“Queen of the Boys:” Hedli Anderson and the British Cabaret

The essay considers the life and career of British cabaret singer Hedli Anderson, whose work and influence has been largely forgotten today. She was the first lucrative English-born cabaret artist, and helped to popularize the cabaret genre during the 1930s and 1940s, previously a European continental phenomenon, in Great Britain. She found success as a performer, recitalist, and collaborator, and inspired a generation of poets, playwrights, and composers to write and dedicate pieces to her. The essay discusses the history of cabaret and its inception in Great Britain. A brief discussion of the pedagogical benefits of cabaret music in the modern vocal studio and the interest of British classical composers to explore the genre during the 1930s and 1940s is also considered. Secondly, an extensive biography for Hedli Anderson, previously nonexistent at length, is presented. The essay then considers the careers of composer Benjamin Britten and poet W.H. Auden, their associations with the General Post Office Film Unit and the Group Theatre, and their contribution to the developing British cabaret genre through their Cabaret Songs written for Hedli Anderson. Poetic and musical analysis for each of the Cabaret Songs is provided. Next, the essay explores the courtship and marriage between Anderson and poet Louis MacNeice. MacNeice’s work with the BBC presented Anderson with a new performance outlet via the radio. The couple’s collegial network grew in the 1940s, and Anderson’s friendships with composer Elisabeth Lutyens and poet Stevie Smith gave way to new commissions and cabaret-influenced pieces, including Lutyens’ Nine Stevie Smith Songs, for which poetic and musical analysis is included. Finally, the essay investigates the unraveling and ultimate end of Anderson and MacNeice’s marriage, and her championing MacNeice’s work following his death. The essay concludes by outlining the end of Anderson’s career and life.