Possible Clues:

• Composer who went to Eton
• ___ Duncan, Secretary of Education whose resignation the NEA called for in 2014
• Former secretary of education Duncan
• Composer showing merit, first to last
• ___ Saknussemm, discoverer of the center of the earth in 'Journey to the Center of the Earth'
• 'Thou Soft Flowing Avon' composer
• Recent Education Secretary Duncan
• 'The Masque of Alfred' composer