Dorothy Howell (1898 - 1982) England
- andreachamizoalber
- Sep 2
- 2 min read
English composer and pianist, known in her time as the "English Richard Strauss." Born in Birmingham to a musical family, she displayed great talent from a young age, composing her first pieces at the age of 13. She studied piano and composition at the Royal Academy of Music, where she excelled and won awards such as the Hine Prize.
Here is her Piano Concerto.
Her breakthrough came with Lamia , a symphonic poem based on Keats's text, premiered to great acclaim at the 1919 Proms by Sir Henry Wood, who continued to support her career for years. Lamia was performed several more times at the Proms, but fell into obscurity after 1940 until being revived in 2010 and again in 2019.
In 1924, she became Professor of Harmony and Composition at the Royal Academy of Music, and taught at several other institutions throughout her life. During World War II, she served in the Women's Land Army. After her retirement in 1970, she continued teaching privately until her death in Malvern at the age of 83.
I now share with you her Nocturne for strings.
She was a devoted admirer of Edward Elgar, caring for his grave for years, and is buried nearby. In 2023, she was one of the subjects of Leah Broad's book Quartet , which retells the stories of four British female composers.
Her music is still protected by copyright and must be purchased, but there are three scores of hers on IMSLP if you want to check them out: two works for solo piano and her Fantasia for violin and piano, which received the Cobbett Prize.
Finally, I share Air, Variations and Finale, for piano, oboe and violin.
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