Dorothy Gow: Oboe Quintet in one movement (1936)

Dorothy Gow is a name that is hardly known to music lovers. She is certainly not a regular on Classic FM or Radio 3. Look at the current (2018) CD catalogues and there appears to be none of her works available. There only three entries in the British Library Catalogue: the present quintet, a Piece for horn and violin and a String Quartet in one movement (c.1957). 

A few biographical notes may be of interest. Dorothy Gow was born on 30 November 1893 in London. After schooling she studied at the Royal College of Music with R.O. Morris and Ralph Vaughan Williams. However, her compositional style was most influenced by her period with Egon Wellesz in Vienna. 

Back at the Royal College of Music she formed a club with fellow composers Elisabeth Lutyens, Elizabeth Maconchy and Grace Williams.  George Caird writes that due to her ‘acute shyness, diffidence and ill-health she never enjoyed quite the same success as they (her colleagues) did.’  Anne Macnaghten considered that Gow was perceived as being a composer of ‘great distinction whose work became widely known and now is in danger of being forgotten.’  Elisabeth Lutyens wrote that she was ‘utterly devoid of malice or ambition. Her talent is original and her ear remarkable and the few works she has written are, to me outstanding.’ Dorothy Gow died in London on 1 November 1982.

Listening to Gow’s Oboe Quintet in 2018, it is difficult to imagine how a) it is not already part of the standard repertoire and b) how a composer of a work of this stature is virtually an unknown quantity.

I suppose I was a bit worried when I read that it was a serial work, what with her Second Viennese School credentials and study with Wellesz. But I need not have been concerned. What she manages to achieve is what many so called ‘greater’ composers have failed to do and that is to use serialism to construct the work that does not try the listeners’ patience. In fact, she manages to create a piece that is both emotionally satisfying and intellectually challenging. It is an often-lyrical work that displays great originality, technical prowess and sheer enjoyability.

The Oboe Quintet (1936) is in one longish movement although it is divided into four well-defined sections. The theme or ‘tone row’ is presented by solo oboe after the opening string chords of the ‘moderato.’ The competent way that all the instrumental parts are written is impressive. There is a great sense of freedom - yet each ‘voice’ has its part to play. There is never a moment when the listener feels that the composer has padded out the form. Instrumental colour lends great variety to the unity of this work.

The highlight of the Quintet is the slow ‘andante tranquillo’ for the strings – it is in such contrast to the intensity of the opening pages.  This is deeply moving music that emerges from the very heart of the English tradition of string writing. Yet the technique used is one that harks back to both early music and to Wellesz: this is basically a string canon!

Just beyond the halfway point in this 14-minute work the music emerges into the sunlight of the ‘scherzo.’  This is where the soloist and the quartet earn their pay. This is technically difficult music – yet it never sounds pretentious.  Soon, the mood of the slow movement is recovered leading to a reflection on the opening material. The last few moments of the Quintet are intense – yet the work ends on a positive if restrained note.

There is no doubt in my mind that this is a masterpiece – certainly of the composer, but more importantly in the genre of British chamber music. It is a work that both needs and deserves to be recovered for the repertoire. It would not be too much to say that this is a work of genius – and I never use that word lightly. And one last thing – the remaining works of this remarkable composer need to be unearthed and re-appraised as a matter of considerable urgency.

Since writing an early draft of this review in 2008, I am disappointed that no further examples of Dorothy Gow’s music has emerged onto CD or stream.

The only recording of Dorothy Gow’s Oboe Quintet in one movement is on An English Renaissance, Oboe Classics CC2009. This work is coupled with Elizabeth Maconchy’s Quintet for Oboe & Strings (1932), Arthur Bliss’s Quintet for Oboe & String Quartet (1926), Benjamin Britten’s Phantasy Quartet for Oboe & Strings (1932) E.J. Moeran’s Fantasy Quartet (1946). The oboe soloist is George Caird.