Ruth Dyson

Ruth Dyson (28 March 1917 – 16 August 1997) was an English keyboardist who performed on the harpsichord and piano. She began playing while studying at the Royal College of Music and was primarily attracted to the English Baroque. Dyson toured Europe, frequently broadcast on the BBC, made several recordings for the BBC Archives, and worked with the Leith Hill Musical Festival. She taught at the Royal College of Music from 1961 until her retirement from teaching in 1987. Dyson contributed to various musical journals, including The Oxford Companion to Music. Her library and most of her instruments were left to the Royal College of Music.

Early life Dyson was born on 28 March 1917, in St Pancras, London; she was the only child of the doctor and Royal Army Medical Corps captain Ernest Andrews Dyson and his wife Minnie, née Cornish. Her childhood was spent and much of her life as an adult in Dorking. Dyson took part in one of the inaugural children's day at the Leith Hill Musical Festival when she was five. She was home-schooled and studied piano under Angus Morrison, harmony with Herbert Howells and violin with W. H. Reed at the Royal College of Music. At the college, she became inspired by the performance of Arne: Sonata No. 3 by Kathleen Long on the piano and took an interest in the museum's collection of old keyboard instruments. Dyson was mainly drawn to the English Baroque, particularly John Blow and others such as Thomas Arne, Thomas Chilcot, and Henry Purcell.

She continued to play the harpsichord and piano in piano concertos in many primary British orchestras and frequently gave solo recitals on both instruments during the post-war era. Dyson undertook tours of Europe with sponsorship with the British Council and frequently broadcast on the BBC for more than three decades, several of which were the maiden performances of works by contemporary artists for early keyboard instruments. She additionally made several recordings for the BBC Archives on instruments from collections like the Colt Clavier Collection and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Penny Cave, Melvyn Tan, Robert Woolley and Sophie Yates among others.

Personal life Dyson married the joint intelligence bureau research officer Edward Eastaway Thomas on 2 May 1964. Dyson was the stepmother of a son and daughter.

Death On the final day of the 1997 Dolmetsch Summer School (16 August), Dyson had a heart attack, and died at the Royal Surrey County Hospital, Guildford, Surrey. She was buried at St Martin's Church, Dorking.

Personality and legacy

According to Margaret Campbell in The Independent, Dyson was "charming, unaffected and modest despite the fact that she had an incredibly scholarly mind" and generous towards fellow musicians. Shelagh Godwin of The Guardian noted Dyson was regarded by other musicians as "a musical mother". She remained in close contact with acquaintances and friends during her life. Dyson's library and a majority of her instruments were left to the Royal College of Music. Some of her recordings were stored in the BBC Archives.