Hamilton Clarke
While conducting at London theatres, he also composed a tremendous volume of church music, organ solos, songs, operettas and orchestral works.
In 1889, he took charge of the Victorian National Orchestra in Australia, returning to England in 1892 and soon becoming conductor of the Carl Rosa Opera Company for several years.
[1] He began playing the piano at age four, and by six had improvised a tune that he reused in one of his mature works forty years later.
[7] In October 1875, Sullivan hired Clarke as a replacement musical director of Trial by Jury at the Royalty Theatre, London, when Charles Morton succeeded Carte as general manager of the opera's original production.
[5] In 1876 Clarke was reported to be suffering from "a long and painful illness", and Carte organised a benefit concert for him at the Langham Hall.
[8] By December of that year, Clarke was working again, adapting the score and providing new choruses and ballet music for the first English performances of Die Fledermaus at the Alhambra Theatre.
The Symphony is in four movements, the first of which, allegro molto appassionato, constructed mainly upon two themes, combined and worked out with great ingenuity, fully bears out its title.
The second movement, a larghetto, in the key of the subdominant, is of a more tranquil character, though diversified by episodes, and especially one, given out by the violoncellos, effectively contrasting with the leading subject.
The finale, preceded by a kind of recitative, most effective in its place, is an allegro molto, full of vigour, instrumented for the orchestra with all varieties of combination and contrast, while preserving consistency throughout.
The symphony was capitally played under the direction of its composer, to whom Mr Sullivan, who deserves much credit for having produced it, courteously yielded the baton.
Sullivan described Clarke's arrangement as "most spirited" and conducted it at several of the promenade concerts in late August.
[25] Clarke later arranged the overtures for Gilbert and Sullivan's operas The Sorcerer (for its 1884 revival), The Mikado (1885) and Ruddigore (1887).
He also assisted in the piano arrangement of Sullivan's 1886 cantata, The Golden Legend and helped prepare the score for printing.
[44] He also wrote both the libretto and the score for Hornpipe Harry, in 1897, a well-reviewed show depicting the adventures of sailors cast ashore on a remote island.
[45] One of his last compositions was the one-act operetta The Outpost, first produced by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company at the Savoy Theatre in July 1900.
[5] In 1889, Clarke went to Australia, where he succeeded Frederick Cowen as conductor of the Victorian National Orchestra in Melbourne.
[48] He did not enjoy Melbourne; after returning to England in 1892, he gave a talk describing his experiences, giving "many valuable hints … to those who might think of accepting appointments in the Australian Colonies".
[3] According to Ellen Terry, Clarke's "brilliant gifts... 'o'er-leaped' themselves, and he ended his days in a lunatic asylum.
