Eva Ruth Spalding
Eva Ruth Spalding (December 19, 1883 - March 1969) was a British composer who wrote string quartets and piano music, and set texts by many poets to music. Spalding was born in Blackheath, Kent, to Henry Spalding and his second wife Ellen. She was the youngest of eight children, with four half-siblings and three full siblings. Henry Spalding was a paper merchant. Spalding studied at the Royal Academy of Music, where she passed the violin teacher exam in 1904. She also studied with Leopold Auer at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in Russia. After returning to England, she  taught piano and violin privately and at Bradfield College. Spalding set texts by the following poets to music: Léon Bazalgette, William Blake, Phineas Fletcher, Paul Fort, Fernand Gregh, George Herbert, Ioannes Papadiamantopoulos (as Jean Moréas), Edmund Spenser, Charles van Lerberghe, Clara Walsh, and Walt Whitman. Spalding’s music was published by Maurice Senart. In addition to songs, her compositions included: