OV Clive Marks’ Musical Memories

It was a delight to see OV Clive Marks (S 69-74) return to King’s on Friday 14 October 2022.

Clive was at School to present the greatly anticipated Volume Two of Marks Choral Collection – The Stories: fun, friends and fiascos. In 2021, Clive had presented Volume One, along with his collection of annotated musical scores and programmes, to the King’s Music School, for the benefit of current and future King’s musicians. You can read more about it here.

On this latest visit, Clive spent some time with the Senior School’s choir, joining their lunchtime practice session with Director of Music, Simon Taranczuk (Hon OV). Clive was very impressed by the singers and their sight reading of a piece by Joseph Haydn. He spoke with the choristers, bringing some of his own experiences to life, including when he was singing with the London Symphony Chorus at the BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall in 1983, and he had managed, with the help of some friends in high places, to secure seats in The Queen’s Box as a surprise for his parents, complete with a bottle of champagne! A top tip Clive passed on to the budding singers is to learn their piece thoroughly before a performance so that they can sing without having to refer to the sheet of music. However, he did add that being tall had the benefit of being able to ‘share’ the music of those in the rows in front.

Clive also kindly spent some time with Head of Alumni and Business Development, Hannah Sparrey, and Alumni Relations Co-ordinator, Amanda Sutcliffe, taking them through his latest compilation. Both Hannah and Amanda thoroughly enjoyed hearing some of Clive’s wonderful stories and were delighted to see that his King’s boater had even made an appearance in the books! A photo in the book shows Clive wearing his boater at London’s Barbican Centre in 1983.

During his previous visit, Clive brought along a model of the Grammy which he had won for taking part in the 1987 for Best Choral Recording of Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast. On this occasion, Clive presented an incredibly beautiful, full-size replica of the award to Simon for the Music School, which was a very thoughtful and generous gesture.

Thank you, Clive, for your wonderful memories and such an incredible collection for the King’s Music School.