Frederic Clay - Life and Career

Life and Career

Clay was born in Paris to English parents, James Clay (1804–1873), a Member of Parliament, and his wife, Eliza Camilla Woolrych. Clay was the fourth of six brothers and sisters. His father was celebrated as a player of whist and the author of a treatise on that subject, as well as an amateur composer. His mother also had a musical background, as her mother had been an opera singer. Clay was educated at home by private tutors in London, studying piano and violin, and then music composition under Bernhard Molique and, in 1863, with Moritz Hauptmann in Leipzig, Germany. He then worked as a civil servant in the Treasury department while also pursuing composing.

After the death of his father in 1873, his inheritance enabled him to become a full time composer. With the exception of some songs, hymns, instrumental pieces and two cantatas, his compositions were nearly all written for the stage. In the mid-1860s, Clay and his friend Arthur Sullivan became frequent guests at the home of John Scott Russell. By about 1865, Clay became engaged to Scott Russell's youngest daughter Alice, and Sullivan wooed the middle daughter Rachel. The Scott Russells welcomed the engagement of Alice to Clay, but he broke it off.