Herbert Howells

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Herbert Norman Howells (born October 17, 1892 in Lydney , Gloucestershire , † February 23, 1983 in London ) was an English composer .

life and work

Herbert Howells was the youngest of Oliver and Elizabeth Howells' six children. His father was an honorary organist , and Herbert himself showed promising musical talent at an early age. He studied first with Herbert Brewer at Gloucester Cathedral , and as an organ student with Ivor Novello and Ivor Gurney , a celebrated English song composer with whom he became close friends. He later studied at the Royal College of Music in London with Stanford , Hubert Parry and Charles Wood .

In 1915 he was diagnosed with thyroid disease and was given a prospect of six months. So doctors decided to use a previously untried treatment method and he became the first patient in the UK to undergo radiation therapy.

In 1917 he was temporarily assistant organist at Salisbury Cathedral , but due to his serious illness he was only able to hold this position for a short time; later, during World War II , he was assistant organist at St John's College , Cambridge . From 1936 until his retirement in 1962 Howells held the position of Director of Music at St Paul's Girls' School in Brook Green, Hammersmith - as successor to Gustav Holst .

While he was in his 20s to 30s, his compositional work mainly focused on orchestral and chamber music, including two piano concertos. The rejection of the 2nd concert led to a temporary drying up of Howell's compositional activity. Another stroke of fate was the death of his son Michael in 1935 (the sources vary, whether due to polio or meningitis ), which hit Howells to the core. However, this seems to have triggered a new creative phase, although Howells and his music were no longer the same after this life crisis. Although not a strict Christian, he devoted himself increasingly to the composition of church music. The most outstanding is the hymn Paradisi for solos, choir and orchestra. The work was written after the son's death, but was not premiered and published until 1950; according to Howell's own testimony, at the urging of his friend and mentor Ralph Vaughan Williams . It contains passages from a Requiem a cappella , begun before Michael's death, but which was only published and dedicated to his memory in 1981.

Hymnus Paradisi was the first of four large-format sacred choral works. In terms of size and scoring , the Missa Sabrinensis is comparable to the Missa solemnis by Ludwig van Beethoven , while An English Mass provides a considerably smaller scoring, largely uses English texts and following the Anglican tradition of a service based on the Book of Common Prayer , the Gloria puts it at the end. Howell's Stabat mater is about 50 minutes long and is one of the longest musical works on this text.

Howells is best known for his extensive work in the field of Anglican church music, which includes a full service for King's College , Cambridge , as well as the Magnificat and a Nunc dimittis for the choirs of St Paul's Cathedral and Gloucester Cathedral. The motet Take Him, Earth, for Cherishing was written shortly after the assassination of John F. Kennedy and dedicated to the memory of the President.

In his later life he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Cambridge University and a member of the Order of the Companions of Honor .

literature

Web links
personal data
SURNAME Howells, Herbert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Howells, Herbert Norman (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English composer
DATE OF BIRTH October 17, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH Lydney , Gloucestershire
DATE OF DEATH February 23, 1983
Place of death London