Dorothy Howell (1898-1982)

Donald Macleod and Leah Broad survey the life and work of British composer Dorothy Howell

This week Donald Macleod is joined by the award-winning author Leah Broad to explore the story of the British composer Dorothy Howell, who shot to fame aged 21 after the triumphant premiere of her orchestral work ‘Lamia’ at the Proms. By the mid-1920s she was regarded as one of the leading women composers of the day, performing in prestigious venues across the UK and regularly appearing on radio programmes in the earliest days of broadcasting. But she faced challenges from the 1930s onwards that left her disillusioned, and by the end of her life she wanted to destroy all but a handful of her works. Luckily family intervened, but even so Howell’s music almost disappeared from view - until recently.

Music Featured:

Spindrift Humoresque for Orchestra Sonata for violin and piano (1st mvt) Two Frogs Five Studies for piano Boat Song for piano Lamia Five Studies Rosalind The Little Round House, The Bears Koong Shee Phantasy for violin and piano The Tortoiseshell Cat Pot Pourri My White Lady The Moorings If you will come to Corte Piano Concerto in D minor Mazurka Two Pieces for Muted Strings Puppydog’s Tales Prelude 1 in F minor Prelude 2 in C Prelude 3 in A flat Recuerdos Preciosos No 1 and 2 The Rock Overture Sonata for violin and piano (2nd & 3rd mvts) To Sine in Winter Sonata for piano Three Divertissements

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Megan Jones for BBC Audio Wales & West

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Dorothy Howell (1898-1982) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0023f35

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z