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Frederic Emes Clay (August 3, 1838–November 24, 1889) was an English composer known principally for his music written for the stage. He was born in Paris, the son of James Clay, a Member of Parliament, who was celebrated as a player of whist and the author of a treatise on that subject.

Contents 1 Life and career 2 Analysis of Clay's music 3 References 4 External links

Frederic Clay studied music under Wilhelm Bernard Molique in Paris and, briefly, Moritz Hauptmann at Leipzig. With the exception of some songs and two cantatas, his compositions were nearly all written for the stage.

Clay's first professionally-produced piece was an opera entitled Court and Cottage, with a libretto by Tom Taylor. This was produced at Covent Garden in 1862, and was followed by Constance (1865), The Bold Recruit (1868, revived 1870), and Ages Ago (1869) for Thomas German Reed's Gallery of Illustration, with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert, which ran for 350 performances and was revived several times. Clay introduced Gilbert to Arthur Sullivan during a rehearsal for Ages Ago.

These were followed by, The Gentleman in Black (1870, also with Gilbert), In Possession (1871, also for German Reed), Happy Arcadia (1872, with Gilbert), Oriana (1873, with a libretto by James Albery), Cattarina (1874), Princess Toto (1875, the last collaboration between Clay and Gilbert), and Don Quixote (1875). Ages Ago (a one-act piece) and Princess Toto (a three-act comic opera) are considered to be among Clay's most tuneful and attractive works.

Clay also wrote part of the music for Babil and Bijou (1872, also for German Reed) and the successful opera-bouffe version of The Black Crook (1873 based on the same source material as the earlier American musical of the same name), both of which were produced at the Alhambra Theatre. He also furnished incidental music for a revival of Twelfth Night. Clay initially worked in the Treasury Department to support his composing career, but the death of his father in 1873 and the resulting inheritance enabled him to become a full time composer.

Clay's two cantatas were The Knights of the Cross (1866) and Lalla Rookh (containing what is perhaps his best-known song, "I'll sing thee songs of Araby" and "Still This Golden Lull"), which was produced successfully at the Brighton Festival in 1877. His last works were The Merry Duchess and The Golden Ring (starring Marion Hood), both in 1883, with words by G. R. Sims. The latter was written for the reopening of the Alhambra, which had been burned to the ground the year before. These last works were both successful and showed an artistic advance upon Clay's previous work.

Soon after the production of The Golden Ring, Clay suffered a stroke that paralyzed him and cut short his productive life. He died a few years later at Great Marlow.

Of Clay, Sir Arthur Sullivan wrote: "In all his works Clay showed a natural gift of graceful melody and a feeling for rich harmonic colouring. Although highly successful in the treatment of dramatic music, it is probable that his songs will give him the most lasting fame. 'She wandered down the mountain side,' 'Long ago' and 'The Sands of Dee,' among others, are poems of great tenderness and beauty, and not likely to be soon forgotten."

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

• List of Clay works
• Grove Dictionary entry
• Profile of Clay