Dudley Glass

Australian composer, lyricist, musician, author, travel writer, critic, public speaker (b. Adelaide 24 Sept., 1899 - d. Melbourne 1981) Australian composer who worked in both serious and light forms of music, Dudley Glass spent most of his adult life based in England. Among his better-known works are The Beloved Vagabond: A Musical Play in Three Acts (1927) and The Toymaker of Nuremberg (1930). He is believed to have recorded for World Record in Melbourne in 1925. He also wrote the scores for two Australian films; several revues and operettas, the musical settings for Edward Lear’s Nonsense Songs, Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit, and Hilaire Belloc’s The Bad Child’s Book of Beasts (1932); as well as numerous songs, some of which contained his own words. In addition to his musical career, Glass established a considerable reputation as a music and travel writer, arts critic, radio presenter, and author, and travelled widely through Europe, North America and Australia on lecture tours.