Howell: Lamia

Day 328

Dorothy Howell: Lamia

Kardia State Symphony Orchestra

Marius Stravinsky

This was an astonishing piece. Dorothy Howell was born in Birmingham in 1898 - I had never heard any of her music before but as I went to Birmingham today I thought that I should sample something of hers. Lamia was her breakthrough piece - being performed at the Proms under Sir Henry Wood in 1919 when the composer was only 21. It is work of great maturity and confidence. Based on a poem by Keats it uses the full resources of large orchestra to impressive effect. There are a few traces of the English pastoral school but much of the music sounds French - the textures in particular have a Debussian flavour. It is hard to imagine how a British composer of the time would have the broad familiarity with European music that this 20 year old obviously had.

The press coverage of the piece was very positive - one reviewer called her the English Richard Strauss - even though it now reads very patronisingly “girl composer’s success’. But her star soon faded - she was still a respected pianist and teacher but the promise of the English Strauss never materialised. She died in 1982, by which time she was almost completely forgotten.  There has been a revival of her music in recent years and I am certainly keen to hear more.