Silk was born in
Kings Norton,
Worcestershire, England. She studied in
Birmingham, then, following the advice of
Theodore Lierhammer, in Vienna under
Johannes Ress. She later confessed to having been initially "disappointed" by Ress, who insisted on her studying
coloratura rather than her preferred
Lieder by
Hugo Wolf and
Johannes Brahms. However she recognised that his training gave her a good vocal technique, and she relished the opportunities pre-First World War Vienna afforded to go to operas and concerts, also spending afternoons hearing
Ferruccio Busoni playing the piano. Silk made her London debut at
Queen's Hall. Silk particularly built her reputation as a Bach singer, and gave pioneering chamber concerts (1921-6) in which she performed cantatas by
Heinrich Schütz and
Franz Tunder. She sang in the public premiere of Holst's
Savitri, staged at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith in 1921, then sang in its subsequent production in
Covent Garden in 1923. She was much admired by the composer who expressed a preference for her as soloist for his
Choral Symphony, which she sang with great success at its Leeds premiere on 7 October 1925. She also sang the premiere of Holst's
Humbert Wolfe songs, which took place on 9 November 1929 at
Louise Hanson-Dyer's house-warming in Paris. In 1934 Silk joined
Cuthbert Kelly's
New English Singers and toured several times with the group in North America. Kelly said that her voice was "like a chameleon. It changes colour to an oboe when accompanied by one: same with a flute." Although Silk's voice, described as ‘light’ and ‘flexible’, was considered ideal for Bach, she also made a fine impression singing the soprano solo part in Verdi's Requiem. She died, aged 59, in
Alvechurch, Worcestershire. ==References==