James Kenelm Clarke (5 February 1941 – 29 July 2020) was an English film director and composer of film, television and library music.

Early life and education

Clarke was born in Great Rissington, Gloucestershire, the son of musician and author Cyril Clarke and the artist Eularia Clarke. With

Harley Usill Harley John Vaughan Usill (13 July 1925 – 7 October 1991) was a British record company executive. With Cyril Clarke (father of James Kenelm Clarke) he was joint founder and managing director of British record label Argo Records (UK), Argo Rec ...

, Cyril Clarke established

Argo Records Argo Records was a record label in Chicago that was established in 1955 in music, 1955 as a division of Chess Records. Originally the label was called Marterry, but bandleader Ralph Marterie objected, and within a couple of months the imprint w ...

in 1951. James Clarke was educated at

Leighton Park School Leighton Park School is a co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private school for both day and boarding pupils in Reading, Berkshire, Reading in South East England. The school's ethos is closely tied to the Quaker values, having ...

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

and from 1959 travelled to Paris, where he studied music with

René Leibowitz René Leibowitz (; ; 17 February 1913 – 29 August 1972) was a Polish and French composer, conductor, music theorist and teacher. He was historically significant in promoting the music of the Second Viennese School in Paris after the Second Wo ...

.Oliver Lomax. ''The Mood Modern'' (2017), pp. 245-276

Film and television

At the age of 18 he wrote the music for Michael Darlow's film ''All These People'' and then many scores for

Anglia Television ITV Anglia, previously known as Anglia Television, is the ITV franchise holder for the East of England. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional news bureaux in Cambridge and Northampton. ITV Anglia is owned and operated b ...

's plays (under

George More O'Ferrall Edward George More O'Ferrall (4 July 1907 – 18 March 1982) was a British film and television producer and director, and actor. Biography More O'Ferrall was born in Bristol, England, to an aristocratic Anglo-Irish family. He was educated at B ...

) and then at the suggestion of Sir John Woolf joined Anglia Television full-time in 1961 as a researcher on Anglia's local programme ''

About Anglia ''About Anglia'' is a regional news magazine programme produced by Anglia Television in the east of England, broadcast for over thirty years from 2 June 1960 to 6 July 1990. History One of the first regional programmes of its kind on ITV, ''A ...

''. In 1967, he joined BBC Television in London as a producer on the award-winning programme '' Man Alive'', edited by Desmond Wilcox. Clarke produced film segments for reporters

Esther Rantzen Dame Esther Louise Rantzen (born 22 June 1940) is an English journalist and television presenter who presented the BBC television series ''That's Life!'' for 21 years, from 1973 until 1994. She works with various charitable causes and founded t ...

, John Pitman, Joan Bakewell and James Astor. He also contributed films - and the title theme music - to ''Braden's Week'' and worked with the ''

That's Life! ''That's Life!'' was a satirical consumer affairs programme on the BBC, at its height regularly reaching audiences of fifteen to twenty million, and receiving between 10,000 and 15,000 letters a week. The series was broadcast on BBC1 for 21 yea ...

'' team. He directed and co-produced the feature film ''Got It Made'' (1974) starring

Lalla Ward Sarah Jill "Lalla" Ward (born 28 June 1951) is an English actress, voice artist and author who is best known for playing the role of Romana II in the BBC television series ''Doctor Who'' from 1979 to 1981. Career Early career Ward's stage n ...

, before setting up Norfolk International Pictures Limited in London. Norfolk International made the following feature films for the international market: ''

Exposé Expose, exposé, or exposed may refer to: News sources * Exposé (journalism), a form of investigative journalism * '' The Exposé'', a British conspiracist website * ''Exeposé'', a student-run newspaper of the University of Exeter Film and TV F ...

'' (1976), '' Hardcore'' (1977), ''

Let's Get Laid ''Let's Get Laid'', also known as ''Love Trap'', is a 1978 British comedy film directed by James Kenelm Clarke and starring Robin Askwith, Fiona Richmond and Anthony Steel. A man returns to London after being demobbed at the end of the Secon ...

'' (1978), '' The Thirty Nine Steps'' (1978), ''

The Music Machine The Music Machine was an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1966. Fronted by chief songwriter and lead vocalist Sean Bonniwell, the band cultivated a dark and rebellious image reflected in their musical approach. Sometim ...

'' (1979), ''Paul Raymond's Erotica'' (1981) and '' Funny Money'' (1983). His last known film was ''Going Undercover'' (1988), aka, ''Yellow Pages'' (completed 1985), which went straight to video in the United Kingdom.

Music

Clarke first began to compose library music for De Wolfe in the 1950s, while also providing scores for Anglia Television plays, through

Associated Rediffusion Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion London, was the British ITV franchise holder for London and parts of the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 22 September 1955 and 29 July 1968. It was the first ITA franchisee to go on air, ...

. In 1967 he met head of

KPM Music KPM Music is a company that creates and provides library music that was originally known as KPM Musichouse. It was formed by the merger of KPM (the initials of Keith-Prowse-Maurice, which was then a division of EMI) and Music House (a company th ...

Robin Phillips and began composing music for the KPM 1000 Series. Six original pieces came out of the first sessions at the Ariola Studies in June 1967: ''Think Big (closing)'', ''Summer Thoughts'', ''Autumn Thoughts'', ''Winter Thoughts'', ''Far Away Thinking'' and ''Spring Bossa''. Further compositions were included on KPM 1028, ''Miniature Moods'' (1968), KPM 1036, ''Gentle Sounds'' (1968) and KPM 1039, ''Light Intimations, Volume 3'' (1968). In 1969 an original album, ''Girl on the Beach'', was issued for broader commercial release on the Aristocrat label, distributed by

Pye Records PYE or Pye Records is an independent British record label. It was first established in 1955 and played a major role in shaping rock 'n' roll and pop music history. The Pye name was dropped in 1980 due to trademark issues, after which it produced ...

. Produced by Robin Phillips and recorded by

Adrian Kerridge Adrian Kerridge (27 March 1938, Harrow, Middlesex – 28 September 2016) was a British sound engineer, one of the earliest employees of the Lansdowne Studios in 1959 and eventually its owner. He helped establish the distinctive sound of the Dave ...

, the style has been compared to the richly scored orchestral miniatures of

Henry Mancini Henry Mancini ( ; born Enrico Nicola Mancini; April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994) was an American composer, conductor, arranger, pianist and flutist. Often cited as one of the greatest composers in the history of film, he won four Academy Awards, ...

. The pianist was Steve Gray, who played on most of Clarke's sessions from then on. He was CEO of Norfolk Music Publishing Ltd.

Selected filmography

* ''Got It Made'' (1974) * ''

'' (1976) * '' Hardcore'' (1977) * ''

'' (1978) * '' The Thirty Nine Steps'' (1978) * ''

'' (1979) * ''Paul Raymond's Erotica'' (1981) * '' Funny Money'' (1983) * ''Going Undercover'' (1988, straight to video in the UK as ''Yellow Pages'') * ''

Stalker Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated surveillance or contact by an individual or group toward another person. Stalking behaviors are interrelated to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person or monitoring t ...

'' (executive producer, 2010)

Selected discography

* ''A Light Jazz Feeling'', KPM 1021 (1967) * ''Miniature Moods'', KPM 1028 (1968) * ''Gentle Sounds'', KPM 1036 (1968) * ''Light Intimations, Volume 3'', KPM 1039 (1968) * ''A Man of Our Times'', Fontana SFJL 966 (1968) * ''Girl on the Beach'', AR 1020 (1969) * ''Music Pictorial'', KPM 1096 (1971) * ''Open Air, Volume 2'', KPM 1099 (1972) * ''The Trendsetters'', KPM 1131 (1973) * ''Suspended Woodwind'', KPM 1143 (1974) * ''Orchestral Contrasts'', KPM 1179 (1976) * ''Tender Emotions'', KPM 1180 (1976)

References

External links

*
''Winter Thoughts'', from KPM 1021

''Girl on the Beach'', title track
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, James Kenelm 1941 births Living people English film directors English film producers People from Cotswold District