Dorothy Howell (composer)

Dorothy Gertrude Howell (25 February 1898 – 12 January 1982) was an English composer and pianist.

Biography

Howell was born in Birmingham, grew up in Handsworth, and received a convent education. She received private composition lessons from Granville Bantock[1] before beginning her studies at the Royal Academy of Music,[2] aged 15. Her teachers there included John Blackwood McEwen and Tobias Matthay.[3]

Howell achieved fame with her symphonic poem Lamia (inspired by the Keats poem) which Sir Henry Wood premiered at The Proms on 10 September 1919.[4] Wood directed Lamia again that same week, on 13 September 1919. He subsequently conducted Lamia again in the 1921, 1923, 1924, 1926, 1930 and 1940 Proms seasons, but in subsequent years Lamia was neglected, until its revival in the 2010 season of The Proms.[5][6][7] It received a centenary performance at the Proms in 2019.[8] Howell dedicated Lamia on its 1921 publication to Wood.[9] Among other compositions by Howell, Wood conducted Koong Shee in 1921, her Piano Concerto in 1923 and 1927 with the composer herself as pianist on both occasions, and The Rock in 1928. He was scheduled to conduct the first performance of Three Divertissements in 1940, but the concert was cancelled owing to The Blitz. Her Air, Variations & Finale for oboe, violin & piano (1949) can be obtained from June Emerson Wind Music (E620). Three Divertissements, Howell's last known orchestral work, did not receive its premiere until the 1950 Elgar Festival in Malvern.[10]

Howell won the Cobbett Prize in 1921 for her Phantasy for violin and piano. She received the nickname of the "English Strauss" in her lifetime.[2] Wood attempted to recruit Howell to his conducting class at the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in 1923, but she instead became a teacher at the RAM in 1924. During World War II, she served with the Women's Land Army. She taught at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire from 1950 to 1957. She retired from the RAM in 1970, and after her retirement, continued to teach students privately.[2] She died in Malvern, aged 83.

Howell tended the grave of Sir Edward Elgar for several years,[4] and herself is buried near Elgar in the churchyard of St Wulstan's Roman Catholic Church, Little Malvern.[2][11]

Her music has been recorded commercially on the Dutton Digital and Harlequin labels.[12] The Cameo Classics label recorded Lamia in 2008 with Marius Stravinsky conducting the first modern recording of Howell's orchestral music with the Karelia Symphony Orchestra. In 2010 Cameo Classics recorded Howell's Piano Concerto with Valentina Seferinova as soloist at Cadogan Hall. The conductor was Toby Purser with his Orion Symphony Orchestra of London, with the CD (CC9041CD) released in September 2012. The CDs are now available from Nimbus Wyastone.

In 2019 Rumon Gamba conducted the BBC Philharmonic in a recording of Lamia and other British tone poems for Chandos Records.[13]

She is one of the subjects of a 2023 group biography of four women composers by Leah Broad, Quartet: How Four Women Changed the Musical World.[14]

Selected works

References
  1. Foreman, Lewis. Notes to Chandos 10981 (2019)
  2. Matt Lloyd (27 August 2010). "The lost archive of our own Strauss, Dorothy Howell". Birmingham Post. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  3. Mike, Celia, "Howell, Dorothy", in The Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers (Julie Anne Sadie and Rhian Samuel, eds.). The MacMillan Press (London & Basingstoke), p. 231 (1994, ISBN 0-333-51598-6).
  4. Broad, Leah. Quartet: How Four Women Changed the Musical World, London, Faber and Faber (2023)
  5. Roger Wright (10 September 2010). "Last Night of the Proms: A night that is so uniquely British stirs hearts throughout the world". Telegraph. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  6. George Hall (6 September 2010). "Ulster Orchestra/Watkins; BBCCO/Daniel (Royal Albert Hall, London)". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  7. Morley, Christopher (30 May 2013). "Review: Dorothy Howell's Lamia, the Ulster Orchestra, at the Royal Albert Hall". Birmingham Post. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  8. Prom 46: City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (2019)
  9. Burton, Anthony, Programme Notes for Prom 68, 116th Season of The Henry Wood Promenade Concerts, 5 September 2010.
  10. Byrne, Vincent James (2015). "The Life and Works of Dorothy Howell" (PDF). {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. "Dorothy Howell". Birmingham City Council. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  12. Jill Hopkins (5 November 2004). "Dorothy Howell, Chamber Music: CD Review". Worcester News. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
  13. Chandos 10981 (2019)
  14. Broad, Leah (2 March 2023). Quartet: How Four Women Changed the Musical World - 'Magnificent' (Kate Mosse). Faber & Faber, Limited. ISBN 978-0-571-36610-1.
  15. Hardy, Lisa, The British Piano Sonata, 1870-1945. The Boydell Press (Woodbridge, UK), p. 52 (2001; ISBN 0-85115-822-6).
  16. B.V. (1 April 1926). "New Music: Strings". The Musical Times. 67 (998): 334. JSTOR 912732.
  17. F.B. (April 1926). "New Music for Strings". Music & Letters. 7 (2): 184–186. JSTOR 725875.
  18. T.A. (1 July 1929). "New Music: Pianoforte". The Musical Times. 70 (1037): 613. JSTOR 917424.
  19. Sc.G. (April 1933). "Gramophone Records". Music & Letters. 14 (2): 197. JSTOR 728943.
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