Wikipedia

Herbert Howells

Herbert Norman HowellsCHCBE(17 October 1892 – 23 February 1983) was an English composer, organist, and teacher, most famous for his large output ofAnglican church music.

Herbert Howells
CHCBE
portrait photo of Herbert Howells
Born(1892-10-17)17 October 1892
Lydney,Gloucestershire, England
Died23 February 1983(1983-02-23)(aged 90)
Putney,London, England
Occupations
  • Composer
  • organist
  • music teacher
Spouse
Dorothy Dawe (1891–1975)
​
​
(m.1920⁠–⁠1975)​
Children2, includingUrsula

Life

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Background and early education

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Birthplace of Herbert Howells on High Street,Lydney,Gloucestershire

Howells was born inLydney,Gloucestershire, the youngest of six children of Oliver Howells, a plumber, painter, decorator and builder, and his wife Elizabeth.[1]His father played the organ at the localBaptistchurch, and Herbert showed early musical promise, first deputising for his father, and then moving at the age of eleven to the localChurch of Englandparish church as choirboy and unofficial deputy organist.[2]

The Howells family's risky financial situation came to a head when Oliver filed for bankruptcy in September 1904, when Herbert was nearly 12.[3]This was a deep humiliation in a small community at the time and one from which Howells never fully recovered.[4]Financially assisted by a member of the family ofCharles Bathurst, 1st Viscount Bledisloe,who had taken an interest in the budding musician, Howells began music lessons in 1905 withHerbert Brewer,the organist ofGloucester Cathedral,and at sixteen became his articled pupil at the Cathedral alongsideIvor NovelloandIvor Gurney.[5]Howells and Gurney became close friends, going on long walks through the Gloucestershire countryside discussing their shared love of music and English literature.[6]

Another formative experience for the young Howells was the premiere in September 1910 at the GloucesterThree Choirs FestivalofRalph Vaughan Williams'Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis.Howells related in later years how Vaughan Williams sat next to him for the remainder of the concert and shared his score ofEdward Elgar'sThe Dream of Gerontiuswith the awestruck aspiring composer.[7]Both Vaughan Williams and the Tudor composers (includingTallis) profoundly influenced Howells' work.[8]

Study at the Royal College of Music

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In 1912, following the example of Ivor Gurney,[8]Howells moved to London to study at theRoyal College of Music,where his teachers includedCharles Villiers Stanford,Hubert ParryandCharles Wood.[9]Among Howells' contemporaries in the student body were Gurney,Arthur BlissandArthur Benjamin.

Howells blossomed in what he considered the "cosy family" atmosphere of the College,[9]and hisMass in the Dorian Modewas performed atWestminster CathedralunderR. R. Terrywithin weeks of his arrival.[10]For the most part, however, his music at this time was orchestral; works included a piano concerto, withdrawn after its first performance,[11]a light orchestral suite,The B's,portraying three of his friends at the college (Arthur Bliss, Arthur Benjamin, andFrancis Purcell "Bunny" Warren),and theThree Dancesfor violin and orchestra.[12]More typical of the works with which Howells was later associated were his earliest important compositions for organ, the first set ofPsalm Preludes(1915–16) and the first of the op. 17Rhapsodies.[13]

Howells' promise was imperilled in 1915 when he was diagnosed withGraves' diseaseand given six months to live. His poor health prevented him from being conscripted inWorld War I,arguably preserving him from the worse fate awaiting Gurney and others of his friends and contemporaries. AtSt Thomas' Hospitalhe was given the previously untriedradiuminjections in the neck, administered twice a week over a period of two years.[14]For much of this time Howells travelled between London for treatment and Lydney where he was nursed by his mother. He was nonetheless still able to compose and in 1916 produced the first work of his maturity.[15]The Piano Quartet in A minor, dedicated to "the hill atChosenand Ivor Gurney who knows it "was in the following year one of the first works published under the auspices of theCarnegie United Kingdom Trust.[16]In the following year Howells became assistant organist atSalisbury Cathedral,but held the post for only a few months,[17]finding the repeated journeys to London for treatment too difficult. Friends then arranged for a grant from the Carnegie Trust, which paid for Howells to assistR. R. Terryin editing the Latin Tudor repertoire that Terry and his choir were reviving atWestminster Cathedral.The work was to lead to a multi-volume edition ofTudor Church Musicby Oxford University Press in the 1920s.[18]It provided Howells with a comfortable income[19]and enabled him to absorb the English Renaissance style which he loved and would evoke in his own music. His first significant works for choir, theThree Carol-Anthems(Here is the Little Door,A Spotless RoseandSing Lullaby) were written around this time.[20]

Marriage and teaching

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St Paul's Girls' School,Brook Green,London
Royal College of Music,Kensington,London

In 1920 Howells married Dorothy Eveline Goozee (1891–1975), informally adopted daughter of John and Alma Dawe.[21]Dorothy was a singer whom he had met in 1911 when deputising as her accompanist.[22]The marriage endured despite Howells' frequent infidelities,[23]and produced two children,Ursula(1922–2005), later an actress, and Michael (1926–1935).[24]

In the same year he joined the staff of the Royal College of Music, where he was to remain until 1979.[25]Among his pupils wereRobert Simpson,Gordon Jacob,James Bernard,Paul Spicer,Madeleine Dring,andImogen Holst.The post at the RCM, which from 1925 he combined with the position of Director of Music atSt Paul's Girls' School,[26]and frequent work as a competition adjudicator, was to reduce the amount of time he could devote to composition;[27]but he continued to write orchestral and chamber music, including the string quartetIn Gloucestershire(originally written 1916, but rewritten in whole or in part several times and not reaching its final form until the 1930s),[28]the overtureMerry Eye(1920) and the second Piano Concerto (1925). The first performance of the last named work occasioned a demonstration in the concert hall from a hostile critic.[29]Howells, always over-sensitive to criticism, withdrew the work and produced few significant compositions for several years.[30]Howells' friend and fellow composer, Martin Sumpter, encouraged this temporary hiatus from composing large-scale works.[citation needed]One exception wasLambert'sClavichord(1928), a rare example of a composition by a 20th-century composer for that instrument.[31]It was inspired by a clavichord lent to Howells by his friendHerbert Lambert,an instrument maker and photographer based inBath.[32]Several other major compositions written around this time, however, remained unperformed, notably ana capellaRequiemto English words written in 1932,[33]and a choral work,A Kent Yeoman's Wooing Song,written the following year.[34]

Family tragedy and the war

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In September 1935 Howells' nine-year-old son Michael contractedpolioduring a family holiday, dying in London three days later.[35]Michael was buried in the churchyard of St Matthew's Church inTwigworth,Gloucestershire.[36][37]

Howells was deeply affected and continued to commemorate the event until the end of his life.[38]At the suggestion of his daughter Ursula[39]he sought to channel his grief into music, and over the next three years composed much of the large-scale choral work which was eventually to becomeHymnus Paradisi,drawing on material from the still unpublishedRequiemof 1932. This remained, in Howells' words, "a personal, almost secret document"[40]until 1950. Other commemorative works written around this time include theConcerto for Strings(written in 1938), the slow movement of which is in joint memory of Michael andEdward Elgar,and the unfinishedCello Concerto,on which Howells had been working at the time of the boy's death and which he found himself unable to complete.[41][42][43]A Sequence for St Michaeland the motetTake Him, Earth, for Cherishinghave also been associated with Howells's grief for Michael, as have two of Howells'shymn tunes,the best-known of which is his tune for the hymn "All My Hope on God is Founded"byRobert Bridges( "A Hymn Tune for Charterhouse" ), which was renamedMichaelfor its publication inThe Clarendon Hymn Bookin 1936.[44]Howells also wrote the tuneTwigworth(1968) for the hymn "God is love, let heaven adore him". To a greater or lesser extent, however, much of Howells' subsequent music shows the influence of this loss.[45]

From the late 1930s, Howells turned increasingly to choral and organ music, composing a second series ofPsalm Preludesfollowed by a set ofSix Pieces(begun 1939), of which the third,Master Tallis's Testament,a particular favourite of the composer's, recalled his formative experience of Vaughan Williams'Tallis Fantasia.[46]A set ofFour Anthems,originally titledIn Time of Warand including the popularO Pray for the Peace of JerusalemandLike as the Hart,[47]followed in early 1941. In August of that year, Howells was invited to serve as acting organist ofSt John's College, Cambridge,replacingRobin Orrwho was away on active service inWorld War II.Howells' association with Cambridge, which lasted until the end of the war in 1945, was a productive and happy period for him,[48]and led directly to the works for which he is most remembered. He later recalled[49]being challenged by the Dean ofKing's College,Eric Milner-White,to write a set ofcanticlesfor the choir. The result was theTe DeumandJubilateof theserviceknown asCollegium Regale,performed in 1944, followed the next year by theMagnificatandNunc Dimittis,and completed in 1956 by theOffice of Holy Communion.Collegium Regale,theGloucester Service(forGloucester Cathedral,1946) and theSt Paul's Service(for St Paul's Cathedral, 1951) remain the best known and most admired of the many settings of the Anglican liturgy written by Howells for particular choirs and buildings over the next thirty years.[50]

Hymnus Paradisiand after

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Blue plaquecommemorating the residence 1946–1983 of Howells at 3 Beverley Close, inBarnes, London

In 1949, the organistHerbert Sumsionasked Howells if he had anything that could be performed at the 1950 Three Choirs Festival to be held at Gloucester. Howells decided to bring out the incomplete choral work he had written in his son Michael's memory between 1936 and 1938. (In later years Howells claimed it was at the urging of Vaughan Williams that the piece was disinterred).[51]The work, retitledHymnus Paradisiat Sumsion's suggestion,[39]was completed and orchestrated in time for its first performance on 7 September 1950, the day after the 15th anniversary of Michael's death. It was Howells' greatest public and critical success, and for many years was his best known work.[52]Shorter choral works written around this time include the carol-anthemLong long ago(1951), theintroitBehold O God our Defenderfor thecoronation of Queen Elizabeth IIin 1953, andThe House of the Mind(1954) for chorus and strings.

Though not an orthodox Christian,[53]Howells was chiefly identified with the composition of religious music. His follow-up work to theHymnus Paradisiwas an extended setting of the Latin Mass for soloists, chorus and orchestra, namedMissa Sabrinensisafter theRiver Severnand first performed inWorcester Cathedralas part of the Three Choirs Festival in 1954. It was considered a disappointment after the success of the earlier work,[54]and its extreme complexity and difficulty has prevented it becoming widely known.[55]Howells followed it withAn English Mass(1956), a smaller-scale setting to English words for chorus, strings and organ. His final large-scale choral work was theStabat Mater,setting a text whose subsidiary theme of a parent mourning a child had obvious personal significance.[56]He began it in 1959 but found it difficult to complete; it was not performed until 1965. The motetTake Him, Earth, For Cherishing,a posthumous tribute to President John F. Kennedy, was written in late spring of 1964.[57]It premiered as part of a 22 November 1964 Canadian tribute to Kennedy at Washington's National Gallery of Art sung by the Choir ofSt George's Cathedral,Kingston, Ontario, Canada, under the direction of George N. Maybee.[58]Maybee brought the St George's choir to England in September 1965, and they performed the piece at King's College, Cambridge with Howells in attendance.[3]Take Him, Earthis described by Howells' pupilPaul Spiceras "a classic of twentieth century choral music" and "an undoubted masterpiece".[59]

Howells continued to compose until his late 80s, but wrote nothing further on the scale of theStabat Mater.One of the last works to appear in his lifetime was theRequiem,edited for performance from his manuscripts in 1980 and published the following year, almost fifty years after its composition.[60] He died on 23 February 1983 at the age of 90, in a nursing home inPutney,one day after his good friendSir Adrian Boult,and his ashes were interred inWestminster Abbey.[42]

Honours and legacy

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Howells was appointedCommander of the Order of the British Empirein 1953 andMember of the Order of the Companions of Honourin 1972. His academic awards included an honorary doctorate from theUniversity of Cambridge,awarded in 1961.[42]A "Herbert Howells Society", started by his daughter Ursula in 1987, and a "Herbert Howells Trust", founded after her death in 2005, exist to promote his works.[61]

There are several portraits of Howells. A 1974 oil painting byLeonard Bodenhangs in the collection of the Royal College of Music,[62]and in theNational Portrait Gallery, Londonthere is a chalk sketch by Boden, an oil portrait byHoward James Morganand photographic portraits byHerbert Lambert,Clive BardaandElliott & Fry.[63] The cellistJulian Lloyd Webberwas Howells' godson.[citation needed]

Compositions

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Main article:List of compositions by Herbert Howells

Howells composed a range of orchestral, choral and chamber works. He is best known for his sacred choral music, notably his settings of services forMattins(morning service withTe Deum,BenedictusandJubilate) andchoral Evensong(evening service withMagnificatandNunc Dimittis), many of which are dedicated to specific places of worship such asGloucester Cathedral(Gloucester Service),King's College, Cambridge(Collegium Regale) andSt Paul's Cathedral(St Paul's Service) He also composed severalhymn tunesand aRequiem.[64]

Notes

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  1. ^Spicer, Paul (1998).Herbert Howells.Bridgend: Seren. p. 14.ISBN1-85411-233-3.
  2. ^Spicer (1998).Herbert Howells.Bridgend: Seren. p. 15.ISBN1-85411-233-3.
  3. ^abWilson, Elizabeth Leighton (September 2014). "'Take Him, Earth' Revisited ".The American Organist:73.
  4. ^Spicer, Paul (2004)."Herbert Norman Howells".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/31257.Retrieved27 November2011.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
  5. ^Spicer (1998).Howells.Seren. p. 18.ISBN1-85411-233-3.
  6. ^Spicer (1998).Herbert Howells.Seren. p. 20.ISBN1-85411-233-3.
  7. ^Spicer (1998).Howells.p. 22.
  8. ^abSpicer (1998).Herbert Howells.p. 24.
  9. ^abSpicer (1998).Howells.p. 32.
  10. ^Spicer (1998).Howells.p. 36.
  11. ^Spicer (1998).Howells.p. 37.
  12. ^Spicer (1998).Howells.p. 38.
  13. ^Spicer (1998).Howells.p. 40.
  14. ^Spicer (1998).Howells.p. 44.
  15. ^Spicer (1998).Howells.p. 46.
  16. ^Spicer (1998).Howells.p. 48.
  17. ^Spicer (1998).Howells.p. 54.
  18. ^"Stile Antico record highlights from the Tudor Church Music edition".Gramophone.July 2013.Retrieved1 January2018.
  19. ^Spicer (1998).Howells.p. 56.
  20. ^Spicer (1998).Howells.p. 66.
  21. ^Dorothy Eveline Goozee “Marriage register, 1913-1920” (August 3, 1920), p. 24, entry no. 48, Twigworth parish records: Gloucestershire Archives: Gloucester, UK: P342/IN/1/5.
  22. ^Palmer, Christopher (1992).Herbert Howells: a centenary celebration.London: Thames. p. 13.ISBN0-905210-86-7.
  23. ^Spicer (1998).Howells.p. 83.
  24. ^"Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Howells".The Letters of Ralph Vaughan Williams.The Vaughan Williams Charitable Trust.Retrieved5 October2020.
  25. ^Spicer (1998).Howells.p. 181.
  26. ^Palmer (1992).Howells:a centenary celebration.p. 83.
  27. ^Spicer (1998).Howells.p. 74.
  28. ^Spicer (1998).Howells.p. 79.
  29. ^Spicer (1998).Howells.p. 81.
  30. ^Spicer (1998).Howells.p. 82.
  31. ^Kennedy, Michael (1985)."Howells, Herbert".The Oxford Dictionary of Music.Oxford University Press. p.343.ISBN0-19-311333-3.
  32. ^Spicer (1998).Howells.p. 88.
  33. ^Palmer (1992).Herbert Howells: a centenary celebration.p. 98.Until the publication of Palmer's researches, theRequiemwas believed to have been composed in 1936.
  34. ^"A Kent Yeoman's Wooing Song (1933)".Wise Music.Retrieved5 October2020.
  35. ^Palmer (1992).Herbert Howells: a centenary celebration.p. 93.:"Only when they reached London was polio diagnosed for certain". That the cause of death was polio is confirmed by Spicer (1998) p. 97,Oxford DNB,Groveand an interview with Howells contained in Regan (1971); however, the statement that the boy died of spinalmeningitisis commonly found in programme notes. See also Holland (2011)."Michael's Tune".
  36. ^Saylor, Eric (2017).English Pastoral Music: From Arcadia to Utopia, 1900–1955.University of Illinois Press.ISBN9780252099656.Retrieved24 September2019.
  37. ^Cooke,p. 293.
  38. ^Palmer (1992).H. Howells: a centenary celebration.p. 125.
  39. ^abSpicer (1998).Howells.p. 100.
  40. ^Palmer (1992).H. Howells: a centenary celebration.p. 415.
  41. ^Spicer (1998).Howells.pp. 108–111.
  42. ^abcSpicer (2004)."Howells, Herbert Norman (1892–1983)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/31257.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
  43. ^The concerto was completed by Jonathan Clinch in 2015, and recorded by Alice Neary with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra conducted by Ronald Corp. The first concert performance was given by Guy Johnston and the Royal College of Music Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martin André in Gloucester Cathedral on 9 July 2016, as part of the Cheltenham Music Festival.http://www.gramophone.co.uk/blog/gramophone-guest-blog/on-completing-herbert-howells-cello-concerto;http://www.classical-music.com/article/moment-howells-history
  44. ^Palmer (1992). p. 119; Holland (2011).
  45. ^White, Michael (11 October 1992)."MUSIC / The sorrow that sounds like heaven: When Herbert Howells lost".The Independent.Retrieved24 September2019.
  46. ^Spicer (1998).Howells.p. 116.
  47. ^Spicer (1998).Howells.p. 119.
  48. ^Spicer (1998).Howells.p. 122.
  49. ^Spicer (1998).Howells.p. 130.
  50. ^Spicer (1998).Howells.p. 135.
  51. ^Spicer (1998).Howells.p. 145.
  52. ^Palmer (1992). p. 109, Spicer (1998). p. 106
  53. ^Spicer (1998).Howells.p. 98.
  54. ^Spicer (1998).Howells.p. 159.
  55. ^Spicer (1998).Howells.p. 162.
  56. ^Spicer (1998).Howells.p. 169.
  57. ^Wilson, Elizabeth Leighton (September 2014). "'Take Him, Earth' Revisited ".The American Organist:70.
  58. ^Wilson, Elizabeth Leighton (September 2014). "'Take Him, Earth, Revisited ".The American Organist:68.
  59. ^Spicer (1998).Howells.p. 173.
  60. ^Prefatory note toHowells, Herbert (1981).Requiem.London: Novello.ISBN0-85360-694-3.The statement in this note that theRequiemwas composed in 1936, with the implication that it was a memorial work for Michael Howells, is incorrect (see above)
  61. ^"The Herbert Howells Trust".Retrieved29 November2011.
  62. ^"Herbert Howells portrait".Royal College of Music.Retrieved23 September2019.
  63. ^"Herbert Norman Howells – National Portrait Gallery".www.npg.org.uk.Retrieved23 September2019.
  64. ^Cooke,pp. 309–352.

References

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