The Lady Composer Takes Her First Steps

Dring’s musical education took place at the Royal College of Music, beginning in the Junior Department at the same time as her formal education in Roman Catholic grade schools. Her mentors included Percy Buck and Angela Bull, who together directed the Department. Dring also benefited from the encouragement of the directors of the RCM, Hugh Allen and George Dyson. Principal teachers included Betty Barne and Freda Dinn for violin, Jewel Evans and Lilian Gaskell for piano, and Stanley Wolff and Leslie Fly for composition. Important first performances of her music took place on the BBC radio broadcast of the “Children’s Hour” and at a concert at Lambeth County Hall. As an actor, Dring’s participation in the yearly Christmas play is documented, and as an example of her musical style, her Fantasy Sonata (In one movement) is examined in detail. The effect of the beginning of World War II is considered from Dring’s point of view, specifically in the way it affected a teenage girl at the Royal College of Music.

The Lady Composer in Her Own Words

The most important primary source for the earlier part of Dring’s life is her notebooks, which she used as diaries. Within these fourteen books, she committed her thoughts on music, art, and contemporary films and plays. Other aspects of her life include her appearance and well-being, her horrific experiences at the dentist, the details of her struggles at La Retraite Roman Catholic Girls School, and her close friendship with Pamela Larkin. These diaries also record her impressions of current events, including the burning of the Crystal Palace, the abdication of King Edward VIII and the succession of his brother, George VI, and the sinking of the Arandora Star. Finally, Dring describes in vivid detail life in London during the “The Blitz,” and the chapter concludes with the death of her brother, a casualty of the war.

The Lady Composer Learns Her Craft

The period of Dring’s life as a full-time student at the Royal College of Music overlapped with the concluding years of World War II. The director of the RCM, George Dyson, decided to keep the school open, and Dring’s diaries provide a picture of her life during the first years of the war. Principal teachers included W.H. Reed in violin, Lilian Gaskell in piano, Topliss Green in voice, and Margaret Rubel in “dramatic.” Dring continued to be active as a performer, earning her ARCM certificate in piano, and she performed in many plays and scenes as part of the dramatic class. She also had the opportunity to produce, direct, and write the music for The Emperor and the Nightingale, the annual Christmas play for the Junior Department. Her most important instructor was Herbert Howells in composition, with whom she studied for her entire four years as a full-time student, and she also took occasional lessons with Ralph Vaughan Williams. Her musical style is discussed through an examination of “Under the Greenwood Tree,” the first of her Three Shakespeare Songs, written and first performed during these years.

The Lady Composer at the End

The letters sent to American composer and pianist Eugene Hemmer allow Dring to speak in her own voice for the first time since the early diaries, documents that allow a glimpse into her musical as well as her personal life. There is a brief discussion of The Florida International Music Festival, which featured the US premiere of her most popular instrumental composition, the Trio for Flute, Oboe, and Piano, a work which provides a splendid example of her later musical style. Other works that are discussed include The Real Princess, a ballet written for Mari Bicknell’s Cambridge Ballet Workshop, and four song cycles: Dedications, Love and Time, Five Betjeman Songs, and Four Night Songs. Also documented are the first professional recordings of her compositions and the spiritual journey she undertook in her last years, the latter illustrated by talks that she gave at the Centre for Spiritual and Psychological Studies. Finally, her sudden death from a brain aneurysm is related through letters of Roger Lord and other documents, followed by her memorial service and concerts in her honor at the RCM.

Coda The Lady Composer in Print

“Madeleine has real gifts, and is modest about them.” —Percy Buck, Teacher’s Annual Report, November 30, 1939 Madeleine Dring left behind many unpublished works. As the pain of her sudden passing lessened, her husband Roger Lord began to sift through these manuscripts to decide on pieces suitable for publication. A superb musician with some training in composition (he, too, studied with Herbert Howells, if only briefly), he knew well the worth of his wife’s music and set about enhancing her posthumous reputation. In this he was aided by Lance Bowling and his company, Cambria Music, which was now issuing printed music as well as recordings (see Table B.1). The first compositions published were ...

Epilogue The Lady Composer Rediscovered

“She thought remains were of little importance.” —Roger Lord, letter of May 30, 2007 On June 22, 2004, one of us (Wanda) enjoyed a visit with Roger Lord at his home in Dorset, at which time she was able to discuss with him the life and career of his first wife, Madeleine Dring. The conversation turned from her life to her death, and he was asked, “Where is Madeleine buried? I would like to go place flowers on her grave.” Lord replied, “I don’t know if she is still there. We only leased the grave for twenty-five years.” Gravesites are at a premium in London and are often leased and turned over for later use. He continued “But I can tell you what I inscribed on her marker.” At the time of this exchange, twenty-seven years had passed since she died. But Lord did not forget about the question. In a letter of May 30, 2007, he writes: “P.S. You ask about tomb inscription & where. Madeleine was buried in Lambeth Cemetery.”...

The Lady Composer Steps Out

Dring’s early career is traced through her commissions for BBC radio and television broadcasts, of which the most significant is The Fair Queen of Wu, a ballet for singers and chamber ensemble with choreography by Felicity Gray. During these years, her first publications appeared, with an emphasis on piano music (for solo piano and two pianos) and her Three Shakespeare Songs. Dring’s music was also performed in recitals, including her recently published piano works and a selection of her songs (published and unpublished). The most favorable reviews are found for her Festival Scherzo (“Nights in the Gardens of Battersea”), written to commemorate the Festival of Britain. Also discussed is her one-act opera, Cupboard Love, the music written for the Christmas plays produced by Angela Bull’s Cygnet Company, and her first performance as a singer at the RCM’s Union “At Home.” A fine example of Dring’s cabaret style is found in the discussion and analysis of her song, “The Lady Composer.” In her personal life, the chapter documents her marriage to Roger Lord, his career as a musician (principal oboe in the London Symphony Orchestra for thirty-three years), and the birth of her son, Jeremy.

The Lady Composer in Demand

The next phase of Dring’s career finds her contributing musical numbers to the intimate revues produced by Laurier Lister on London’s West End. Her lyricist for many of these songs is Charlotte Mitchell, and her work appeared side-by-side with the revue numbers of Michael Flanders and Donald Swann. Additional information on these revues is found in The Lord Chamberlain’s collection in the British Library. A representative example of these songs is “Snowman,” which is discussed in detail. Other songs appeared in Seán Rafferty’s Child’s Play, produced at the Players’ Theatre, and numerous other compositions are documented, including the soundtrack for six episodes of the cartoon series, Little Laura. Dring also began to appear more frequently as a performer, in particular with The Kensington-Gores, a trio she formed with Margaret Rubel and Alan Rowlands. During the latter part of this period, Dring published many piano pieces, suitable for various grade levels, from beginner to concert pianist. One of the most popular of these collections is Colour Suite, which receives an extended discussion.

Prologue

Couldn’t you say I come from the Moon & wish to remain a mystery? —Letter to Lance Bowling, November 3, 1976 Sometimes serendipity leads us to our life’s work. In the case of our study of Madeleine Dring (1923–77), it was an innocent request for a CD for the ride home, made on an afternoon in July 2000, when one of us (Wanda) was in Glendower Jones’s sheet music shop in Upper Manhattan. That request led to the loan of ...

The Lady Composer Makes Her Entrance

From her birth in North London to her residences in Streatham in South London, Dring’s earliest years are discussed. Portraits are provided of her father and mother, including their professions and musical talents, and there are details on her older brother, grandparents, and other relatives as well as evidence of her middle-class background. Also noted are Dring’s church upbringing as a Roman Catholic and the importance of her religion at this point in her life, and her formal education at St. Andrew’s Roman Catholic Primary School and La Retraite Roman Catholic Girls School. Little is known of her musical education from these years, but there is a description of an early recital with her family and the musical instruments in the house.