Betty Roe
Encyclopedia
Betty Roe is an English
composer, singer, vocal coach, and conductor.
, London
, England
. Her father was a fishmonger at the Shepherd's Bush Market, and her mother was a bookkeeper. Roe took piano lessons from the age of six with Madam Dorina and began writing music and arrangements in her teens during World War II
when she assisted with choirs at the local church. She studied piano with Fiona Addie, Muriel Dale, and Sadie MacCormack, and cello with Alison Dalrymple at the Royal Academy of Music but left school in 1947 and took a job as a file clerk. She continued at the Royal Academy in 1949, studying piano with York Bowen
, cello with Alison Dalrymple, and voice with Jean McKenzie-Grieve. She continued her study of singing with Clive Carey
, Roy Hickman, Peter van der Stolk and Margaret Field-Hyde and studied composition with Lennox Berkeley
. In the 1950s she became involved with a drama group where she began writing for musicals. She also worked as a sessions singer with London ensembles.
Roe married John Bishop and had three children. She was Director of Music at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art from 1968–78 and founded Thames Publishing with her husband in 1970. After his death in 2000 Thames Publishing became a division of William Elkin Music Services.
Her compositions have been recorded and issued on CD, including:
Opera:
Musicals:
Choral works:
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
composer, singer, vocal coach, and conductor.
Biography
Betty Roe was born in North KensingtonNorth Kensington
North Kensington is an area of west London lying north of Notting Hill Gate and south of Harrow Road.North Kensington is the key neighbourhood of Notting Hill...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Her father was a fishmonger at the Shepherd's Bush Market, and her mother was a bookkeeper. Roe took piano lessons from the age of six with Madam Dorina and began writing music and arrangements in her teens during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
when she assisted with choirs at the local church. She studied piano with Fiona Addie, Muriel Dale, and Sadie MacCormack, and cello with Alison Dalrymple at the Royal Academy of Music but left school in 1947 and took a job as a file clerk. She continued at the Royal Academy in 1949, studying piano with York Bowen
York Bowen
Edwin York Bowen was an English composer and pianist. Bowen’s musical career spanned more than fifty years during which time he wrote over 160 works. As well as being a pianist and composer, Bowen was a talented conductor, organist, violist and horn player...
, cello with Alison Dalrymple, and voice with Jean McKenzie-Grieve. She continued her study of singing with Clive Carey
Clive Carey
Francis Clive Savill Carey CBE , known as Clive Carey, was a British baritone, singing teacher, composer, opera producer and folk song collector.-Biography:Clive Carey was born at Sible Hedingham, Essex in 1883...
, Roy Hickman, Peter van der Stolk and Margaret Field-Hyde and studied composition with Lennox Berkeley
Lennox Berkeley
Sir Lennox Randal Francis Berkeley was an English composer.- Biography :He was born in Oxford, England, and educated at the Dragon School, Gresham's School and Merton College, Oxford...
. In the 1950s she became involved with a drama group where she began writing for musicals. She also worked as a sessions singer with London ensembles.
Roe married John Bishop and had three children. She was Director of Music at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art from 1968–78 and founded Thames Publishing with her husband in 1970. After his death in 2000 Thames Publishing became a division of William Elkin Music Services.
Works
Roe composes solo songs, choral music, sacred music, musicals, operas, instrumental pieces and music for schools. Selected works include:- All The Day
- Four Ponder Songs
- Noble Numbers
- Three Childhoods
- Three Shakespeare Songs
Her compositions have been recorded and issued on CD, including:
- The Music Tree: Solo Songs by Betty Roe (Audio CD - Mar 31, 1998) Somm Recordings, ASIN: B000006B6T
- Music for Children By Betty Roe (Audio CD - Feb 24, 1998) Somm Recordings, ASIN: B0000265HD
- 'Family Tree, music for children (Audio CD - March 31, 1998) Somm Recordings, ASIN: B000006B6U
Works with Marian Lines
Roe has worked in partnership with librettist Marian Lines to produce six opera, twelve musicals, a pantomime and a number of choral works.Opera:
- The Legend of Gallant Bevis of Southampton (1977)
- Gaslight
- A Flight of Pilgrims (1992)
- Lunch at the Cooked Goose (2000)
- Welcome to Purgatory (2003)
- Brunel: The Little Man in the Tall Hat (2006)
Musicals:
- The Barnstormers (1976)
- Kookajoo and the Magic Forest
- The Most Wanted Faces (1978)
- Pardon our Rubbish
- Christmas Boxes (1980) From which are extracted the songs, Christmas Cards.
- The Trouble with spells is… (1982)
- The Mistress of Charlecote Park
- Destination London (Contributed two numbers)
- The Miracle Masque (1983)
- The Pink Parakeet (1984)
- Crowds (1988)
- Astron (1994)
- The Storm Hound (1996) Based on the legend of Black ShuckBlack ShuckBlack Shuck, Old Shuck, Old Shock or simply Shuck is the name given to a ghostly black dog which is said to roam the coastline and countryside of East Anglia...
- Floating (2002)
- The Magic Fishbone (Awaiting publication) Based on the short story by Charles DickensCharles DickensCharles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
Choral works:
- Burd Ellen (1976)
- A Crown of Briar Roses (1977) For Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee
- Circe Beguiled, a scena (1978). An encounter between OdysseusOdysseusOdysseus or Ulysses was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in the Epic Cycle....
and the witch CirceCirceIn Greek mythology, Circe is a minor goddess of magic , described in Homer's Odyssey as "The loveliest of all immortals", living on the island of Aeaea, famous for her part in the adventures of Odysseus.By most accounts, Circe was the daughter of Helios, the god of the sun, and Perse, an Oceanid...
. - A Quire of Elements (1978)
- The Blacksmith and the Changeling
- Songs for City Children
- The Family Tree (1982)
- A Cat’s Tale (1990)
- A Cycle of Elements (1995)
- St George and the Dragon (1995)
- Sing the Millennium (1999)
- Dick Whittington (2005)