Acclaim and fame
Dorothy’s reputation soared overnight after the premiere of Lamia. The newspaper reviews alone show us how the whole of London was raving about her, asking who this young musical genius was, and why had nobody heard of her before?
She won many medals and prizes for performance in her early years. Two years after she won the Hine Prize, she was awarded a scholarship (highly commended) in March 1916 and describes the event in great detail in one of her letters. “Myra shook hands and said ‘Congratulations it was a delightful performance’. Then they told me that I stood out among all the competitors as far and away the best.” The examiner was the great pianist Myra Hess.
In November 1919 only two months after Lamia was performed at the Proms, her Danse Grotesque scored for full orchestra was performed at Buckingham Palace.
She was also awarded the Cobbett Prize in 1921 for her Phantasy for Violin and Piano, which was given its first performance at the Wigmore Hall by K. Goldsmith and H. Dederich three years later.
Her piano playing has also been highly regarded by both musicians and public alike. She was one of the very first pianists to broadcast from Marconi Station 2LO before the existence of the BBC. Some private recordings still exist, from which her piano playing can be compared most favourably with her famous Matthay taught contemporaries, Myra Hess and Irene Scharrer.
Throughout her life Dorothy was highly regarded for her many great achievements and sought after in an advisory capacity as a wonderful teacher. In 1924 she was appointed Professor of Harmony and Composition at the Royal Academy of Music, a post she held until 1970. As well as being a professor at the Academy she taught at the Tobias Matthay Pianoforte School, where his theories and methods were tested, and advanced pupils (including Dorothy) served as his assistants. She also taught at the Birmingham School of Music and the Montpellier School of Music in Cheltenham, Rye St. Antony in Oxford and composed for St. Richard’s School in Malvern.
