Dufour Editions
following review appeared in the July/August
'99 issue of Choice:
36-6213 Spicer, Paul.
205p bibl $19.95
Herbert Howells. Seren, index ISBN 1-85411-232-5,
oriq 1998. (Dist. by Dufour Editions)
$39.95; ISBN 1-85411-233-3 pbk,
Howells's name will not be familiar to the typical US concertgoer (or professional musician, for that matter). An Englishman, Howells drew most of his compositions on the English choral tradition, and his work seems more at home in the church than in the concert hall.
Stylistically, Howells came of age during the twilight of 19th-century Romanticism, and--although he lived into the 1980s—he never severed his ties to tradition. Thus, one would suspect that a biography of Howells would have little appeal to us readers. But Spicer's slim volume offers a surprisingly engaging portrait and for the most part holds the reader's attention. The author focuses on Howells the man rather than Howells the creative artist; the composer lived through nine event-filled decades, knew virtually all of England's great musical figures, and was personally touched by tragedy on a number of occasions. Therefore, his life had impressive (and moving) moments; and one assumes, from Spicer's descriptions, that Howells's music was equally striking and/or moving at times. Unfortunately, Spicer provides no music examples and no discography either, regrettable omissions since Spicer's comments about the music whet the appetite. For large collections supporting undergraduate and graduate music curriculation. Schwartz, Bowdoin College