Mark Hugh Lubbock(17 November 1898 – 10 November 1986) was a British conductor and composer, especially of operetta andlight music.[1]
Life
editLubbock was born inDowne,Kent, the son of Hugh Nevile Lubbock and Margaret Tiarks. His grandfather was the Kent county cricketerSir Nevile Lubbock,and his cousin was the politicianEric Lubbock, 4th Baron Avebury.[2]He was educated atEton College,and later inDresden.[3]He also served inWorld War Iwith theRoyal Artilleryand theLabour Corps.[4]
He began his career as a singer in the choruses of several musical comedies, making his conducting debut with theatrical touring companies in 1920,[2]initially with theShaftesbury Theatre.[3]The earnings from this funded his study period in Dresden, where he also became arépétiteurand assistant conductor toKurt Striegler.In 1933, he andHarry S. Pepperwere recruited by theBBC,both being noted as "established composers of light music".[5]Lubbock was the BBC's Light Music Conductor from 1933 to 1944, replacingStanford Robinson.[2]
On 15 January 1930 he married the writer Bea Howe,[6]author of the group biographyA Galaxy of Governesses(1954), regular contributor toCountry Lifeand a close friend ofSylvia Townsend Warner.[7]They lived inKensington,London and at The Old Forge,Althornein Essex.[8]Lubbock also had a relationship with the actress Barbara Shotter (sister ofWinifred Shotter), with whom he had a daughter.[9]
Lubbock appeared as a castaway on theBBC RadioprogrammeDesert Island Discson 15 June 1974.[10]
Works
editHis 1931 operettaThe King Can Do No Wrongwas one of the first to be commissioned and broadcast by the BBCspecifically for radio broadcast.[11]It was one of at least 12 musical comedies he wrote in collaboration with the playwright and BBC producer C. Denis Freeman, includingSeat in Hyde Park(1931),His Majesty Proclaims,Fame in a Night,Uplift,Wonderful Weekend(1932)[12]andThe Castle on the Hill(1933). A later radio operetta wasThe Rose and the Violet(1942), with book and lyrics byBarbara Cartland,set against the Edwardian background ofRotten Row.[13]
His other compositions include light orchestral pieces such asFiesta,[14]Moon Lullaby,[15]Polka Dots[16]andSaltarello,and songs such asA Smuggler's Song,Blackbird in the Apple Tree,Dance Again,Lullaby River,The Whispering Poplar,andWinter Rose.[17]He also wrote the incidental music for the 1952 London production ofAn Italian Straw Hatat theOld Vic.[2]
In 1962 Lubbock published a reference work,The Complete Book of Light Opera,a book of synopses conceived as a companion toKobbéwith an American section by David Ewen.[18][19]
References
edit- ^"Mark Lubbock".Naxos Records.Retrieved17 August2014.
- ^abcdObituary,The Times,18 November, 1986, p.22
- ^abWho's Who in Music,1st edition (1935)
- ^Obituary,The Daily Telegraph,13 November 1986, p. 14
- ^The Strand Magazine,Volume 85 (1933), p. 34
- ^Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1936(Holy Trinity, Brompton, 15 Jan 1930)
- ^Warner, S (31 July 2013).Letters Of Sylvia Townsend Warner.Random House. p. 1911.ISBN9781448189960.Retrieved17 August2014.
- ^Who's Who in Music,5th edition (1969)
- ^Barbara Shotter obituary,The Daily Telegraph,3 January, 2013, p.27
- ^"Desert Island Discs – Castaway: Mark Lubbock".BBC Online.BBC.Retrieved14 August2014.
- ^The King Can Do No Wrong,Radio Times,Issue 408, 26 July 1931, p. 40
- ^ Wireless Magazine,November 1932, p. 496
- ^"The Rose and the Violet",Radio Times,Issue 989, 13 September, 1942, p. 10
- ^Recorded by Robert Farnon and the Queen's Hall Light Orchestra on Chappell C.311 (1947)
- ^Recorded byCharles Williamsconducting The Queen's Hall Light Orchestra, Chappell C.236 (1945)
- ^Recorded onBritish Light Music Miniatures,Marco Polo/Naxos 8.223522 (1994)
- ^Scowcroft, Philip L."Some British Conductor-Composers part 6/6".Retrieved17 August2014.
- ^—— (1962).The complete book of light opera.Putnam.
- ^The Musical Times,Vol. 103, No. 1438 (December 1962), p. 848