director: score by
Constant Lambert Leonard Constant Lambert (23 August 190521 August 1951) was a British composer, conductor, and author. He was the founder and music director of the Royal Ballet, and (alongside Ninette de Valois and Frederick Ashton) he was a major figure in th ...
) * ''
Bonnie Prince Charlie Bonnie, is a Scottish given name and is sometimes used as a descriptive reference, as in the Scottish folk song, My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean. It comes from the Scots language word "bonnie" (pretty, attractive), or the French bonne (good). That ...
'' (1948) (music director: score by Ian Whyte) * '' The Fallen Idol'' (1948) (music director: score by
William Alwyn William Alwyn (born William Alwyn Smith; 7 November 1905 – 11 September 1985), was an English composer, conductor, and music teacher. Life and music William Alwyn was born William Alwyn Smith in Northampton, the son of Ada Tyler (Tompkins ...
) * ''
The Winslow Boy ''The Winslow Boy'' is an English play from 1946 by Terence Rattigan based on an incident involving George Archer-Shee in the Edwardian era. The incident took place at the Royal Naval College, Osborne. Background Set against the strict c ...
'' (1948) (music director: score by William Alwyn) * ''
The Third Man ''The Third Man'' is a 1949 British film noir directed by Carol Reed, written by Graham Greene and starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, and Trevor Howard. Set in postwar Vienna, the film centres on American Holly Martins (Cotten), ...
'' (1949) (additional music by Clifford under the pseudonym Michael Sarsfield) * '' My Daughter Joy'' (1950) (music director: score by Raymond Gallois-Montbrun) * ''
Seven Days to Noon ''Seven Days to Noon'' is a 1950 British drama/thriller film directed by John and Roy Boulting. Paul Dehn and James Bernard won the Academy Award for Best Story for their work on the film. Plot In 1950, the British Prime Minister receives ...
'' (1950) (music director: score by
John Addison John Mervyn Addison (16 March 19207 December 1998) was a British composer best known for his film scores. Early life Addison was born in Chobham, Surrey to a father who was a colonel in the Royal Field Artillery, and this influenced the de ...
) * '' The Happiest Days of Your Life'' (1950) (music director: score by
Mischa Spoliansky Mischa Spoliansky (28 December 1898 – 28 June 1985) was a Russian-born composer who made his name writing cabaret and revue songs in the Weimar Republic of the 1920s and early 1930s, before he was forced to emigrate to London in 1933 when Hi ...
) * ''
Mystery Junction ''Mystery Junction'' is a 1951 British crime film directed by Michael McCarthy (film director), Michael McCarthy and starring Sydney Tafler and Barbara Murray.Pandora and the Flying Dutchman ''Pandora and the Flying Dutchman'' is a 1951 British Technicolor romantic fantasy drama film directed by Albert Lewin and produced by Lewin and Joseph Kaufman from Lewin's own screenplay, based on the legend of the ''Flying Dutchman''. It wa ...
'' (1951) (music director: score by
Alan Rawsthorne Alan Rawsthorne (2 May 1905 – 24 July 1971) was a British composer. He was born in Haslingden, Lancashire, and is buried in Thaxted churchyard in Essex. Early years Alan Rawsthorne was born in Deardengate House, Haslingden, Lancashire, to Hu ...
) * ''
Cry, the Beloved Country ''Cry, the Beloved Country'' is a 1948 novel by South African writer Alan Paton. Set in the prelude to apartheid in South Africa, it follows a black village priest and a white farmer who must deal with news of a murder. American publisher Benn ...
'' (1951) (music director: score by Raymond Gallois-Montbrun) * '' The Dark Man'' (1951) * '' Hunted'' (1952) * ''
River Beat ''River Beat'' is a 1954 British noir crime film directed by Guy Green and starring John Bentley, Phyllis Kirk and Leonard White. The screenplay concerns a river police inspector who faces a moral dilemma when a woman he knows gets caught u ...
'' (1954) * '' House of Secrets'' (1956) * '' Hell Drivers'' (1957) * '' The One That Got Away'' (1957) * ''
Bachelor of Hearts ''Bachelor of Hearts'' is a 1958 British comedy film starring Hardy Krüger as a German who studies at Cambridge University. It was made to cash in on Krüger's popularity following the success of the war film '' The One That Got Away'' (1957). ...
'' (1958)


References


External links

*
''Serenade for Strings'', played by the BBC Concert Orchestra, conductor Barry Wordsworth
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clifford, Hubert 1904 births 1959 deaths People from Bairnsdale British film score composers British male film score composers Australian film score composers 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century British composers 20th-century British male musicians Australian emigrants to the United Kingdom