Madeline Dring was born into a musical and theatrical family and gained an exhibition scholarship to the junior department of the Royal College of Music at the age of nine. Her focus changed from violin to piano and composition, which she studied with Herbert Howells, Gordon Jacob, and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Her dedication to the theater opened up a career writing music and songs for theater, radio and television – some contemporaries compared her facility and wit to Gershwin. It is perhaps because of the nature of her work (commissions and performance-specific compositions) that a great deal of her output has been lost. Dring was married to Roger Lord, long-time principal oboe of the London Symphony Orchestra, for whom she wrote a number of works and arrangements that have been recorded here. These works are championed by oboist Nicholas Daniel joined by pianist Antonio Oyarzábal, flutist Adam Walker, and bassoonist Amy Harman.