Born in Edinburgh, Scotland. in 1866 , George John Learmont Drysdale worked as an organist before moving to London, England, in 1887 to study at the Royal Academy of Music. During his time there he was noted for his orchestral compositions with his'Tam O'Shanter' (1891),'The Plague' (musical play, 1896) and'The Red Spider' (a light opera, 1898), meeting with great success. He returned to Glasgow, Scotland, in 1904 to teach at the then Glasgow Athenaeum (Limited) School of Music, but gave this up in favour of composition. His compositional style contained a specifically Scottish flavour and he composed many original settings of Scots lyrics and arrangements of folk songs. He died in 1909 .
From the guide to the Papers of George John Learmont Drysdale, 1866-1909, composer, 1883-1944, (Glasgow University Library, Special Collections Department)
