Alma Goatley

Alma Goatley Temple-Smith (1887 – 27 August 1969) was an English musician and composer. From 1935 to 1936, she was president of the Society of Women Musicians. Early life Alma Goatley was born in Savoie, and raised in London, the daughter of British parents Grafton Goatley and Louisa Goatley. She won the Chappell Pianoforte Prize in 1911 at the Royal Academy of Music. Career Goatley composed music for recital songs and as settings for poems. She also taught harmony at Redhill, and performed as a diseuse at the piano. A 1919 reviewer found her “charming, both in her singing and in her fascinating humour.” In 1922, she was one of the composers featured at a concert of works by women composers in London, sharing the bill with composers including Ethel Smyth and Katharine Emily Eggar. She was president of the Society of Women Musicians from 1935 to 1936, during its “jubilee” year. Compositions * Four Nursery Rhymes (1912) * “As I hear your dainty Footstep” (1915) * “Now that April’s there” (1917, lyrics by Robert Browning) * “A Garden is a lovesome thing” (1917, with Thomas Edward Brown) * “A Dream Ship” (1918, lyrics by Crosbie Garstin) * “Hush-a-bye-low” (1918) * “Nesting-time” (1919