George Howard Clutsam (26 September 186617 November 1951) was an Australian pianist, composer and writer, best remembered as the arranger of '' Lilac Time''. Clutsam published over 150 songs.

Life

Clutsam was born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia. His career began as a pianist, at which he had little formal training. After establishing himself in Australia and New Zealand, he moved to London in 1889, where he continued as an accompanist to various artists including fellow Australian

Nellie Melba Dame Nellie Melba (born Helen Porter Mitchell; 19 May 186123 February 1931) was an Australian operatic lyric coloratura soprano. She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era and the early twentieth century, and was the f ...

in 1893. From 1895 he increasingly moved to arrangement and composition of orchestral works and light opera. From 1888, Clutsam frequently shared the stage as pianist with Australian singer

Minna Fischer Minna Pauline Fischer (20 January 1858 – 7 August 1941) was an Australian lyric soprano and singing teacher in London. History Fischer was born in Tanunda, South Australia, the second daughter of George Friedrich Fischer and his second wife ...

, who was married to Herbert Flemming but separated with two sons. They were also paired or made a threesome with

Amy Sherwin Frances Amy Lillian Sherwin (23 March 1855 – 20 September 1935), known as the 'Tasmanian Nightingale,' was an Australian soprano celebrated for her groundbreaking international opera and concert career. First gaining attention in ''Don Pasqua ...

at social occasions such as the

Crossley Crossley, based in Manchester, United Kingdom, was a pioneering company in the production of internal combustion engines. Since 1989, it has been part of the Rolls-Royce Power Engineering group. More than 100,000 Crossley oil and gas engin ...

– Muecke wedding. Clutsam and Fischer married quietly on 12 December 1908, two months after the death of Flemming. Between 1908 and 1918 he wrote music criticism for ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' and "

The Musical Times ''The Musical Times'' was an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom. It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainzer's Musical Times and Singing Circular'', but in 1844 he sold it to Alfr ...

", while continuing to compose and arrange. In 1912, he wrote a biography of

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

. Aside from his many stage works, he wrote numerous songs, including the popular "Ma Curly-Headed Babby". Later he became Vice-Chairman of the

Performing Right Society PRS for Music Limited (formerly The MCPS-PRS Alliance Limited) is a British music copyright collective, made up of two collection societies: the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) and the Performing Right Society (PRS). It undertakes ...

. He also wrote music for the silent cinema and subsequently also composed for the "talkies". Clutsam published under a number of pseudonyms, namely Paul Aubry, Robert Harrington, H.S. Iseledon, Georges Latour and Ch.G. Mustal. His brother, Fred Clutsam (1869–1934), was a pianist described as

George Marshall-Hall George William Louis Marshall-Hall (28 March 1862 – 18 July 1915) was an English-born musician, composer, conductor, poet and controversialist who lived and worked in Australia from 1891 till his death in 1915. According to his birth certifica ...

's prize pupil, an inventor and the conductor of

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

's Orpheus Society. He died in London in 1951 at the age of 85.

Selected musicals and other works

*''Carnival Scenes'' (1895; orchestral work) *''The Queen's Jester'' (1904 opera) *''The Fool's Cap'' (1906 opera) *''A Summer Night'' (1910; opera) *''King Harlequin'' (1912; opera/masque) *''Carmen'' Ballet (1912; Alhambra Theatre, based on Bizet music) *''Young England'' (1916 musical) *''

A Southern Maid ''A Southern Maid'' is an operetta in three acts composed by Harold Fraser-Simson, with a book by Dion Clayton Calthrop and Harry Graham and lyrics by Harry Graham (poet), Harry Graham and Harry Miller. Additional music was provided by Ivor No ...

'' (1920; contributed additional music) *''101 original studies for the pianoforte'' (1920) *''The Green Lanes of England'' (1920; orchestral suite) *''Gabrielle'' (1921 musical, co-written with Archibald Joyce) *''The Little Duchess'' (1922 play with music) *'' Lilac Time'' (1922 arrangement of

's music) *''The Damask Rose'' (1929; play with arrangements of Chopin music) *''Lavender'' (1930 musical) *''Barbara; or, The Broken Sixpence'' (1932 comic opera) *'' Mimi'' (1935; film score with arrangements from Puccini's

La bohème ''La bohème'' ( , ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '':wikt:quadro, quadri'', ''wikt:tableau, tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto b ...

) *'' Heart's Desire'' (1935; film score) *''Three Plantation Sketches'' (orchestral work) *''Plantation Songs''

References

Sources

"George Clutsam"
''Australian Variety Theatre Archive'', accessed 19 January 2014 *Scowcroft, Philip L

''Classical Music on the Web'', MusicWeb International (2001), accessed 19 January 2014 *Skinner, Graeme

''Graeme Skinner: Musicologist – Writer – Researcher'', 3 February 2012, accessed 19 January 2014
"Clutsam the Composer"
''The Register'', Adelaide, NLA.gov, 9 May 1914, p. 15, accessed 19 January 2014
"George H. Clutsam"
''AustLit: The Australian Literature Resource'' (subscription service), accessed 19 January 2014
"Chopin Music on the Stage: Mr. Clutsam's new opera"
''The Advertiser'', Adelaide, 24 June 1929, p. 13, accessed 19 January 2014

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clutsam, George H 1866 births 1951 deaths Australian male composers Australian composers Australian pianists Musicians from Sydney Australian male pianists