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Hubert Bath
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<h2 id="biography">Biography</h2> <p>Bath was born in <a href="/facts/Barnstaple/PV4noRHA">Barnstaple</a>, <a href="/facts/Devon/go3z9lDW">Devon</a>. He sang in the local church choir and in 1899 attended the <a href="/facts/Royal_Academy_of_Music/wQNnm4mk">Royal Academy of Music</a>, studying piano with <a href="/facts/Oscar_Beringer/HNLjJ5pI">Oscar Beringer</a> and composition with <a href="/facts/Frederick_Corder/lTGmdq61">Frederick Corder</a>. In 1913-14 he conducted <a href="/facts/Thomas_Quinlan_(impresario)/E0QBm2VB">Thomas Quinlan</a>'s opera troupe on its world tour, also acting as chorus master. He conducted <i><a href="/facts/Madame_Butterfly/TNNs9bhF">Madame Butterfly</a></i> at the <a href="/facts/London_Opera_House/8v9Ho715">London Opera House</a> in July 1915, in a performance that starred <a href="/facts/Tamaki_Miura/3L5d2Vh2">Tamaki Miura</a>. <a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> After that he established himself as a composer of light operas, including <i>Young England</i> (Birmingham, 1915) and <i> Bubbole</i> (Milan, 1920), extending the genre towards grand opera with <i>Trilby</i>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> He went on to compose many film scores (including part of the soundtrack of <a href="/facts/Alfred_Hitchcock/LqkmpImQ">Alfred Hitchcock</a>'s <i><a href="/facts/Blackmail_(1929_film)/f1bjVqbQ">Blackmail</a></i> in 1929), marches for brass bands, orchestral suites, theatre music and choral works.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> </p><p>His composition "Out of the Blue" has been used as the theme music of the <a href="/facts/BBC/qFateIz8">BBC</a>'s <i><a href="/facts/Sports_Report/CjGBLnJz">Sports Report</a></i>, the world's longest-running sports radio programme, since the show started in 1948.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> Also well-known is his <i>Cornish Rhapsody</i>, written for, and essential to the plot of, the 1944 film <i><a href="/facts/Love_Story_(1944_film)/qQMx172N">Love Story</a></i>. Humorous cantatas such as <i>The Wedding of Shon Maclean</i> (1909), <i>Look at the Clock</i> (1910) and <i>The Wake of O'Connor</i> (1914) were popular with choral societies in their day. There are also many suites of character pieces for piano, including <i>Shakespeare Pieces</i> (1916), <i>My Lady</i> (1923), the <i>Italian Suite</i> (1924), the <i>Gaelic Suite</i> (five Irish sketches for piano), published in 1927,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> and the <i>Sonnet Suite</i> (1933). <i>Freedom</i>, a 12 minute symphonic piece first used for the National Championships in 1922, is said to be the first brass band symphony, though it’s really a suite. </p><p>In 1924, Bath was named as <a href="/facts/Co-respondent/fnQJYnBJ">co-respondent</a> in the divorce case between <a href="/facts/Colonel_Alfred_Rawlinson/NwPPwUVY">Colonel Alfred Rawlinson</a> and the actress <a href="/facts/Jean_Aylwin/nsbT339w">Jean Aylwin</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> </p><p>Bath died in <a href="/facts/Harefield/4AoUzbVD">Harefield</a>, <a href="/facts/Middlesex/Mzn77Wy7">Middlesex</a> in 1945, aged 61. His son John Bath (1915–2004) was also a film composer.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="selected-filmography">Selected filmography</h2> <ul><li><i><a href="/facts/Under_the_Greenwood_Tree_(1929_film)/DlLDPYJX">Under the Greenwood Tree</a></i> (1929)</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/The_Informer_(1929_film)/zkQbhT2p">The Informer</a></i> (1929)</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/The_Plaything/WfUMFIEG">The Plaything</a></i> (1929)</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Tell_England_(film)/gh3FXaf2">Tell England</a></i> (1931)</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Evensong_(film)/LIGDzWIA">Evensong</a></i> (1934 - uncredited)</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Wings_Over_Everest/4WkQRvo2">Wings Over Everest</a></i> (1934)<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a></li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Breakers_Ahead_(1935_film)/3K26NJ5A">Breakers Ahead</a></i> (1935)</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/His_Lordship_(1936_film)/z8v66FTk">His Lordship</a></i> (1936)</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/The_Luck_of_the_Irish_(1936_film)/IkJ1y1RE">The Luck of the Irish</a></i> (1936)</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Tudor_Rose_(film)/KfusGVc9">Tudor Rose</a></i> (1936)</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Non-Stop_New_York/BLAKaE8q">Non-Stop New York</a></i> (1937)</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/The_Great_Barrier_(film)/T1uptzrS">The Great Barrier</a></i> (1937)</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/A_Yank_at_Oxford/cl9z1l05">A Yank at Oxford</a></i> (1938)</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Dear_Octopus_(film)/9ppCGeFv">Dear Octopus</a></i> (1943)</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Love_Story_(1944_film)/qQMx172N">Love Story</a></i> (1944)</li></ul> <h2 id="notes">Notes</h2> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li> Media related to Hubert Bath at Wikimedia Commons</li> <li><a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0061074/">Hubert Bath</a> at <a href="/facts/IMDb_(identifier)/uWrqVYVy">IMDb</a></li> <li>Free scores by Hubert Bath at the <a href="/facts/International_Music_Score_Library_Project/TVgA4KwI">International Music Score Library Project</a> (IMSLP)</li> <li><a href="https://www.discogs.com/artist/Hubert+Bath">Hubert Bath</a> discography at <a href="/facts/Discogs/wdyMoREv">Discogs</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>"London Opera House," The Daily Telegraph, London, 29 July, 1915. <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 7th ed. (1984) and earlier editions <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"A FIRST GARLAND OF BRITISH LIGHT MUSIC COMPOSERSl". www.musicweb-international.com. <a href="http://www.musicweb-international.com/garlands/1st.htm" target="_blank">http://www.musicweb-international.com/garlands/1st.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>"Behind the scenes of the world's longest running radio sports programme". BBC. Retrieved 16 April 2025. <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0dxyfbq" target="_blank">https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0dxyfbq</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>"Sports Report at 70: Presenters' memories, royal recognition & THAT theme tune". BBC Sport. 5 January 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2025. <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/42546157" target="_blank">https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/42546157</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>"Hubert Bath - Gaelic Suite" – via www.youtube.com. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6mPZI5Lcvg" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6mPZI5Lcvg</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>"Actress's Flat in Chelsea – Composer Friend Cited as Co-Respondent". North Devon Journal. Barnstaple. 15 May 1924. p. 3. Retrieved 12 December 2012 – via British Newspaper Archive. <a href="http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0000328/19240515/103/0003?browse=true" target="_blank">http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0000328/19240515/103/0003?browse=true</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>"OBITUARIES / HUBERT BATH". Variety. 9 May 1945. p. 46. Retrieved 3 March 2023 – via Internet Archive. <a href="https://archive.org/details/variety158-1945-05/page/n109/mode/2up" target="_blank">https://archive.org/details/variety158-1945-05/page/n109/mode/2up</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>"Wings Over Everest (1934)" – via www.filmaffinity.com. <a href="https://www.filmaffinity.com/us/film945506.html" target="_blank">https://www.filmaffinity.com/us/film945506.html</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>