Background
Frederic Clay was the son of James Clay, M. P. , who was celebrated as a player of whist and a writer on that subject. He was born in Paris on August 3, 1838.
Frederic Clay was the son of James Clay, M. P. , who was celebrated as a player of whist and a writer on that subject. He was born in Paris on August 3, 1838.
Frederic Clay studied music under W. B. Molique in Paris and Moritz Hauptmann at Leipzig.
Clay's first public appearance was made with an opera entitled Court and Cottage, the libretto of which was written by Tom Taylor. This was produced at Covent Garden in 1862, and was followed by Constance (1865), Ages Ago (1869), and Princess Toto (1875), to name only three of many works which have long since been forgotten. He also furnished incidental music for a revival of Twelfth Night and for the production of James Albery's Oriana.
His last works, The Merry Duchess (1883) and The Golden Ring (1883), the latter written for the reopening of the Alhambra, which had been burned to the ground the year before, showed an advance upon his previous work, and rendered all the more regrettable the stroke of paralysis which crippled his physical and mental'energies during the last few years of his life.
