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James Kenelm Clarke

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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

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Clarke was born in Great Rissington, Gloucestershire, the son of musician and author Cyril Clarke[1] and the artist Eularia Clarke.[2] With Harley Usill, Cyril Clarke established Argo Records in 1951. James Clarke was educated at Leighton Park School in Reading and from 1959 travelled to Paris, where he studied music with René Leibowitz.[3]

Film and television

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At the age of 18 he wrote the music for Michael Darlow's film All These People and then many scores for Anglia Television's plays (under George More O'Ferrall) 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. 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, 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! team.[3]

He directed and co-produced the feature film Got It Made (1974) starring Lalla Ward, before setting up Norfolk International Pictures Limited in London. Norfolk International made the following feature films for the international market: Exposé (1976), Hardcore (1977), Let's Get Laid (1978), The Thirty Nine Steps (1978), The Music Machine (1979), Paul Raymond's Erotica (1981) and Funny Money (1983). His last known film was Going Undercover (1988),[4][5] aka, Yellow Pages (completed 1985), which went straight to video in the United Kingdom.[6][7]

Music

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Clarke first began to compose library music for De Wolfe in the 1950s, while also providing scores for Anglia Television plays, through Associated Rediffusion. In 1967 he met head of KPM Music 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.[8] Further compositions were included on KPM 1028, Miniature Moods (1968), KPM 1036, Gentle Sounds (1968) and KPM 1039, Light Intimations, Volume 3 (1968).[3]

In 1969 an original album, Girl on the Beach, was issued for broader commercial release on the Aristocrat label, distributed by Pye Records. Produced by Robin Phillips and recorded by Adrian Kerridge, the style has been compared to the richly scored orchestral miniatures of Henry Mancini. The pianist was Steve Gray, who played on most of Clarke's sessions from then on.[3]

He was CEO of Norfolk Music Publishing Ltd.[9]

Selected filmography

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Selected discography

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  • 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

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  1. ^ Author of The Music Lover's Bedside Book (1949)
  2. ^ Rebecca Sherlaw-Johnson. Eularia Clarke: Painter of Religion (2017)
  3. ^ a b c d Oliver Lomax. The Mood Modern (2017), pp. 245-276
  4. ^ a b "Going Undercover (1988)". BFI. Archived from the original on July 7, 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  5. ^ Wilmington, Michael (20 June 1988). "Going Undercover—the Gags, Ideas Get Lost in the Chase". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  6. ^ a b "Yellow Pages (1985)". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  7. ^ a b Brown, David (2001). "James Kenelm Clarke". In Allon, Yoram; Cullen, Del; Patterson, Hannah (eds.). Contemporary British and Irish Film Directors. Wallflower Press. p. 60, viii. ISBN 9781903364215.
  8. ^ All released on side one of KPM 1021, A Light Jazz Feeling (1967)
  9. ^ "Norfolk Music Publishing, an independent media group". Archived from the original on 8 February 2013. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
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