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Through the Centuries: Songs of Madeleine Dring album review
(Chandos) Whately/Drake Kitty Whately and Julius Drake perform the fervent, fun and intoxicating works of a British musician whose fresh assessment is richly deserved
TL;DR
- Madeleine Dring (1923-1976) studied at the Royal College of Music with Herbert Howells and Vaughan Williams.
- Her career included theatre, pantomime, and cabaret, and was cut short by a brain aneurysm.
- Much of her music was unpublished until the late 1990s, risking her obscurity.
- A new recording by Kitty Whately and Julius Drake presents a survey of her work.
- The recording emphasizes Dring's knack for word-setting and melody, challenging the notion she wasn't a serious composer.
- Songs range from passionate pieces like 'Love Is a Sickness' and 'Echoes' to fun, tongue-in-cheek works like 'Encouragements to a Lover' and 'The Cuckoo'.
- The album also includes Dring's arrangement of Cole Porter's 'In the Still of the Night'.