Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979) England-USA

Composer, musicologist, and violist. She was internationally recognized as a viola virtuoso and was also one of the first professional orchestral performers. She studied at the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music in London.

Her compositional career peaked with the Sonata for Viola and Piano , which she entered into a 1919 competition sponsored by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge (Clarke's neighbor and patron of the arts). Seventy-two composers entered, and Clarke's sonata placed first, alongside a composition by Ernest Bloch . Coolidge later declared Bloch the winner. Reporters speculated that the name Rebecca Clarke might also be a pseudonym for Bloch, or at least that Clarke could not have written these pieces, since the idea that a woman could write such a beautiful work was socially unthinkable. The sonata was very well received and premiered at the Berkshire Music Festival in 1919. The Sonata for Viola and Piano follows, with a link to the score.

https://imslp.org/wiki/Viola_Sonata_(Clarke%2C_Rebecca)

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She formed a notable quartet with violinists Adila and Jelly D'Arangi and cellist Suggia. In 1916, she moved to the United States and joined a teaching and chamber music group in New York. She later toured the most famous musical centers on several continents as a viola soloist, while also becoming a highly respected musicologist.

After receiving criticism for her extramarital affairs, her father evicted her from home and cut off her financial support. She had to leave the Royal College in 1910 and earned her living playing the viola. She was one of the first professional viola players (along with Jessie Grimson ) when Henry Wood hired her to play in the Queen's Hall orchestra in 1912. In 1916, she moved to the United States to pursue her performing career. She composed a short piece for viola and piano entitled Morpheus , signed under the pseudonym Anthony Trent. It premiered in 1918 alongside cellist May Mukle 's recital in New York City. The journalists present praised Trent's work, while making no reference to the works signed by Clarke and premiered at the same recital. Here I share Morpheus; no score this time.

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Clarke did not compose large-scale works such as symphonies . Her total output of compositions comprises fifty-two songs, eleven choral works, twenty-one chamber pieces, the piano trio and the viola sonata. Her work was almost forgotten for a long period of time, but interest in it was revived in 1976 after a radio broadcast in celebration of her ninetieth birthday. More than half of his compositions remain unpublished and in the personal possession of her heirs, along with most of her writings. However, during the early 2000s, more of her works were printed and recorded.

She claimed British and American nationality and spent substantial periods of her life in the United States, where she settled permanently after the Second World War . She married the composer and pianist James Friskin in 1944. Clarke died at her home in New York City at the age of 93.

Here's Prelude, Allegro, and Pastorale, for viola and clarinet. The score isn't available :( and if anyone has access to it, please share it with me because I'm very interested!!!