Clara Edwards

Clara Edwards (April 17, 1880 – January 17, 1974) was an American singer, pianist, and composer of art songs. She also used the pseudonym Bernard Haigh.

Biography She was born Clara Gerlich in Decoria Township, Blue Earth County, Minnesota. She received her education from the Mankato State Normal School and the Cosmopolitan School of Music in Chicago. She married physician John Milton Edwards before finishing her degree, and the couple moved to Vienna, where she continued musical studies and had a daughter. In Europe she prepared for a career as a singer, and gave concerts in both the United States and Europe joining the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) in 1925. She toured in Vaudeville at about the same time, and organized the Chautauqua Concert Company in 1934. She often collaborated with Jack Lawrence, but also wrote many of the lyrics to her own songs.

Music Edwards composed over 100 works and published over 60 songs. Several of her songs are sacred, and she wrote choral arrangements for some of them. She also composed music for solo piano, for children's marionette plays and animated films. Her songs have been recorded and issued on CD and used in film soundtracks and animations.

Her songs were "quickly taken up by publishers",

Perhaps her most successful song was "With the Wind and the Rain in Your Hair", with text by Jack Lawrence. First published in 1930, it became a hit a decade later. She died in New York City.

Published songs

published by G. Schirmer unless noted

After (A Song of Contrasts), 1927 All Thine Own, Carl Fischer, 1935 At Twilight, 1944 At Your Window, 1951 Awake! Arise! (a Song for Easter), Oliver Ditson, 1927 Awake, Beloved!, 1925 A Benediction, 1927 Birds (text by Moira O'Neill), 1958 Bring Back the Days, Oliver Ditson, 1945 By the Bend of the River, 1927 Can this be Summer? (A Song of Longing), 1926 Clementine, 1927 Come, Love, the Long Day Closes (A Song of Devotion), 1928 Cradle Song The Day's Begun, 1930 Dedication (Sacred Song), 1961 Dusk at Sea (text by Thomas S. Jones), Jack Mills Inc., 1923 The Eastern Heavens are all aglow (Christmas Song), 1927 Evening Song, 1934 Every One Sang (A song of exultation) (text by S. Sassoon), 1921 Fear Ye Not, O Israel (Sacred Song), 1942 The Fisher's Widow (text by Arthur Symons), 1929 Forward We March, Galaxy Music Corp., 1940 Gipsy Life, 1932 I Bring you lilies from my Garden, Oliver Ditson, 1927 I Dream of You, 1952 In the Moonlight, 1951 Into the Night (text by the composer), 1939 I've Lived and Loved, Galaxy Music Corporation, 1941 Joy (text by T. Hollingsworth), 1943 Lady Moon (text by Thekla Hollingsworth), Oliver Ditson, 1927 Little Shepherd's Song (13th Century melody) (text by William Alexander Percy), Jack Mills Inc., 1952 Lonesome (text by N. R. Eberhart), 1926 The Lord is Exalted (Sacred), 1940 Love Came to Me A Love Song, Oliver Ditson, 1945 Morning Serenade (A Reveille) (text by Madison Julius Cawein), 1928 My Homeland, 1934 My Little Brown Nest by the Sea (text by T. Hollingsworth), Jack Mills Inc., 1923 My Shrine (Wedding Song), 1948 O Come to Me O Magic Night of Love, 1927 Ol' Jim, 1952 Out of the Dusk (A Reverie), 1927 A Prayer (Sacred), 1932 The Snow, 1962 Sometimes at Close of Day (A Pensive Song), 1925 Song of my Soul Song of the Brooklet (text by V. McDonald), 1932 Spain (España), 1929 Stars of the Night, Sing Softly (text by T. Hollingsworth), 1929 'Tis Enough (text by Kenneth Rand), Jack Mills Inc., 1923 To a Little Child, 1954 To Stars and You To Thee, Divine Reedemer, 1948 The Twenty-Seventh Psalm (The Lord is My Light), 1938 We Walked in the Garden, 1939 When I am Gone, Beloved When I Behold, 1929 When Jesus Walked on Galilee (Sacred), 1928 When the Sun Calls the Lark, Oliver Ditson, 1929 When You Stand by your Window, 1944 The Wild Rose Blooms, 1940 With the Wind and the Rain in Your Hair (text by Jack Lawrence), 1930, reissued Paramount Music Corp., 1940 A Yesterday Your Picture, Chappell Music, 1952

Published piano solos published by G. Schirmer unless noted By the Bend of the River (Barcarolle), arr. by Carl Deis Cloud Ways Nodding Flowers The Rocking Chair The Swing The Waves

Published choral arrangements published by G. Schirmer unless noted Awake! Arise! (Easter Anthem) (arr. by William Stickles), mixed voices, 1958 By the Bend of the River, multiple arrangements Clementine, women's voices Come, Love, the Long Day Closes, men's voices Dedication (text by John Oxenham), mixed voices, 1960 The Eastern Heaves are all Aglow (arr. by William Stickles), mixed voices, 1962 The Herder's Song, women's voices, 1946 Into the Night, multiple arrangements I Will Lift Mine Eyes, mixed voices The Lord is My Light, mixed voices, 1940 A Prayer, mixed voiced Sometimes at Close of Day, men's voices A Song of Joy, women's voices Song of the Brooklet, women's voices The Twenty-Seventh Psalm, mixed voices When I Behold, mixed voices When Jesus Walked on Galilee (arr. Carl Deis), mixed voices, 1951

Footnotes