Frank Stewart Howes (2 April 1891 – 28 September 1974) was an English music critic. From 1943 to 1960 he was chief music critic of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

''. From his student days Howes gravitated towards criticism as his musical specialism, guided by the advice of the conductor and professor Sir Hugh Allen and the critic H. C. Colles. Howes was known for his affinity with English music in the tradition of the " English Musical Renaissance"; after 1945 he found the less nationalistic, more cosmopolitan nature of post-war composers uncongenial. In addition to his work for ''The Times'', Howes wrote fifteen books, and served on many musical committees for bodies including the

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and the

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Life and career

Howes was born in

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, and was educated at Oxford High School and St John's College, where his love of music was developed under the tutelage of Sir Hugh Allen."Mr Frank Howes", ''The Times'', 30 September 1974, p. 17 After the First World War, in which he was conscripted into the Non-Combatant Corps, he was admitted to the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

, where, guided by H. C. Colles, he specialised in musical criticism. In 1925 Colles, who was chief music critic of ''

'', recruited Howes to his staff. In 1938 Howes took on the additional duties of lecturer at the Royal College, and was later an extramural lecturer at Oxford and

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

Universities. When Colles died in 1943, Howes was appointed his successor. Among Howes's enthusiasms was English folk music and, from 1927 to 1945, he edited the journal of the English Folk Dance and Song Society. He supported the theory that

Hubert Parry Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet (27 February 1848 – 7 October 1918), was an English composer, teacher and historian of music. Born in Richmond Hill, Bournemouth, Parry's first major works appeared in 1880. As a composer he is ...

and

Charles Villiers Stanford Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (30 September 1852 – 29 March 1924) was an Anglo-Irish composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Romantic music, Romantic era. Born to a well-off and highly musical family in Dublin, Stanford was ed ...

led an " English Musical Renaissance" in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, from which composers not from a Royal College elite were excluded.Eatock, Colin (2010). "The Crystal Palace Concerts: Canon Formation and the English Musical Renaissance". ''19th-Century Music'', 34 (1), pp. 87–105; and Onderdonk, Julian. "The English Musical Renaissance, 1860–1940: Construction and Deconstruction," ''Notes: Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association'', September 1995, pp. 63–66 His obituarist in ''The Times'' considered that of Howes's 15 books, it was the 1966 ''The English Musical Renaissance'' that meant most to him. According to his fellow critic Martin Cooper, Howes's affinity with music in the "English Renaissance" tradition left him out of sympathy with the increasingly cosmopolitan outlook of those British composers who emerged only after the Second World War. Among Howes's other books were studies of

William Byrd William Byrd (; 4 July 1623) was an English Renaissance composer. Considered among the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he had a profound influence on composers both from his native country and on the Continental Europe, Continent. He i ...

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

William Walton Sir William Turner Walton (29 March 19028 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include ''Façade'', the cantat ...

. In addition to his writing, he was active in behind-the-scenes musical work, as president of the Royal Musical Association (1947–58), chairman of the

Musicians' Benevolent Fund Help Musicians (formerly Musicians Benevolent Fund), is a United Kingdom charity offering help for musicians throughout their careers. History It was created by Victor Beigel in 1921 as the Gervase Elwes Memorial Fund, following the death of En ...

(1936–55); and member of music advisory panels for the

, the

and the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

. Howes married Barbara Tidd Pratt in 1928; the couple had a son and three daughters. He lived with his family at Newbridge Mill in Standlake, Oxfordshire, and died at the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, at the age of 83. He was cremated at Oxford crematorium on 2 October 1974, and his ashes were interred at St Lawrence, Combe, Oxfordshire.

Books by Howes

*''The Borderland of Music and Psychology'' (1926) *''Appreciation of Music'' (1928) *''William Byrd'' (1928) *''A Key to the Art of Music'' (1935) *'' A Key to Opera'' (1939, with Philip Hope-Wallace) *''Full Orchestra'' (1942) *''Man, Mind and Music'' (1948) *''Musical Britain, 1951'' (as compiler and editor, 1951) *''The Music of Ralph Vaughan Williams'' (1954) *''Music and its Meanings'' (1958) *''The Cheltenham Festival'' (1965) *''The Music of William Walton'' (1965) *''The English Musical Renaissance'' (1966) *''Folk Music of Britain – and Beyond'' (1969) *''Oxford Concerts: a Jubilee Record'' (1969) ::Source: Grove Online.Cooper, Martin
"Howes, Frank"
Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press, retrieved 31 August 2014 ;Unpublished *''From Our Music Critic: an Autobiography'' (1972): manuscript, held by the British Library, MS Mus. 283

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Howes, Frank 1891 births 1974 deaths English music critics British classical music critics The Times people Presidents of the Critics' Circle Elgar scholars