Rebecca Clarke was one of the earliest professional female instrumentalists in England, performing with the Queen's Hall Orchestra and touring as a soloist and chamber musician.
Composer Biography
Rebecca Clarke, a violinist by training, became a violist on the advice of her composition teacher, Charles Villiers Stanford, to better understand harmony.
Composition History
Rebecca Clarke's Sonata for viola and piano was entered anonymously into a 1919 competition, and the jury was surprised to discover the 'poet' who composed it was a woman.
Critical Reception
After Rebecca Clarke's Sonata for viola and piano was revealed to be by a woman, a rumor spread that 'Rebecca Clarke' did not exist, or was a pseudonym for Ernest Bloch.
Composer Biography
After her marriage in 1944, Rebecca Clarke largely stopped composing and playing, preferring other forms of expression like lectures and interviews.
Recording & Production
The duet for viola and cello Irish Melody is a world premiere recording, as its manuscript was only discovered in 2015 in a private collection.
Composition History
Rebecca Clarke initially premiered her work Morpheus under the masculine pseudonym Anthony Trent in 1918, though she stopped using it the following year.
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