Shena Eleanor Fraser (born 26 May 1910, d. 1993) was a Scottish pianist and composer who also used the pseudonym Sebastian Scott. She was born in

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

, and studied piano performance with Henry Wilson, and composition with

Herbert Howells Herbert Norman Howells (17 October 1892 – 23 February 1983) was an English composer, organist, and teacher, most famous for his large output of Anglican church music. Life Background and early education Howells was born in Lydney, Glouces ...

at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

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. Her debut piano recital was held at the Grotrian Hall, London, in 1934.'Shena Fraser', in
Contemporary Music Review' 1994, Vol. 11, Parts 1 & 2, pp. 123-124
' Fraser had a lifelong interest in choral music for women and the teaching of amateur and younger musicians. She was also Music Adviser to the

National Federation of Women's Institutes The Women's Institute (WI) is a community-based organisation for women in the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. The movement was founded in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada, by Erland and Janet Lee with Adelaide Hoodless being t ...

for four years and served on Kent Music Committee for many years.'Shena Fraser' at the British Music Collection
/ref> Over 100 of her pieces for women's voices, and educational pieces for piano were published. Some of these were jazz pieces written under the name Sebastian Scott.
VOTE 100: Celebrating Women Composers
', St George's Church Brighton, 17 November 2018, programme, p. 8 She founded the Faversham Subscription Concerts Society to assist young performers, and (with piano teacher Yvonne Enoch) set up Fraser-Enoch Publications to publish works by young unknown composers. The majority of her works are vocal and aimed at amateur performers and choirs. They include ''Carillon'' (1957), ''To Him Give Praise'' (1959–60), ''A Ring of Jewels'' (1975) and ''A Boy was Born'' (1988), all for women’s voices. Instrumental works include the Sonatina for flute (1989) and the two ''Sea Poems'' for piano duo (1988), which were adapted from her 1972 cantata ''Full Fathom Five''. Fraser married Laurence Neame, a brewery director from Kent, in 1934. He was Vice Chairman of the

Shepherd Neame Shepherd Neame is an English independent brewery which has been based in the market town of Faversham, Kent, for over 300 years. While 1698 is the brewery's official established date, town records show that commercial brewing has occurred on the ...

brewery from the 1940s through to the 1960s.Truman Ward auction catalogue
/ref> She had three sons, one daughter and fourteen grandchildren. After marriage Fraser taught piano privately and held a weekly Aural Training class for children aged six to eight.

Works

Selected works include: * ''A Boy Was Born'', SSA women's voices (1979) (Text:

Percy Dearmer Percival Dearmer (1867–1936) was an English priest and liturgist best known as the author of ''The Parson's Handbook'', a liturgical manual for Anglican clergy, and as editor of ''The English Hymnal''. A lifelong socialist, he was an early ad ...

) *''A Ring of Jewels'', song cycle (1975) *''Carillon'', song cycle (1957) *''Full Fathom Five'', cantata (1972) * ''To Give Him Praise'', choral suite, SSA women's voices (1959–60) *''Two Unison Songs'', song cycle *''A lake and a fairy boat'' (Text:

Thomas Hood Thomas Hood (23 May 1799 – 3 May 1845) was an English poet, author and humorist, best known for poems such as "The Bridge of Sighs" and " The Song of the Shirt". Hood wrote regularly for '' The London Magazine'', '' Athenaeum'', and ''Punch' ...

) *''Before the paling of the stars'' (in Carillon) (Text:

Christina Georgina Rossetti Christina Georgina Rossetti (5 December 1830 – 29 December 1894) was an English writer of romantic, devotional and children's poems, including "Goblin Market" and "Remember". She also wrote the words of two Christmas carols well known in Brit ...

) *''It is the evening hour'' (Text:

John Clare John Clare (13 July 1793 – 20 May 1864) was an English poet. The son of a farm labourer, he became known for his celebrations of the English countryside and sorrows at its disruption. His work underwent major re-evaluation in the late 20th ce ...

) *''Margaret has a milking-pail'' (in Two Unison Songs) (Text: Christina Georgina Rossetti) *''My Boy John'' (in Full Fathom Five) (Text: Sydney Thompson Dobell) *''On a winter's night long time ago'' (in Carillon) (Text:

Hilaire Belloc Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc (, ; 27 July 187016 July 1953) was a Franco-English writer and historian of the early twentieth century. Belloc was also an orator, poet, sailor, satirist, writer of letters, soldier, and political activist. ...

) *''Red poppies'' (Text: William Sharp) *''Requiem'' (Text:

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as '' Treasure Island'', '' Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...

) ITA GER *''Sing me a song'' (Text: Christina Georgina Rossetti) *''The ferryman'' (Text: Christina Georgina Rossetti) *''To sea'' (in Full Fathom Five) (Text:

Thomas Lovell Beddoes Thomas Lovell Beddoes (30 June 1803 – 26 January 1849) was an English poet, dramatist and physician. Biography Born in Clifton, Bristol, England, he was the son of Dr. Thomas Beddoes, a friend of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Anna, sister ...

) *''Ferry me across the water'' as Sebastian Scott (Text: Christina Georgina Rossetti) *''Prelude and Scherzino'' for oboe and piano (1954) * ''Five Pairs'', for violin and piano (1959) *''Hornpipe and Jig'' for two pianos (1954) * ''Sea Poems'' for piano duo (1988) * Sonatina for flute (1989)

References

External links

Youtube video of Hornpipe and Jig for two pianos {{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Shena 1910 births 1993 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century Scottish musicians Women classical composers Scottish classical composers 20th-century British composers 20th-century women composers