Elizabeth Poston (24 October 1905 – 18 March 1987) was an English composer, pianist and writer.

Early life and career

Poston was born in Highfield House in Pin Green, which is now the site of Hampson Park in

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage w ...

. In 1914 she moved with her mother, Clementine Poston, to nearby Rooks Nest House where

E. M. Forster Edward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970) was an English author. He is best known for his novels, particularly '' A Room with a View'' (1908), ''Howards End'' (1910) and '' A Passage to India'' (1924). He also wrote numerous shor ...

had lived as a child. Poston and Forster subsequently became good friends. After attending

Queen Margaret's School, York Established in 1901, Queen Margaret's (QM) is an independent Boarding school, boarding and day school for girls aged 11–18 set in 75 acres of parkland, six miles south of York. History Queen Margaret's was established in 1901 in Scarborough, ...

and studying with pianist Harold Samuel, she attended 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 ...

(RAM) in London, where both Peter Warlock and

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 ...

encouraged her talents and where she studied composition with Julius Harrison. She won a prize from the RAM for her one movement Violin Sonata, which was subsequently broadcast by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

on 9 July 1928, with Antonio Brosa as soloist and

Victor Hely-Hutchinson Christian Victor Noel Hope Hely-Hutchinson (26 December 1901 – 11 March 1947) was a British composer, conductor, pianist and music administrator. He is best known for the ''Carol Symphony'' and for humorous song-settings.Hurd, Michael'Hely ...

piano. When she graduated from the RAM in 1925 seven of her songs were published, and in 1928 she published five more. Poston went abroad between 1930 and 1939, where she studied architecture and collected folksongs. She was also a respected performer, premiering

Walter Leigh Walter Leigh (22 June 190512 June 1942) was an English composer. Leigh is best known for his Concertino for harpsichord and string orchestra, written in 1934. Other famous works include the overture ''Agincourt'' and ''The Frogs of Aristophanes ...

’s Concertino for harpsichord and strings in 1934.

Wartime and the BBC

When she returned to England at the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Poston joined the BBC and became director of music in the European Service. During the war she is said to have carried out secretive work as an agent; at the BBC she apparently used

gramophone A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding physic ...

records to send coded messages to allies in Europe. During the war she also played the piano at the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

lunchtime concerts organised by Myra Hess. Poston left the BBC briefly in 1945, but returned in 1946 at the invitation of

Douglas Cleverdon Thomas Douglas James Cleverdon (17 January 1903 – 1 October 1987) was an English radio producer and bookseller. In both fields he was associated with numerous leading cultural figures. Personal life He was educated at Bristol Grammar School an ...

to advise on the creation of the

BBC Third Programme The BBC Third Programme was a national radio station produced and broadcast from 1946 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 3. It first went on the air on 29 September 1946 and became one of the leading cultural and intellectual forces ...

. She subsequently became one of the youngest composers to be represented on the network at its opening, with her incidental music for

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet, polemicist, and civil servant. His 1667 epic poem ''Paradise Lost'' was written in blank verse and included 12 books, written in a time of immense religious flux and politic ...

's ''Comus''.Alabaster, John
''Elizabeth Poston: Catalogue of Works with Biographical Context''
(2018).

Composition

Poston composed scores for radio and television productions – over 40 for radio alone – and collaborated with

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer, literary scholar and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Magdalen College, Oxford (1925–1954), and Magdalen ...

Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer, whose works include the poems " Do not go gentle into that good night" and " And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Un ...

, Terence Tiller and other writers. She wrote the score for the 1970 BBC television production of ''

Howards End ''Howards End'' is a novel by E. M. Forster, first published in 1910, about social conventions, codes of conduct and relationships in turn-of-the-century England. ''Howards End'' is considered by many to be Forster's masterpiece. The book wa ...

'' (broadcast on 26 December 1970 as ''

Play of the Month ''Play of the Month'' is a BBC television anthology series, which ran from 1965 to 1983 featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays (or adaptations) which were usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different wor ...

'', now lost) while living in Rooks Nest House, which was the setting for the novel. Her

carols A carol is a festive song, generally religious but not necessarily connected with Christian church worship, and sometimes accompanied by a dance. A caroller (or caroler) is someone who sings carols, and is said to be carolling (or caroling). ...

, especially '' Jesus Christ the Apple Tree'' (1967) and '' The Boar's Head Carol'' (1960), remain widely performed. ''The Nativity'' (1950), a sequence of newly composed carols and adaptations from folk songs or Medieval manuscripts retelling the Christmas Story, was premiered as a radio feature produced by Terence Tiller, but had an afterlife as an extended choral work for concert performance. It's one of two extended choral works of hers to have been recorded.''Elizabeth Poston: Carols and Anthems'', Naxos CD 8.574576. MusicWeb International review
/ref> The other is ''An English Day Book'', a 20-minute sequence of sacred and profane poetry settings relating to different times of the day and year. It includes a setting of ''Sweet Suffolk Owl'' by Thomas Vautor that has achieved separate popularity. A new recording was issued in 2024. There are also anthems, mostly dating from the 1950s, such as the four movement ''Song of Wisdom'' (1956), written for Yardley Grammar School in Birmingham. The ''Concertino da camera on a Theme of

Martin Peerson Martin Peerson (or Pearson, Pierson, Peereson) (between 1571 and 1573 – December 1650 or January 1651 and buried 16 January 1651) was an English composer, organist and virginalist. Despite Roman Catholic leanings at a time when it was illeg ...

'' (1957) is a significant example of her music for

chamber ensemble 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 ...

s, and has been recorded. A Swiss radio broadcast of her 1960 Trio for flute, viola and harp can be heard on YouTube, and a new recording of the Trio by the Korros Ensemble was released in 2021. A six-minute work for string orchestra, ''Blackberry Fold: Requiem for a Dog'', received its first broadcast in February 1976. In total there are over 300 compositions, some still to be discovered. Poston's extensive archives are now housed at the

Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies (HALS) houses the former Hertfordshire Record Office and the former Hertfordshire Local Studies Library. It collects and preserves archives, other historical documents and printed material relating to the co ...

Hertford Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a Ford (crossing), ford on ...

Writing and editing

In addition to composing, Poston was an academic, writer and editor. In 1947 she created a five-part lecture series on Peter Warlock for the BBC. Much later, she defended his reputation in a very personal broadcast talk. She wrote articles and programme notes for the

Arts Council of Great Britain The Arts Council of Great Britain was a non-departmental public body dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts in Great Britain. It was divided in 1994 to form the Arts Council of England (now Arts Council England), the Scottish Arts Council (l ...

and was the editor of a number of vocal music anthologies, including ''The Children's Song Book'' (1961), which was described as "a little autobiography, reflecting her own delight in songs since the earliest she remembers from the age of two". The book contains five of her own original settings, including a short song version of ''Jesus Christ the Apple Tree'' that was the germ of her famous choral piece, fully realised six years later. There were also three

Penguin Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...

collections – ''The Penguin Book of Christmas Carols'' (two volumes, 1965 and 1971), and (with

Alan Lomax Alan Lomax (; January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American ethnomusicologist, best known for his numerous field recordings of folk music during the 20th century. He was a musician, folklorist, archivist, writer, scholar, political activ ...

) ''The Penguin Book of American Folksongs'' (1964) – as well as (with David Holbrook) ''The Cambridge Hymnal'' (1970).

Later career

Poston was the president of the Society of Women Musicians 1955–1961. She continued to live at Rooks Nest House until her death at the age of 81 in 1987. A catalogue of her works by her friend Dr John Alabaster published in 2018 lists some two dozen of her compositions considered lost. One of them, the ''Festal Te Deum'', first performed in 1959, was rediscovered in 2018."Lost composition written for Northampton church by English songwriter found in county's record office after 60-year hunt"
''Northampton Chronicle'', 27 July 2018.

Selected music for BBC Radio and Television

* ''A Parsonage in the Hesperides'' ( Robert Herrick, producer

): Home Service, 20 September 1944) * ''The Elizabethans'' (producer Douglas Cleverdon): Home Service, 16 January 1946 * ''Comus'' (

Henry Lawes Henry Lawes (1596 – 1662) was the leading English songwriter of the mid-17th century. He was elder brother of fellow composer William Lawes. Life Henry Lawes (baptised 5 January 1596 – 21 October 1662),Ian Spink, "Lawes, Henry," ''Grove Mu ...

): Third Programme, 30 September 1946 * ''The Spear of Gold'' ( L.A.G. Strong): Third Programme, 26 November 1946 * ''In Parenthesis'' ( David Jones): Third Programme, 13 December 1946 * ''The Life and Death of Dr John Donne'' (producer Douglas Cleverdon): Third Programme. 21 May 1947 * ''Paradise Lost'' (Milton, producer John Cleverdon): 12 programmes, Third Programme, 27 October - 21 December 1947 * ''The Death of Adam'' (producer Terence Tiller): Third Programme, 24 October 1949 * ''Lilith'' (producer Terence Tiller): Third Programme, 2 September 1950 * ''The Nativity'' (producer Terence Tiller): Third Programme, 26 December 1950 * ''The Holy Child'' (producer Terence Tiller): Third Programme, 20 February 1952 * ''Emperor and Galilean'' (

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

, producer

Raymond Raikes Raymond Montgomery Raikes (13 September 1910 – 18th March 1999) was a British theatre producer, director and broadcaster. He was particularly known for his productions of classic dramas for BBC Radio's "World Theatre" and "National Theatre of ...

): Third Programme, 17 May 1953 * ''Chastelard'' (

Algernon Charles Swinburne Algernon Charles Swinburne (5 April 1837 – 10 April 1909) was an English poet, playwright, novelist and critic. He wrote many plays – all tragedies – and collections of poetry such as '' Poems and Ballads'', and contributed to the Eleve ...

): Third Programme, 27 February 1954 * ''Sheba'' ( Bridget Boland): Home Service, 6 January 1955 * ''Diarmuid and Grainne'' (

Padraic Fallon Padraic Fallon (3 January 1905 – 9 October 1974) was an Irish poet and playwright. Personal life Fallon was born and raised in Athenry, County Galway; his upbringing and his early impressions of the town and the surrounding landscape are ...

): Third Programme, 22 January 1956 * ''Sonata Form of Words'' (Jean Morris): Third Programme, 2 January 1962 * ''St Teresa of Avila'' ( Hugh Ross Williamson): Network Three, 9 February 1966 * ''Harold'' (

Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (; 6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's ...

): Home Service, 10 October 1966 * ''Mandragola'' ( Machiavelli): Radio 3, 27 October 1967 * ''The Idylls of the King'' (Tennyson): Radio 3, 2 February 1968) * ''After Ten Years'' ( C.S.Lewis, producer Terence Tiller): Radio 3, 9 March 1969 * ''Howards End'' ( E.M.Forster): BBC One Television, 26 December 1970 * ''The Batchelors Banquet'' ( Thomas Dekker, producer Terence Tiller): Radio 3, 20 June 1971 * ''Sweet England's Pride'' ( Alison Plowden): Radio 4, 14 November 1971 * ''A Room with a View'' (E.M.Forster): BBC One Television, 15 April 1973 * ''The Last Temptation'' (

Nikos Kazantzakis Nikos Kazantzakis (; ; 2 March (Old Style and New Style dates, OS 18 February) 188326 October 1957) was a Greeks, Greek writer, journalist, politician, poet and philosopher. Widely considered a giant of modern Greek literature, he was nominate ...

): Radio 4, 16 September 1973 * ''The Girl Who Lost Her Glove'' (

Penelope Shuttle Penelope Shuttle (born 12 May 1947) is an English poet and author. She has published fifteen volumes of poetry, plus two selected volumes, and six works of fiction. She has won the Eric Gregory Award and the Cholmondeley Award and has been sho ...

): Radio 4, 4 March 1975 * ''For God and for Profit'' (

Iris Origo Dame Iris Margaret Origo, Marchesa Origo, Order of the British Empire, DBE (née Cutting; 15 August 1902 – 28 June 1988) was an English-born biographer and writer. She lived in Italy and devoted much of her life to improving the Tuscan estate ...

): Three programmes on life in medieval Tuscany, Radio 3, 20 March - 3 April 1978 * ''Liberty Comes to Krahwinkel'' (

Johann Nestroy Johann Nepomuk Eduard Ambrosius Nestroy (; 7 December 1801 – 25 May 1862) was a singer, actor and playwright in the popular Austrian tradition of the Biedermeier period and its immediate aftermath. He participated in the 1848 revolutions and ...

): Radio 3, 28 August 1983

References

External links

* Alabastor, John:
Elizabeth Poston: Catalogue of Works with Biographical Context
' (2018) *
Composer Profile: British Music Collection
*: Guildford Cathedral Choir, director Barry Rose
Trio for flute, clarinet and harp
second movement, Korros Ensemble, March 2022 performance