Dorothy Howell

Dorothy Gertrude Howell (25 February 1898 – 12 January 1982) was an English composer and pianist. She received the nickname of the "English Richard Strauss" in her lifetime.

Early life and education

Howell was born in Birmingham, and grew up in Handsworth and Wollescote House, Stourbridge; from a young age, her studies of piano and composition were encouraged by her parents. One of six children, she came from a musical family, and enjoyed playing instruments (mainly violin and piano) and singing together. Her talents were greatly acknowledged by all her teachers at RAM, and she won the Hine Prize for composition of an English Ballad in 1914.

Lamia and early success

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; McEwen introduced Wood to the work. but after 1940 the piece was neglected until its revival at the 2010 Proms season. It received a centenary performance at the Proms in 2019. Howell dedicated Lamia on its 1921 publication to Wood. Her nickname of "English Strauss" was written in a press review of Lamia 's first Proms performance. Premiere recordings of Koong Shee, The Rock and the Three Divertissements were issued in 2024.

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, working as a professor of Harmony and Composition. Both before coming to RAM and during her tenure there, she was a sought after teacher, teaching at the Tobias Matthay Pianoforte School, the Birmingham School of Music, the Montpellier School of Music in Cheltenham, Rye St. Antony in Oxford, and St. Richard's School in Malvern. 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.

Recordings Chamber Music: Lorraine McAslan (violin), Sophia Rahman (piano). Piano Sonata, Violin Sonata, Five Studies for piano, Humoresque for piano, The Moorings for violin & piano, Phantasy for violin & piano, Rosalind for violin & piano. Dutton CDLX7144 (2004) Danza Gaya: Music for Two Pianos, Simon Callaghan, Hiroaki Takenouchi. Includes Recuerdos preciosos Nos. 1 and 2, Mazurka and Spindrift. Lyrita SRCD433 (2024) Lamia: Karelia Symphony Orchestra, cond. Marius Stravinsky. British Composers Premiere Collection Vol. 1, Cameo Classics CC9037CD (2014) Lamia: BBC Philharmonic, cond. Rumon Gamba. British Tone Poems Vol. 2, Chandos CHAN10981 (2019) Orchestral Works: BBC Concert Orchestra, cond. Rebecca Miller. Humoresque, Lamia, Koong Shee, The Rock, Three Divertissements. Signum SIGCD763 (2024) Piano Concerto in D minor: Danny Driver, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, cond. Rebecca Miller, Hyperion CDA68130 (2017) Piano Concerto in D minor: Valentina Seferinova, Orion Symphony Orchestra, cond. Toby Purser. British Composers Premiere Collection Vol. 4, Cameo Classics CC9041 (2014) String Quartet in D minor, Adagio and Caprice, Berkeley Ensemble, EM Records EMR CD091 (2025)

Selected works

Piano Sonata (1916) Lamia (1918, symphonic poem) Danse grotesque (1919, for orchestra) Phantasy for violin and piano Three Preludes for piano The Rock (1928, for orchestra) Recuerdos preciosos (Precious Memories) for piano duet, two movements (1934) Three Divertissements (1940) Piano Sonata (1955)