Jeffrey Mark facts for kids

Jeffrey Mark (born 1898, died December 1965) was an English composer, someone who collected folk songs, and a writer.

Jeffrey Mark's Early Life and Education

Jeffrey Mark was born in Carlisle, Cumberland, England. His father was a cabinet maker. In 1909, when he was 11, Jeffrey won a scholarship to Carlisle Grammar School. At 16, he started working at Martin's Bank in Carlisle.

When he was 17, Mark joined the army during World War I. He became a gunnery officer in the Royal Field Artillery and reached the rank of first lieutenant. He was injured in France and spent a year in the hospital.

After the war, Mark studied English and Music at Exeter University. Later, he joined the Royal College of Music. There, he learned from famous composers like Stanford, Vaughan Williams, and Holst. He became friends with another student, Michael Tippett, who was seven years younger than him.

In 1924, Mark moved to the United States. For three years, he led the Music Department at the New York Public Library. He studied old music papers by Orlando Gibbons there. After this, he returned to England.

Collecting and Arranging Folk Songs

Throughout his life, Jeffrey Mark loved folk songs. He would perform, collect, and arrange traditional songs from Cumberland, Northumberland, and the Border Counties.

His work, Four North Country Songs, was a collection of these local songs. They were sung in the local dialect. Some of these songs included Sally Gray, L’al Dinah Grayson, Barley Broth, and Auld Jobby Dixon. These songs were first performed and broadcast in 1927. They were published in 1928. The Carlisle Music Society also performed them often in the 1930s and 1940s. A composer from Newcastle, William G. Whittaker, encouraged Mark to arrange these songs.

In the 1940s and 1950s, Mark worked in London. He wrote for Picture Post magazine with his friend Tom Hopkinson. In 1960, Mark went back to the Royal College of Music to teach how to compose music. He became interested in dialect songs again through his students' performances. He passed away in London in December 1965.

Jeffrey Mark's Friendship with Michael Tippett

Michael Tippett described Jeffrey Mark as someone who was "very anti-classicist." Tippett felt that much of the music being written at the time was based on German folk songs. Mark believed composers should try new styles.

Tippett said that some of the musical ideas in his own Concerto for Double String Orchestra came from Mark. This piece uses different rhythms at the same time, which is called polyrhythm. The concerto is dedicated to Jeffrey Mark. Tippett also created a musical picture of Mark in another piece, the Fantasia on a Theme of Handel. He described it as "a jangling explosion of octaves" for Jeffrey Mark.

Mark and Tippett had different ideas about politics. Mark was interested in the ideas of Ezra Pound and had his own unique political views.

Jeffrey Mark as a Composer

Jeffrey Mark wrote many musical pieces. His works include:

• Orchestral strathspeys (a type of Scottish dance music).
• A piano concerto (a piece for piano and orchestra).
• The North Country Suite for orchestra, which was performed in 1927.
• The Scottish Suite for four violins and piano, published in 1927.
• Some choral music (music for choirs).
• The ballad opera Mossgiel, which was based on the work of Robert Burns.

Mark studied the Piobaireachd closely for the final part of his Scottish Suite. He called Piobaireachd "the old music of the Great Highland Bagpipe." After he passed away, his Dance Concerto for piano and orchestra was performed in his memory.

Jeffrey Mark as an Author

In the 1920s, Jeffrey Mark wrote many important articles for music magazines. These included Music and Letters, Musical Quarterly, and The Musical Times. Some of his articles were about 'Dryden and the Beginnings of Opera in England' and 'The Fundamental Qualities of Folk Music'. He also wrote about general topics like 'The Problem of Audiences' and 'The Critic and the Composer'.

He also wrote about economics. He published two books: The Modern Idolatry (1934) and The Analysis of Usury (1935). In these books, he suggested a system where money would be "free." He argued that saving money should be discouraged and that rents should not exist.