A Case of Identity

Author(s): Liane Curtis

Source: The Musical Times , May, 1996, Vol. 137, No. 1839 (May, 1996), pp. 15-21
Published by: Musical Times Publications Ltd.

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1003935

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 A case of identity
Artur Rubinstein called her 'the glorious Rebecca Clarke'.
LIANE CURTIS argues the cause of a composer neglected
by the British and American musical establishment.
Suite for Viola as the winner. The viola sonata, elo-
Liane Curtis
teaches at
quent testimony to Clarke's power as a composer, Bowdoin
the early decades of this century, it is only
recently that Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979) speaks with directness and authority. In College,
the Maine,
USA. She is
has emerged as a prominent British com- Coolidge competition of 1921, Clarke was again
currently writing
poser. A steady stream of recordings (including eight runner-up with her Trio for violin, cello anda piano.
book on
of one work alone, the viola sonata of 1919), the re- Finally Mrs Coolidge awarded her a $1000 commis-
Rebecca Clarke.
publication of her powerful Piano Trio of 1921 and sion for the 1923 festival, resulting in her lengthy
two collections of songs,' and the recently published Rhapsody for cello and piano. In all of Mrs
New Grove dictionary of women composers, (valuable Coolidge's years as a patron of music, this was her1. Boosey &
Hawkes obtained
for the near-complete list of her works, a thorough one instance of supporting a woman. Clarke's suc-
the rights to
bibliography, and an informative article by Stephen cess in the Coolidge festivals came amidst an exten-Clarke's music
Banfield which draws largely on materials previous- sive period of giving concerts (including a touroriginally published
ly published in diverse and obscure places)2 have all around the world in 1922 and 1923) and compos- by Winthrop
assisted in making available an important part of her ing. The Viola Sonata was one of her first publica-Rogers Ltd. The
previously inaccessible output. Yet despite this tions, in 1921, along with some songs, and these reprintings, with an
growing swirl of interest, Clarke remains an enig- were followed by some shorter instrumental works.introduction by
Calum MacDonald,
matic figure: not only does a large part of her output In 1924, Clarke returned to England, and settled. include the Piano
remain unpublished, accessible only with permis- While her career as a composer was by no means Trio (originally
sion of her heirs, but what we know about Clarke over, the brief highpoint had past. published in 1928);
herself is sketchy. Although a few stories, like that of Almost 60 years later, Clarke recalled the 1919 a song album for
the Viola Sonata are well known, there has as yet Coolidge Festival in an interview with Robert Sher- medium high voice
man (of New York's WQXR Radio) conducted in and piano, contain-
been little inquiry into the details of her life: my own
ing nine works
research (although still in its early stages), reveals honour of her 90th birthday, in August 1976.
(originally pub-
her as a fascinating composer, an influential per- lished in the
And when I had that one little whiff of success that
former, and a warm but complicated personality. 1920s); and Three
Rebecca Clarke's story, one to inspire us with its I've had in my life, with the Viola Sonata, the ru- Old English songs
mour went around, I hear, that I hadn't written the arranged for voice
heroic achievement, is notable for a number of firsts.
stuff myself, that somebody had done it for me. And and violin (first
From 1907 to 1910 she studied composition in Lon-
I even got one or two little bits of... press clippings published in 1925).
don at the Royal College of Music. While women
saying that it was impossible, that I couldn't have 2. The New Grove
had been admitted as students from the college's in-
written it myself. And the funniest of all was that I
ception, it was rare for them to specialise in compo- dictionary of women
had a clipping once which said that I didn't exist, composers, edited by
sition, and Clarke was the first woman to study with
there wasn't any such person as Rebecca Clarke, that Julie Anne Sadie
Stanford. Her musical education ended when she
it was a pseudonym... for Ernest Bloch! Now these and Rhian Samuel
quarrelled with her father, who threw her out of the
people have got it most beautifully mixed - I (London, 1994;
house, forcing her to earn her own way as a violist.
thought to myself what a funny idea that when he New York, 1995)
She again made history when, in 1912, as one of 'six reinstates Clarke
writes his very much lesser works that he should
lady musicians chosen by Sir Henry J. Wood to aug-take a pseudonym of a girl, that anyone should con- after an unpardon-
able omission from
ment the Queen's Hall Orchestra', she became one sider
of this possible!4
the New Grove
the first women to play professionally in an orches-
dictionary of 1980
tra.3 Before World War 1, she was also a member of this is an amusing anecdote, it also reveals (Clarke was
While
a successful all-female string quartet, headed bysome
vio-important aspects of Clarke's self-image. She included in earlier
linist Nora Clench, and in the late-1920s, of theresponds
En- to allegations that she didn't exist, not with Groves). Clarke's
glish Ensemble, a female piano quartet. anger or contempt, but rather with good humour, works list was
During the highpoint of her career, her viola
and even turns this humour into a vehicle for de- previously pub-
lished in an article
sonata tied for first place in the 1919 competition
meaning her own creation, incredulous that some-
by Michael Ponder
sponsored by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge as part
oneof
would confuse her 'very much lesser work' inwith
the British Music
her Berkshire Festival of Chamber music. Mrs that of the great Bloch. This stereotypically feminine
Society Journal no.5
type of modesty can also be seen as an indicator
Coolidge herself broke the tie, naming Ernest Bloch's of pp.82-88.
(1983),

THE MUSICAL TIMES / MAY 1996 15

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Both versions of the Rebecca Clarke c.1917-18
the fragility of her own belief in her creative powers,
works list are
and of her right to employ those powers. And in-
apparently based on
deed, in what may be viewed as a case-study of
an unpublished cat-
women's low self-esteem,5 many of the achievements
alogue compiled in
1977 by Christo- that I have mentioned were spoken of by Clarke in
pher Johnson (of deprecatory ways. Clarke attributes her success to
New York City) in luck and accident, while failure or negative response
conjunction with is what she felt she deserved. This conflicted identi-
Clarke. most of
ty, of Clarke's desire to compose and her difficulty in
Clarke's manu-
believing in herself as a composer, tells us much, I
scripts are in the
private possession think, about the shape of her career and the pattern
of heirs in New of her musical output.
York City. No Given the impressive quality of Clarke's music,
manuscripts are how then are we to understand her obscurity? The
owned by the New answer to this question is obviously a complex one.
York Public Library,
Marcia Citron's recent pathbreaking book, Gender
and the Library of
Congress (Washing-
and the musical canon (Cambridge University Press,
ton DC) owns only 1993), addresses many of the relevant issues, and in
those manuscripts my forthcoming book, I shall discuss some of the
associated with forces that were obstacles and discouragements to
Elizabeth Sprague Clarke - patriarchal structures of educational sys-
Coolidge: Viola tems and family organisation, and biased attitudes of
Sonata, Piano Trio
critics and patrons.6 Here I wish to focus specifically
and Rhapsody). The
Library of Congress on her concept of self: how she internalised the val-
owns a copy of ues presented by these outside influences; how ob-
Clarke's Prelude, stacles or events influenced her own attitude about
allegro and pastorale her place in the world.
of 1941 but it is not
in Clarke's hand.

3. Arthur Jacobs: M UCH OFful what it uptakes

composer is bound in the abilityto be a success-
Henry J. Wood: to sensitively read one's surroundings was doomed to another session with the... steel
maker of the Proms and to respond to them inventively,7 a slapper, while Mama waited helplessly outside the
(London, 1994),
negotiation with the public sphere that, as a com- door and cried.8
p.142.
poser, Clarke shrank from. Her readiness to mini-
4. I would like to malise her own achievement - the opposite of self- Growing up in a household where the act of nail
thank Mr Sherman promotion, conceding to a view of society that ren- biting brought a brutal beating, we can understan
for generously shar- dered women culturally invisible - meant that that Clarke would learn to hesitate at any form o
ing the tapes of Clarke's fame in her own lifetime was shortlived. going against the grain - as defined by her father, o
these interviews
Clues to the origins of her chronic self-effacing later, mod- by the norms of conventional society. Thu
with me, both the
material that was
esty can be found in the amazing memoir throughout that Clarke's life we find a conflict - she con
used in the broad- Clarke wrote while in her 80s, a coming-of-age structed
doc- her identity as a woman in a mainstream
cast and the leftover ument reflecting on the authoritarian power struc- way, internalising the widely held views of the lim
portions. tures within her family in the Victorian era. Even tations
at of women's role and capabilities, rather tha
this late stage in her life she is still trying to effect battling
a against them. So this identity, then, was a
5. For instance, odds with her sense of self as a composer. She onc
reconciliation with her tyrannical and cruel father,
Women and
who had dominated her childhood, and whose love said 'I always feel that each thing I do is going to b
self-esteem (New
and acceptance she had so desperately wanted the
and last thing I'm capable of doing, it always seem
York, 1984) by
Linda Tschirhart needed but never attained. sort of a little bit accidental'.9 This surprise at he
Sandford and Mary 'accidental' creativity seems a way of minimalisin
Ellen Donovan; and We were all of us whipped, sometimes really her own agency and adopting instead what she per
Peggy Orenstein in painfully. As a rule I well deserved any punishment
ceived as a more feminine passivity. While Clark
association with the I got... Bathed in tears, my drawers let down, I had
spoke often of the intense pleasure of composing
American Associa- to lean across the hated red Paisley quilt on Papa's
her desire to compose was frequently repressed be
tion of University bed while he applied the 'steel slapper' - an archi-
Women: Schoolgirls:
cause of her doubts in the appropriateness of thi
tect's two foot rule... Hans and Eric [her brothers] of
drive in a woman. And I think this led to doubt her
young women, self- course had their share, but... Eric, even when quite
esteem, and the con- own talents; a doubt that seems incredible to those
small, seemed able to shrug things off in a way I nev-
fidence gap (New
er could. And being the oldest - as well as the of us who know any of her music.
York, 1994). We might contrast Clarke with Ethel Smyth,
naughtiest - I was punished more often... For years
my nails were examined every Sunday morning by Clarke's senior by 28 years, who, as a proud suf-
Papa; I had started the habit of biting them. And if fragette, carried the banner of 'woman composer'
they were not satisfactory (and they never were) I high. While Clarke sympathised with the suffragette

16 THE MUSICAL TIMES / MAY 1996

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cause - she played in a number of benefit concerts text. In these two pieces she stepped outside her
6. Exploring the inti-
on its behalflo - she did not become directly in- mate voice: the life
usual feminine identity, adopting a sweeping author-
and music of Rebecca
volved herself. With no wish to struggle to forge an itative stance, a grand public voice, perhaps in order
Clarke (1886-1979),
identity, she shunned militancy and stridency. As a to be competitive or bolstered by the anonymous
in progress.
woman her self-image was shaped by Victorian no- format. Truly monumental in scope, these are her
tions of restricted spheres and Edwardian gentility only mature works to employ sonata form; the indi-
7. As Philip Brett
and decorativeness. As a composer her identity was has recently empha-
vidual movements are linked through a cyclic treat-
ment of motives. sised. See 'Musicali-
highly conflicted and, for extended periods, com-
ty, essentialism, and
pletely closeted. Yet Smyth, with her more vocal ap- In their breadth of conception and rich expan-
the closet', in
proach, has fared no better in posterity than Clarke, sive, post-romantic idiom Clarke would never write
Queering the pitch:
remembered more as a figure of curiosity and even anything else to equal them, and following Clarke'sthe new gay and
ridicule than as the inventor of modern British opera third Coolidge festival in 1923, her output slowed, lesbian musicology
(although perhaps the recent performance and and by the 1930s was intermittent, partly perhaps(New York & Lon-
recording of her opera The wreckers" will allow her because a happy accident, such as that of the don, 1994), p.19.
some much deserved recognition). Coolidge festival, never again occurred, but more
8. 'I had a Father,
Clarke, however, wanted to fit into society, thus likely because, of her decision in 1924, following the
Too (or the Mustard
valuing her femininity and conforming to an ideolo- death of her father four years earlier and because of Spoon)', unpub-
gy that applied rigid stereotypes to the identity of her devotion to her mother (who died in 1935), to lished typescript
woman. Again and again we find her minimising her settle in London. Clarke's years of travel, much of (1969-73) in
own achievement: them in the US, had offered her a certain freedomClarke's estate, p.26.
Publication of the
from conventions; a freedom that may have been re-
I loved the Royal College... It was extremely memoir is planned,
inforced by the necessity of supporting herself.
stimulating to think of all the well-known com- These years released her from her desire for socialedited by myself,
with an introduc-
posers who had passed through Stanford's hands: acceptability that, back in England and with a com-
tion by Louise De
Holst, Vaughan Williams, Bridge, Butterworth, and a
fortable inheritance, both ordered her life but grad- Salvo. De Salvo is
host of others all of whom I ultimately came to
ually eroded her drive to compose. While she saw the author of nu-
know. That I was the only woman student he had ac-
the glamourous career of a performer as acceptablemerous books, most
cepted was a source of great pride to me, though I notably Virginia
within her desired identity as an upper-middle class
know full well that I never fully deserved it. Woolf: the impact of
lady of society, being a composer - which demanded childhood sexual
Memoir, p.154
control, power, and devotion to one's own creativityabuse on her life and
In the 1976 interview, Clarke recounts how she - was not (at least as Clarke defined it to herself). work (New York,
used a pseudonym - Anthony Trent. She was giving Clarke performed intensively as a chamber musician1989), which have
a recital (see illustration on p.18) in 1918 featuringthroughout these years; but as a composer, her out-provided me with
innumerable
a number of her own works, and felt embarrassed atput declined. Although much of her music from this
insights into the late
having her name mentioned numerous times on the period remains unpublished and thus almost entire-Victorian era.
programme: 'I thought how silly to have my namely unknown, its quality is impressive.
9. 1976 interview
on the programme yet again' (I can't think of many
with Robert
male composers who would be capable of making EN SHE returned she found Eng-
Sherman.
that statement!). Although, she wanted to avoid ac- land in a period of backlash.14 The
cepting the attention the piece would bring her, the suffrage movement and the First 10. Votes for women
piece by 'Anthony Trent' actually attracted more no- World War had been a time of
(London, 1911). I
tice than the pieces under her real name - somethingprogress for women, as they won many thank Elizabeth
opportuni-
for which she had not planned. By 1976 Clarke wasties and played active roles in a wide Wood, who is But in
sphere.
ready to think that she had been treated unfairly;the mid-1920s, retrenchment and awriting a book on of
reassertion
Smyth, for this
what she thought in 1918 is more difficult to know.12 traditional roles took place, a situation reflected in
reference.
Clarke's whole involvement in the Coolidge festi-many of the reviews of an all-Clarke concert of Oc-
tober 1925.
vals was, in fact, an accident, the result of a visit in 11. The wreckers

1917 to friends vacationing in Pittsfield Mass- was given a concert

Rebecca Clarke, whose recital of compositions took performance in the
achusetts, where she became acquainted with the
place at Wigmore Hall, is, as all women composers, 1994 BBC Proms. A
great music patron, Mrs Coolidge, herself summer-
largely reflective of preceding masculine creations. recording has been
ing in Pittsfield. Clarke attended the first chamber
She has, however, real feminine personality in such released on the
music festival, held in September of 1918, and Mrs Conifer label
things as her 'Lullaby' for viola and piano, and a tru-
Coolidge personally encouraged her to enter the (51250-2), with the
ly feminine bent towards the grotesque and intricate BBC Philharmonic
1919 competition for a new work featuring the vio-
in 'Grotesque' and 'Chinese Puzzle'. Orchestra and the
la.13 The context of a competition was an unusual Western Mail, Cardiff Huddersfield Choral
one for Clarke. After leaving the Royal College, she
Society directed by
had concentrated mainly on writing short instru- How remarkable it is that our women composers are Odaline de la
mental pieces or songs, self-contained single move- so much more virile in style than some of our young Martinez.
ment works with poetic titles for herself or her men. Miss Rebecca Clarke has a strong right arm
friends to play. In contrast, the Viola Sonata and the (We speak figuratively, of course). She can lay down
1921 Piano Trio stand completely outside this con- the foundation of a big chamber work like her piano

THE MUSICAL TIMES / MAY 1996 17

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 Aeolian Hall programme 13, February 1918

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aatdtaatai'alaai . ..a ha ta .. :it

12. A brief review in trio heard last night, with all the emphasis of a Liszt tainted with sentimentality) and that women who
Vogue (15 April and carry on with the sturdiness of a John Ireland or strove to go beyond this limited sphere were unnat-
1918) first consid- Frank Bridge. ural (they were trying to be men, usurping a mascu-
ers Anthony Trent [London] Star line vocabulary that they could only possibly use in-
and Frank Bridge, authentically) and were condemned or at best treat-
mentioning Clarke The reviewer who remarks on Clarke's strength re- ed with curiosity. It is this curiosity - a polite, dis-
as a composer only
alises that this complement casts her femininity into tancing, patronising inquisitiveness - that permeates
as an afterthought:
'One should not, question. Thus the writer must qualify the remark - a 1926 review in the Musical Times of Clarke's Mid-
too, overlook Miss humorously, of course - to emphasise that if Clarke summer moon for violin and piano. Rather than con-
Clarke's own is unladylike in her creative efforts, at least she is sider the aesthetic value of this piece, the critic takes
picturesque compo- still within the bounds of propriety as far as her the opportunity to weigh the virtues of an abstracted
sitions, the 'Lullaby' physical attributes are concerned. 'new "woman-composer" ' against the 'old'.
and 'Grotesque' for
viola and cello.' The conservative turn of post-World War I Britain
has been memorably described in a recent book, The In reading Miss Rebecca Clarke's 'Midsummer
Moon' our first impression is one of relief and grati-
13. Cyrilla Barr female malady: women, madness and English culture,
presents a broad tude: for the new "woman-composer" is at least free
1830-1980, by Elaine Showalter, who notes 'the shift
perspective of from the cloying sentimentality of the old. ... May
of feminist interests away from questions of women's
Coolidge's influence nights and moonlight are no longer the source of
independence to questions of women's relationships
in 'A style of her gushing platitudes. The modern woman looks upon
own: reflections on with men.' She considers the emergence of what psy-
these things with the detachment of a scientist .
the patronage of choanalysts dubbed the 'masculinity complex',
She has an eye for the picturesque, but it is an eye
Elizabeth Sprague which saw feminists as women who sublimate their
undimmed by a rising tear. She is too keen, too de-
Coolidge', forth- desire to be men by 'following masculine pursuits of termined and too interested to be easily moved; her
coming in Cultivat- an intellectual and professional nature', and the in-ecstasy is of the mind rather than of the emotions.
ing music in Ameri-
fluence of Sigmund Freud, whose theories were re-This is all so much pure gain. At worst she can only
ca: women patrons
and activists since ceived enthusiastically in Britain.'1 This backlash toleave us cold; the others, when they really tried
1860, edited by first-wave feminism brought with it, then, the Victo- could be loathsome. With the instinct for change
Ralph P. Locke and rian double bind: that women who worked within and variety, with the flair for fashions which is wom-
Cyrilla Barr the acceptably feminine sphere were considered to an's own gift, she reaches the goal while the more
(Berkeley & Los cautious male hesitates and counts the cost. In the
be of little value (insignificant, in the lesser genres,

18 THE MUSICAL TIMES / MAY 1996

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 end, perhaps, some males may strike deeper, but know that Clarke was an avid sewer, the metaphor Angeles, 1996). I
there is surely a good deal to be said for dashing bril- thank Professor Barr
can be identified as one of quilting. In fact, 'compos-
liance and frank unconventionality. for sharing her
ing, sewing, etc.' (24 February 1925) is a frequent
research with me in
Musical Times, 1 September 1926 entry, as is 'shopping, composing, etc.' Composing,
advance of publica-
then, while always important to Clarke, was seldom tion.
While this reviewer believes he is being progressive her primary activity
in his recognition and praise of the 'new "woman- This attempt to be a composer in a way that
14. Susan Faludi's
composer" ' he is actually restating the restrictions of would conform to her identity as a woman, was Backlash:
of- the unde-

the traditional double bind - the older type of wom- clared

ten difficult. For Clarke, the act of composing in- war against
American women
an composer wrote music of loathsome sentimental- volved complete self-absorption - a devotion to one's
(New York, 1991)
ity; the new woman instead provides scientific de- own creative worth, which meant some loss of iden-
convincingly de-
tachment and superficial brilliance; it is still only the tity, a giving up of everyday order in deference toscribes
an how wom-
male composer who is capable of depth. Uncon- unmeasurable internal power. Clarke writes of this
en's efforts to win
sciously conforming to this ideology, Clarke, then, experience in her memoir: equal treatment
avoided the masculine pinnacle of musical achieve- have always pro-
ment: she wrote no orchestral music, focusing in- duced cycles, with
... especially as a child, [I] often had the sensation advance followed
stead on the so-called 'lesser' genres of chamber mu- for no particular reason of being jolted right out of
by reactionary
sic and songs. Her largest works, as I have noted, my identity, to return almost instantaneously with a
repression.
were written as part of competitions to which works sort of bump and a sense of surprise at finding my-
were submitted anonymously, which perhaps en- self the same person as before. Even when grown
couraged her to ignore the confines of her feminini- up, a period of intense concentration - such as com-15. The female
ty. That Clarke felt more psychologically comfort- posing, lovemaking or anger - could bring on a re-malady: women,
turn of the same feeling. madness and English
able working with smaller scale pieces is, however,
culture, 1830-1980
demonstrated by her return to single-movement (London & New
works after the Coolidge festivals. I point this out as And, of studying at the Royal College:
York, 1985).
a pattern, and not to minimise the artistic achieve- pp.195-203.
It was a happy, ecstatic time. My work was improv-
ments of her creations. Clarke, I suggest, tried to re-
solve her conflict with the masculine associations of ing - slowly, but improving ... Every now and then,16. Christine Bat-
in the middle of struggling with some problem, ev-tersby's Gender and
composing by giving feminine attributes to her iden-
erything would fall into place with a suddenness al-genius (Blooming-
tity as a composer, rather than by trying to fit into
most like switching on an electric light. It may ton & Indianapolis
the masculine world of composing - the male-de-
sound pretentious, ... but at these moments, though 1989; London,
fined ethos of what a composer and what genius I had no illusions whatever about the value of my 1989) examines the
was.16 Indeed, her diary entry of 16 January 1924 il- work, I was flooded with a wonderful feeling of po- gendered status of
lustrates this feminising context and her view of genius.
tential power - a miracle made anything seem pos-
composition as an ornamental part of her identity: sible. Every composer, or writer, or painter too for
17. The letters of
that matter, however obscure, is surely familiar with
Fanny Hensel to
Had rather fun ... going with [her sister] Dora to buy this sensation. It is a glorious one. I know of almostFelix Mendelssohn,
some pearls! I am adding a few to the middle of my nothing to equal it. edited by Marcia
necklace with the money I have just got as royalties Citron (Stuyvesant,
from my songs. My pearls are to be all out of my 1987), p.xl.
N 1933, the same year that Freud completed his
compositions!
final essay on penis envy, Clarke completed a
song, a setting of Blake's 'The tiger', her darkest
While on the one hand we might simply say Clarke and only truly frightening work, bordering on
is buying the pearls to celebrate the success of herthe expressionist. For the previous five years, the
compositions, on the other, its use for a luxury em- obsessive reworking of that song had been almost
phasises what she is not doing as a composer - she is her only compositional effort. Perhaps in the wake
not earning a living. Clarke's words bring to mind of the preoccupations of feminists and psychiatrists,
what Fanny Mendelssohn's father wrote her in 1820 as well as the overall social climate of retrenchment
- 'for you it [music] can and must only be an orna-of traditional values concerning women, Clarke's in-
ment, never the root of your being and doing','7 aterests had been drawn to questions of relationships
quote which, whilst without equating the values ofwith men. More precisely, Clarke had an unhealthy
1820s Berlin with those of 1920s London, remindssecret relationship with a married man, the baritone
us of the long tradition of music as an ornament, John a Goss. Eight years younger than Clarke, Goss
decorative hobby for women. A viewpoint for Clarkewas well-known in London, and closely associated
as she strove to create an identity as a composer thatwith the composer Philip Heseltine, better known as
would be compatible with her feminine sensibilities Peter Warlock. Clarke wrote 'The tiger' for Goss, and
was thus readily available. Indeed, the act of com-many of her songs of the 1920s were premiered by
posing itself is, in her diary, often found among dis-and dedicated to him. The kindling of this romance
tinctly ladylike activities. In 1924, she wrote of com-in 1927, however, coincided with a drop in Clarke's
posing Midsummer moon: 'Started a fiddle piece us- output. (Her diaries end in 1933 so it is impossible
ing some old scraps'. (16 February 1924) Once we to know the conclusion of the affair.)

THE MUSICAL TIMES / MAY 1996 19

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18. As some writers
Clarke had first dedicated a song to Goss in 1922. ternational Society for Contemporary Music (held in
have generalised, This was 'The seal man', a long prose text by John Berkeley, California). Its acceptance by the Society
for instance, Citron:
Gender and the mu-
Masefield, based upon Celtic legend, the narrativecheered of Clarke; it was the only work by a woman,
sical canon, p.92;
which strikes me as an eerie prediction of what and one of only three by British composers. The re-
and Diane Peacock would happen to Clarke in her later romantic entan- views of this piece were positive, yet Clarke never
Jezic: Women com- glement with Goss. The story is a gender reversalshowed of it to any publishers.
posers: the lost tradi- the Greek legend of the Siren: a maiden of the Scot-This period of productivity was ended, not by her
tion found (New tish highlands falls in love with a seal (disguisedmarriageas to James Friskin,18 but rather by her taking
York, 1988), p.159. a man), and follows him out onto the sea, where 'she on a position as a governess in Connecticut in early
19. Letter from
was drowned of course, drowned, drowned'. Read 1942.19 in The job was gesture of independence to her
Eric's wife Beryl conjunction with Clarke's diary from later in the brothers, but in her writings she expressed surprise
stating that Rebecca decade and the early 30s, with its relentless series- of and despair - at finding herself, nearing the age of
was not going to rendezvous, recriminations, break-ups and make- 60, in exhausting, non-musical employment for the
spend the summer ups, it is easy to sense that some part of Clarke her- first time in her life. Her writings from this time are
with them (Spring self is drowning in these years; certainly the com- not the meticulous diaries of earlier years, but
1942).
poser part seems deeply submerged. rather, long undated lists of observations, written in
20. Interview with In her 1976 interview, she is asked why she didn't a large hand with blunt pencil on legal pad. She is
Christopher John- continue to compose. clearly struggling to keep up her spirits, as a few
son (January 1994). poignant quotations attest. These writings, labelled
I wanted to, but I couldn't. I had lots of sketches of 'Observations', are numbered but not dated:
21. He taught there things. I know and I miss it, because there's nothing
for 52 years. in the world more thrilling - or practically noth- 53
ing... But you can't do it - at least I can't - maybe Funny to have to use the back door instead of the
22. For instance, that's where a woman's different - I can't do it unless front.
her diary, 18 Febru- it's the first thing I think of every morning when I
ary 1920: 'Went up
to the Mannes
wake and the last thing I think of every night before 58

School at 4:30 to I go to sleep - I've got to have it in my mind all the I can understand Hitler when I see boys playing in
hear trios played by time and if one allows too many other things to take sand-box: 'It's mine' 'No, it's mine.' I fear war will al-
Mr and Mrs over one is liable not to be able to do it, that's been ways exist.
M[annes] and my experience.
Casals. Casals, who 69
played very badly So Clarke's impulse to compose was submerged but My fingers are puckered from all the washing I have
indeed last night, not gone. In 1939 came another accident - not a to do - self, children, bedding, dishes. Hard to play
played most happy one for Clarke or for anyone, but it did effec- well that way.
beautifully today. tively separate her from the distractions that kept
Sat with Friskin and
her from composing - World War II. 102
talked a lot with
As relatives tell the story, Clarke was visiting her Difficult to realise that the sun still shines in London
him, queer, shy
brothers in the US during the summer of 1939 when as much as it ever does.
thing that he is.
Nothing in the Britain declared war. Since London was being evacu-
152
evening.' ated, she decided to remain with her brothers and
their families. These years, 1939-42, were a remark- Unreal experiences seem quite natural while they
23. These letters are are present. But one sometimes thinks even at the
able compositional efflorescence, and Clarke's final
among the few that time: I shall not believe I have ever done this. We are
survive in Clarke's period of musical creativity. There was ultimately
friction in both families as the wives saw Rebecca as adaptable creatures.
estate. They remain
in the 'Tall Gals' attempting to usurp roles of leadership within the 172
shoe box (size 11) family, and she saw her brothers as taking on the
Letter from England - mirage-like effect switching
that she stored cruelty of their father. It was a very unhappy time for
them in. me away from this hour's failure.
Clarke, but unlike her unhappy involvement with
24. Clarke and John Goss, it was musically productive. In this way, 188
Friskin were with Clarke living within the confines of her family, I compose them [the children] to sleep
married on 23 there might be some parallels to the years when, as
September 1944 a teenager still cowering before her father, Clarke 214
(marriage certificate had first started to compose. Strange that an absent-minded moody musician
in Clarke's estate).
The ten pieces from this period include a broad should be doing this!
Joseph Clarke died
on 23 September range of styles - particularly striking is the Prelude,
1920, as document- allegro, and pastorale. Here the lyrical breadth and Clarke's chance meeting on a Manhattan street
ed in Rebecca's rich, developmental thematic treatment of her earli- with pianist James Friskin in early 1944 was de-
diary and er music is replaced by a tautness, contrapuntalscribed as 'rain in the desert'.20 They had been stu-
Stammtafeln der agility, crisp melodic style, and an energetic use ofdents together at the Royal College, with Friskin
Familie Ranke
asymmetrical rhythms that suggests comparison studying composition and piano. He had given up
(Cologne, 1976),
p.20. with the neo-classical Stravinsky. This piece was onecomposition on accepting a position at the Juilliard
of 35 works included in the 1942 meeting of the In-School.21 They had also known each other during

20 THE MUSICAL TIMES / MAY 1996

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Clarke's American visits of the early 1920s22 but they Dumka for violin, viola and piano
had not seen each other for a considerable period,
and their meeting came at a time when it made them
both particularly happy. Their surviving courtship
letters brim with intense warmth and enthusiasm.23

Clarke to Friskin:

N CO P h: .. ....... ......
Did I tell you,James, that I love you?! Do you know
that, more and more, I feel - just as you told me you
it1 )j,1 - A-4
did - that all my life has been a kind of preparation
for you?
4 . ...........
24 August 1944

Friskin to Clarke:

I want to tell you again, specially for your birthday,

that I love you as I had thought it had not been giv-
en to me to love any woman. I knew there was such
love, but I had made up my mind that I must be con-
tent without it. So perhaps you can imagine what iai
these recent weeks have meant to me.
25 August 1944

Friskin can be cleared of any notion that he played a

Gustav Mahler role towards Clarke's composing. Her
next-to-last composition was written for him, a set- >- 47I
ting of a Scottish melody, and he reacts to it posi-
tively, suggesting they show it to publishers.

After looking again at the last twelve bars for your

-1?_- 4i F
little viola piece, which I find very moving, it seems
to me that you ought to start off again on something
larger - I'd almost be willing to bet it's there if you'ld
only let it come out. What about another viola
sonata? Please try. r I hi.iifil~iliiiili~ii

24 July IT,
Ai"iii:i U1.
iii:i'ii ii
Clarke does not respond to this directly (or at least iLt.i- iJ,
none survives). Instead, her letter of 20 August in-
cludes a traditionally feminine token of devotion:
'Will you someday let me knit something for you?' Artur Rubinstein summed up the
25. Letter opinion
from Ru- o
Surely some part of her conscious or unconscious the luminaries that she, before World War II, binstein to Clarke

mind was aware that her wedding took place on the
anniversary of her father's death.24 At last Clarke had
found a man who gave her a sense of deep satisfac-
tion and equilibrium. Clarke and Friskin were both
58 when they married. Apart from one last song, and
some revisions of earlier works, Clarke would not
compose for the rest of her life, 35 more years.
worked with on a regular basis, when he called her(10 February 1966),
'The glorious Rebecca Clarke'!25 quoted by Christo-
pher Johnson in
By recognising that Clarke's identity as a composer
notes to the North-
clashed with her identity as a woman, I do not mean eastern recording of
to portray Clarke as weak or as victimised but simplyClarke's viola music
to recognise some of the forces that shaped her - we all(LP 1985,
have to balance the tensions that pull our lives in dif-CD 1989).

Rebecca Clarke remained active and mentally ag- ferent directions. This is certainly part of her appeal as
ile until her death at 93. Documents such as her fas- a figure - her self-doubt makes her a figure of empa-
cinating memoir, which she started writing after her thy, giving her a human warmth that so many of her
husband's death, reveal her reflections and revela- male contemporaries in the panoply of 'great' com-
tions on events decades earlier. Thus writing in the posers lack. Her entire mature life, Clarke held onto to
1960s, she contemplates that she grew up in a sexu- her identity as a composer but she also constantly
I gratefully ac-
ally repressive age, and in her memoir and in the in- struggled with this identity. Our century has seen
knowledge the
terviews finally observes that, as a woman compos- many changes, great upheavals in the nature and defi- generosity of
er, she was occasionally treated unfairly. During the nition of music, and with them changes in the identi- Clarke's heirs, in
course of her long life, Clarke touched a great many ty of what a composer is; the roles defined for women particular
lives with her deep love of chamber music, the com- have changed as well. While today obstacles remain Christopher
it John-
son and Daniel C.
pelling voice of her compositions, and also her is encouraging and uplifting that Clarke lived into an
Braden, for access
warmth and charm. She taught extensively, but, to age in which women could be more honestly accepted
to and permission
my knowledge, entirely privately, viola, violin, theo- as composers. She lived to see that the artistic worth to
of quote from un-
ry and composition. Even those who knew her only her music was being rediscovered, a process that con- published material
late in life speak of her energy and lively wit. And tinues today in Clarke's estate.

THE MUSICAL TIMES / MAY 1996 21

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