P. A. Corri / Arthur Clifton:
Composer, Pedagogue, Entrepreneur
by Nathan Buckner
Composer and pedagogue Philip Antony Corri was born in Edinburgh in 1784. He was a son of the Italian-born composer Domenico Corri, and brother-in-law to Bohemian pianist and composer Jan Ladislav Dussek. Moving with the family to London in 1789, Philip Antony was composing vocal works by 1802, piano music by 1805, and chamber music (mostly for piano, harp, and flute) by 1808. During the years to follow, he was an active a composer for these mediums, producing over forty works; his piano works were published both in Britain and on the continent.
During this time, Corri made other contributions to the musical life of London. In 1810, his extensive piano teaching method L'anima di musica was published. For its time, it was the largest work of its kind produced in England, and remains a highly valuable guide to the interpretation of the piano music of his time. In 1813, Corri, along with Clementi and the Cramers, founded the London Philharmonic Society and participated in the formative meetings for the Royal Academy of Music.
Corri's ultimate success as a London musician was limited by the conspicuous absence of a performance career, and a general lack of personal diplomacy on his part. In addition, a mysterious scandal (possibly surrounding his first wife) finally forced his removal to America early in 1817.
Once in the United States, Corri quickly sized up his professional situation in New York and Philadelphia before settling in Baltimore. He was baptized there by the end of the year under the pseudonym of Arthur Clifton, and immediately married a second wife.
During the 1820s, Corri/Clifton was well established in Baltimore as a composer, pedagogue, church organist, performer, music publisher, and dry-goods merchant. He was organist for the First Presbyterian and First Independent Churches during this time, director of the Anacreontic Society, and maintained an active involvement with the Baltimore Theater. Two new teaching methods (one each for piano and voice) would appear, as well as a psalm book, and a steady stream of songs for voice and piano. His largest American work, the opera The Enterprise, was produced at the theater in May of 1822. Several solo piano works were also published during these years, although considerably fewer in number and smaller in scale than those from his London years.
Evidence suggests that Corri/Clifton's scandals began to plague him only a few years after his arrival in Baltimore costing him some potential success. The years from 1826 until his death in 1832 are marked by a general decrease in productivity. He was replaced as director of the Anacreontic Society in 1826, and resigned as music director of the Independent Church in 1830. His involvement with the theater likewise also dwindled at this time.
Corri/Clifton died of unknown causes in February of 1832, survived by his second wife and their children. The composer's American-period vocal works continued to appear on recital programs until about 1840; his American piano method appeared in reprints until the 1840s. He appears to have been totally forgotten in London even earlier.
Until recently, Corri/Clifton's substantial body of instrumental music has been almost completely unavailable to the public. Unpublished since the early nineteenth century, the work has been completely forgotten for over a century-and-a-half. Stylistically akin to the music of Jan Ladislav Dussek, the music increasingly took on American overtones between the composer's 1817 arrival in the United States, and the time of his death in 1832. The composer's instrumental inventory contains sonatas, serenades, divertisements, rondos, variation sets, fantasies, overtures, preludes, and small dance forms. Pianist/historian Nathan Buckner has undertaken the task of preparing a modern edition of the composer's complete piano music (four volumes worth), currently available through Kallisti Music Press of Philadelphia. To this collection will gradually be added a handful of chamber works, including a Concerto da camera (featuring a solo piano), a duo-sonata for violin and piano, assorted flute/piano duos, four-hand piano duos, and harp/piano duos.
email: bucknern@unk.edu