Dorothy Howell (composer)

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 an