Dorothy Parke (29 July 1904 – 15 February 1990) was a composer and music teacher from

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, noted for children's works.

Early life and education

Parke was born in 1904, at Dunfield Terrace in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

.Per her Ulster History Circle blue plaque'''' She studied piano with Ambrose Coviello, and composition with

Paul Corder Paul Walford Corder (14 December 1879 - 6 August 1942) was an English composer and music professor. Corder was born at Pimlico, London, the son of musician Frederick Corder and his wife Henrietta Walford. He was baptised at St Gabriel's, Warwick ...

at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

(LRAM, 1929). After completing her studies, she returned to Derry in 1930. Later that decade, she settled in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, where she resided for most of her working life.''''

Career

Between 1930 and 1960 Parke taught music in Belfast and worked as a composer. Among her pupils were

Norma Burrowes Norma Burrowes (born 24 April 1944) is an Irish coloratura soprano, particularly associated with Handel and Mozart roles. Life and career Born in Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland, Burrowes studied at The Queen's University of Belfast and th ...

, Derek Bell,

Kenneth Montgomery Kenneth Montgomery OBE (28 October 1943 – 5 March 2023) was a British conductor active in the concert hall and opera house. He held music director positions in the UK, the Netherlands and the US. Life and career The only child of Lily and Tom ...

and Marjorie Wright - all of whom had high regard for Parke.'''' Her husband, Douglas Brown, was a teacher and accomplished musician in his own right. Parke and Brown frequently performed concerts as a piano duo. She also performed with fellow Belfast musicians

Howard Ferguson George Howard Ferguson (June 18, 1870 – February 21, 1946) was the ninth premier of Ontario, from 1923 to 1930. He was a Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1905 to ...

and

Havelock Nelson Havelock Nelson (25 May 1917 – 5 August 1996) was an Irish composer and conductor. Life Nelson was born in Cork and studied in Dublin with Dina Copeman and Dorothy Stokes at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, organ with George Hewson and co ...

. Parke taught in Belfast for fifty years, before eventually retiring to

Portrush Portrush () is a small seaside resort town on the north coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It neighbours the resort of Portstewart in County Londonderry. The main part of the old town, including the Portrush railway station, railway stati ...

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...

. She died in Portrush on 15 February 1990. Dorothy_Parke_Blue_Plaque

Parke is primarily known for her compositions for children, set to poems by Ulster poets. They have been described as "simple tunes with strong rhythms", and are still popular throughout Derry. During her lifetime, her music was performed over thirty times on

RTÉ Radio RTÉ Radio is a division and service of Irish public broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), which broadcasts four analogue channels and five digital channels across Ireland. Founded in January 1926 as 2RN, was the first broadcaster in ...

and

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

. Parke wrote over 150 compositions'''' - including songs and piano solos, choral and vocal music - though only a few are still performed today. She also composed a substantial amount of piano and

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

, many of which remain largely unknown and overlooked.'''' Her compositional style has been compared to English composers

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams ( ; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

and

Herbert Howells Herbert Norman Howells (17 October 1892 – 23 February 1983) was an English composer, organist, and teacher, most famous for his large output of Anglican church music. Life Background and early education Howells was born in Lydney, Gloucest ...

; "very approachable but of a rather naïve simplicity and with ingenuous harmonies". Sarah Burn has praised the value of Parke's music:

Selected works

*''St. Columba's Poem on Derry'', solo song'''' *''A Song of Good Courage'', solo song *''The House and The Road'', solo song *''The Road to Ballydare'', solo song *''To The Sailors'', solo song *''Like A Snowy Field'' (1951) choral miniature *''Wynkyn, Blynkyn and Nod'' (1949) choral miniature *''Wee Hughie'' *''Over The Hills and Far Away'' *''O Men From the Fields'', choir song''''

Awards and honours

Parke won composition prizes at the Royal Academy of Music and the Dublin Feis Ceoil. She also won the Londonderry Music Festival's Knockan Cup for composition, four years in a row.

Legacy

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...

commemorating Parke was unveiled at St Columb’s Hall by the

Ulster History Circle The Ulster History Circle is a heritage organisation that administers Blue Plaques for the area that encompasses the province of Ulster on the island of Ireland. It is a voluntary, not-for-profit organisation, placing commemorative plaques in pu ...

on 15 February 2023 - the 33rd anniversary of her death.

Early life and education

Career

Selected works

Awards and honours

Legacy

References

See also