Madeleine Dring

Madeleine Dring: Lady Composer is a biography that examines the British composer's life and music, supported by extensive archival research andprimary sources. With London at its center, the story of Dring’s life followsher through formal training in the Junior Department of the Royal College ofMusic, the horrors of World War II, the lively atmosphere of revues in the WestEnd, the lack of recognition during her final years, and her premature deathfrom a brain aneurysm at the age of fifty-three. Her contributions to thediverse musical worlds of popular song, serious music, radio, and televisionare surveyed, with attention to the qualities that characterize her distinctivemusical style. The narrative arc is compelling: education as a classicalcomposer, success on the popular stage, return to “serious” composition, anddeath when her art was at the highest level. An underlying theme is theencouragement and success Dring experienced in a profession that is typicallythe domain of men. Her achievement as a composer is due to the excellence ofher music, which is increasingly being appreciated for its imagination and sophistication,as evidenced by numerous performances and recordings.