Last modified on Sat 1 May 2021 04.46 EDT
The composer Elaine Hugh-Jones, who has died aged 93, made a striking contribution to English song. In her survey New Vocal Repertory (vol 1, 1986), the soprano Jane Manning wrote of the pleasure of discovering a composer with a complete mastery of voice and piano writing: “Although they are firmly based on a traditional musical style – that of English post-Romantic – the songs are not in the least derivative [but show] a wonderful assurance and freshness of approach and an exceptionally sensitive response to words.”
The works in question were six settings of poems by Walter de la Mare, written between 1966 and 1985. Two more, from 1988-89, went on to make a set of eight, and they have been broadcast several times on BBC Radio 3.
Elaine Hugh-Jones: Malvern composer's life steeped in music worcesternews.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from worcesternews.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Studying at London’s Royal Academy of Music, she graduated in 1958. Later, she taught music at Aylsham Secondary Modern School and even sang at Norwich Prison.
She studied in Switzerland with the famed Frederick Husler after which she moved to London and sang on a full-time basis.
Her London debut came in 1964 at a Park Lane Group concert and her first BBC broadcast was in 1965 – singing Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire. Her performance of his melodrama received widespread critical acclaim and is still regarded as a benchmark recording of the work. She performed Pierrot more than 100 times in her career and again at the Assembly House in February 2014.
Jane Manning obituary theguardian.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theguardian.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.