Hubert John Clifford (31 May 1904 – 4 September 1959) was an Australian-born British composer, conductor and musical director for films.[1]
A native ofBairnsdale in ruralVictoria, he studied chemistry before taking up music at theMelbourne Conservatorium, underFritz Hart.[2] He began making a name for himself in the late 1920s as a conductor, particular for his work with the Victorian Opera Company.[3]
Following the advice of Hart (who himself had been a pupil ofCharles Villiers Stanford) Clifford sailed for Britain in May 1930 to continue his studies at theRoyal College of Music.[4] There he was taught byC H Kitson andVaughan Williams. In the mid-1930s he turned to teaching. While music master at the Beckenham County School for Boys in Kent he won aWilliam Cobbett prize of £20 for composing an original Suite for School Orchestra.[5] This becameA Kentish Suite.[6] A text book,The School Orchestra: A Comprehensive Manual for Conductors, was published in 1939.[7]
He joined theBBC in 1940, and was Empire Music Supervisor from 1941-1944, with frequent conducting duties for the BBC's overseas broadcast service.[3] A photograph exists of Clifford with his friend and fellow-countryman, the composer and radio producerJohn 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.[8][9] After leaving the BBC he began teaching at theRoyal Academy of Music.[4]
From 1944 until 1950 Clifford was Musical Director forAlexander Korda atLondon Film Productions, where (like his contemporaries in similar positionsMuir Mathieson andErnest Irving) he encouraged established classical composers to write for film, adapting and conducting their scores to fit the soundtrack. Notable commissions includedAnna Karenina (score byConstant Lambert),The Winslow Boy,The Fallen Idol (both scores byWilliam Alwyn) andThe Happiest Days of Your Life (score byMischa Spoliansky). Clifford also composed original scores of his own.[3] During a second two-year stint at the BBC from 1952 Clifford became Head of Light Music.[10]
He was married in 1931 and there were two children, Susan and Michael.[11] During the 1950s Clifford's address was 'Belmore', Queen's Road, Cowes, Isle of Wight.[12] He died of heart failure at the age of 55 in Singapore, where he was examining for the Associated Board.[10]
Clifford's concert music is mostly orchestral and ranges from light overtures and suites to the wartime Symphony, completed in 1940. There is also a String Quartet from 1935. Many of his works have been recorded recently.[13]
