Dorothy Ann Collins (6 March 1933 – 22 September 1995), was an English

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

musician, arranger and composer. She was the older sister of

Shirley Collins Shirley Elizabeth Collins MBE (born 5 July 1935) is an English folk singer who was a significant contributor to the British Folk Revival of the 1960s and 1970s. She often performed and recorded with her sister Dolly, whose accompaniment on ...

. Born in

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

(now

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

), she grew up in an artistic, socialist, folk singing family. She learned the

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

at school, and then studied with composer

Alan Bush Alan Dudley Bush (22 December 1900 – 31 October 1995) was a British composer, pianist, conductor, teacher and political activist. A committed communist, his uncompromising political beliefs were often reflected in his music. He composed prol ...

while taking odd jobs in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, including working as a bus conductor. In the mid-1960s she began working with her sister Shirley, who was establishing a reputation as a leading folk singer. She arranged some of Shirley's songs and, on the album ''Sweet Primeroses'', accompanied her on

portative organ A portative organ (from the Latin verb , "to carry"), also known during Italian Trecento as the , is a small pipe organ that consists of one rank of flue pipes, sometimes arranged in two rows, to be played while strapped to the performer at a r ...

. Further work with Shirley followed: Shirley said ''"You could launch yourself off on a Dolly arrangement."'' In 1968 they produced the album '' Anthems in Eden'', commissioned by

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Radio and written for a six-piece early music consort directed by David Munrow, and regularly toured together. Dolly also worked as a musician and arranger with other singers and bands, including

The Incredible String Band The Incredible String Band (sometimes abbreviated as ISB) were a British psychedelic folk band formed by Clive Palmer (musician), Clive Palmer, Robin Williamson and Mike Heron in Edinburgh in 1966. Following Palmer's early departure, Williamso ...

on '' The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter'' (1967), Matthews' Southern Comfort on their debut album (1969),

Spirogyra ''Spirogyra'' (common names include water silk, mermaid's tresses, and blanket weed) is a genus of filamentous charophyte green algae of the order Zygnematales, named for the helical or spiral arrangement of the chloroplasts that is charact ...

on their third album ''Bells, Boots and Shambles'' (1973) and Peter Bellamy on the ballad opera ''

The Transports ''The Transports'' is a folk ballad opera written by Peter Bellamy released by Free Reed Records in 1977. It is often cited as Bellamy's greatest achievement. It featured many artists from the 1970s English folk revival, including The Waterso ...

'' (1977). By the late 1970s she retreated from touring and live concerts, and earned a living from gardening. Her last recordings were with Shirley on the album ''For As Many as Will'' (1978). She continued to compose, however, and just before her death she completed a cycle of First World War poems and a new mass written with the poet

Maureen Duffy Maureen Patricia Duffy (born 21 October 1933) is an English poet, playwright, novelist and non-fiction author. Long an activist covering such issues as gay rights and animal rights, she campaigns especially on behalf of authors. She has receive ...

, the 'Missa Humana', which finally received its premiere on 25 February 2023 at Conway Hall, London (directed by John Andrews; produced by Lawrence Warner). She died at home in Balcombe, West Sussex.

References

External links

Obituary article from The Scotland Herald
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Dolly 1933 births 1995 deaths Musicians from Hastings English folk musicians British folk rock musicians Harvest Records artists 20th-century British classical musicians 20th-century English composers The Albion Band members People from Balcombe, West Sussex

See also

References

External links