The Reverend Frederick Scotson Clark (

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, 16 November 1840 –

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, 5 July 1883) was an English organist and composer. He was founder of the London Organ School and College of Music.

Life

Frederick Scotson Clark's parents were an Irish-born merchant, Michael Clark (1810-1877) and his wife, born Adelaide (Adele) Cusack Kearney (1816-1899). Clark had his early music education from his mother, who was a pupil of Chopin. He received some tuition in harmony from Eugène Sergent in Paris. He became organist at the Regent Square Presbyterian Church at the age of fourteen. He studied under E. J. Hopkins before entering the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

, where he continued his studies under Sir William Sterndale Bennett and Sir John Goss. At the age of 18 he was teaching at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools 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 firs ...

. In 1865 he founded the London Organ School and College of Music a 3 Princes Street, London W1, before going up to

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and the fourth-oldest college of the university. The college was founde ...

, where he was an organ scholar, graduating as Bachelor of Music in 1867. He was appointed headmaster of St. Michael's Grammar School, Brighton. In 1868 he was ordained deacon and he became curate at St. Michael's Grammar School, Brighton. He married Catherine Eliza Brown - it turned out to be an unhappy marriage - and they moved to

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, where he continued his musical studies under Reinecke and Richter and officiated at an English chapel there. The following year he moved alone to

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

for more studies, and he was assistant chaplain of the

Lutheran Church Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 15 ...

. He returned to London in 1873 and continued at the London Organ School and College of Music. He was chosen to represent English organists at the Paris Exposition of 1878, where he won a gold award. Clark composed much organ music, church vocal music, songs, characteristic pieces for piano and music for

harmonium The pump organ or reed organ is a type of organ that uses free reeds to generate sound, with air passing over vibrating thin metal strips mounted in a frame. Types include the pressure-based harmonium, the suction reed organ (which employs a va ...

. He had six children, four of whom survived. Kathleen Scotson Clark (1870-1959) became headmistress of Allerton High School in Leeds. It was his son, the artist George Frederick Scotson-Clark (1872-1927), who used the hyphenated form of the surname. Sometime in 1882 he became ill and he eventually died on 5 July 1883 at 3 Princes Street, London W1.

Notes

External links

*
Epsom and Ewell HistoryScotson Clark at Bardon Music
*Theodore Baker: ''A Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', 3rd ed., 1919 (p. 161) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Frederick Scotson 19th-century English classical composers English Romantic composers Composers for pipe organ Composers for piano 1840 births 1883 deaths 19th-century English musicians