Obituary: Sheila MacCrindle

LONDON is very fortunate in that on the staff of its music publishers, with the task of promoting new music, are a number of remarkable women. Sheila MacCrindle was one of the most effective and in a highly individual way, writes John Drummond (further to the obituary by Anthony Payne, 22 July).

She made her impact through a combination of knowledge, enthusiasm, a certain shyness and a wild sense of humour.

At our regular meetings over the past 20 years she was always hesitant at pushing, even at open doors, believing that without a shared concern nothing valuable would result. With the composers she represented - Lutoslawski, Tavener, Hugh Wood for instance - she was tireless. And their loyalty in return was her reward.

Sheila made us laugh. I have a considerable collection of postcards, letters and hand-outs from all over the world, often subtly altered by her, and with envelopes that have caused my postman to enlarge his understanding of human foibles. She once sent me an Albanian railway timetable, with the accompanying message: 'Perhaps this will help you remember.' Indeed it will.

I know how much it meant to her to have gone to Los Angeles last spring for the world premiere of Lutoslawski's Fourth Symphony. With the composer's permission, we shall dedicate its British premiere in the Proms on 27 August to her memory.