Elaine Hugh-Jones: Malvern composer's life steeped in music

Elaine was born in London in 1927. Her parents soon separated, and she grew up by the Solway Firth, near Carlisle, but overcame a difficult upbringing (at one time living in a barn behind her grandparents’ house), to enjoy a busy career as a pianist, composer and teacher.

Her keyboard training was with Dr FW Wadeley, Harold Craxton and Julius Isserlis. In the post-war years, Elaine was an official accompanist for radio and television programmes with the BBC, work which she combined with teaching at Derby High School, where she was appointed Director of Music in 1949.

Elaine Hugh-Jones

From 1956 to 1983, she continued her radio (and latterly, television) work for the BBC in Birmingham whilst teaching at Kidderminster High School from 1955, and from 1963 at Malvern Girls’ College and then at Malvern College.

She accompanied many of the stars who featured on the lunchtime BBC TV programme, Pebble Mill, through the 1970s-80s.

Elaine developed her work as a composer mostly between 1980-2011. The emphasis of her creativity was mostly in vocal and choral music, although there are a number of instrumental pieces, as well as songs with instrumental accompaniments.

Much of her work has been broadcast by the BBC radio networks. She received lessons in composition from Lennox Berkeley and orchestration from John Joubert.

The tenor and Swingle Singer John Potter was instrumental in promoting Elaine’s songs introducing them to soprano, Dr Jane Manning, who performed her songs in recital and on BBC Radio 3.

Jane Manning includes Elaine’s songs in her two books on contemporary song repertoire: New Vocal Repertory and Vocal Repertoire for the 21st Century.

Elaine’s first cycle of songs, Eight Songs of Walter de la Mare was written over a period of 21 years up to 1989.

The cycle has been broadcast several times on BBC Radio 3. Further cycles have followed including Songs of War, settings Wilfred Owen poems, and Strange Journey, settings of poems by Edward Thomas.

Other notable song collections include Six Songs of RS Thomas and A Cornford Cycle – settings of Edwardian poet, Frances Cornford.

Elaine’s songs have been championed by a range of musical organisations.

Four of Elaine’s songs were performed in the 2013 English Song Weekend at Ludlow by soprano Elizabeth Watts and pianist Iain Burnside.

Elaine’s songs have also received performances at Celebrating English Song, Tardebigge, where her Songs of War and world premiere of High Flight were recently included in a concert by James Gilchrist and Anna Tilbrook.

The Welsh College of Music and Drama gave a concert consisting entirely of her music in December 1995 and gave a performance of her Christmas anthem, Torches in 2013.

The University of Bangor also featured her music in a major concert in 2012.

Elaine’s music is included in the archives of Welsh music in the Welsh National Library, Aberystwyth and is also held at britishmusiccollection.org.uk part of Sound and Music UK, the national agency for new music.

Elaine Hugh-Jones songs have been performed in recital by Roderick Williams, Elizabeth Watts, James Gilchrist and Diana Moore.

In 2015 her songs made their Royal Opera House debut, performed in a lunchtime concert by mezzo-soprano, Fiona Kimm with David Cyrus at the piano.

Her songs are finding an increasing audience, as singers become aware of her unique talents in setting poetry to music. She was particularly drawn to 20th century poets including Edward Thomas, Wilfred Owen and Walter de la Mare, but has also composed settings of Shakespeare and American 19th-century poets.

In 2011 Elaine added settings of poems by A E Housman and to her list of works, one of which was performed at the most recent Ludlow English Song Weekend in 2019.

Also in 2019, Erika Mädi-Jones (soprano) and Panaretos Kyriatzidis (pianist) featured a number of Elaine’s songs in a performance as part of the London Song Festival, devised by Nigel Foster.

In 2021, pianist Ian Burnside, a great supporter of Elaine’s works, encouraged the Welsh College of Music and Drama to include a number her songs in a recent performance, Forgotten Voices for International Women’s Day 2021 with masterclasses led by mezzo-soprano, Kitty Whateley.

Elaine sustained a wide circle of friends and loved her dogs, garden and collection of vivid flowers, especially amaryllis.

She dies in her sleep on March 29.

Elaine Hugh Jones is published by OUP, Caradoc Music Publishing and the Hildegard Publishing Company, Philadelphia.

Her songs appear in Volumes 3 and 5 of A Century of English Song published by Thames (Music Sales).

William Coleman, Caradoc Press