Helen Glatz was born in South Shields in 1908 of Scottish parentage. She studied in Newcastle-upon-Tyne with Dr. Whittaker, who nurtured her early appreciation of Bach. She won an open scholarship for composition and went to the Royal College of Music in London. There she studied composition with Vaughan-Williams and orchestration with Gordon Jacob, as well as piano accompaniment and conducting. Helen won a Cobbett prize for chamber music and left college with a travelling scholarship to further her composition studies. She went to Italy, to Vienna and then on to Budapest, her real goal.
An early interest in gypsy music had developed into a fascination for Hungarian tunes and rhythms, a richness which found its way into the music of Bartók and Kodály. Helen stayed on in Hungary, earning her living by teaching English and music, and composing in a setting congenial to her. She eventually became a Hungarian citizen by her marriage in 1938 to the son of Hungary’s leading portrait painter. The wartime years were very difficult and composition was abandoned. After the war, Helen and her husband managed to reach England as refugees. At the invitation of Imogen Holst, Helen joined the teaching staff of Dartington Hall and lived there until her death in 1996. She continued to compose and to savour the excitement offered by sounds and especially rhythms.