DAVIES
,
WILLIAM
(
1859
-
1907
),
musician
;
b.
1 Oct. 1859
at
Rhosllannerchrugog, Denbs.
As a child he was taught music by
Hugh
Griffith
and
Richard
Mills
(
1840
-
1903
— see under
Mills
,
Richard
, his father) of
Rhos
. Before he was 20 he had won a prize for singing
Handel
's ‘
Total Eclipse
.’
Joseph
Parry
(
1841
-
1903
) (q.v.)
, the
adjudicator
, praised him highly and urged his friends to assist him to get a course of instruction at the
University College
,
Aberystwyth
. Funds were raised to send him to the college, and when he had completed his studies he set up as a
music teacher
at
Llangefni
,
Anglesey
, in
1880
. In
1884
he was appointed
chorister
at
Bangor
. It was while he was at
Llangefni
that he began to
compose songs
which achieved considerable popularity. The first was ‘
Pistyll y Llan
,’ and this was followed by ‘
Y Banerwr
’, ‘
Yr Ornest
,’ ‘
Chwifiwn Faner
,’ and ‘
Llwybr y Wyddfa
.’ He won prizes at the national eisteddfod held in
Liverpool
for his songs ‘
Neges y Blodeuyn
’ and ‘
Y Gloch
’; in
London
,
1887
, for a chairing song with harp obligato;
Wrexham
,
1888
, for ‘
O na byddai'n haf o hyd
’ and ‘
Myfanwy
’; and
Brecon
,
1889
, for four songs. In
1889
, out of eighty-six candidates, he was appointed
principal tenor
at
Magdalen College
,
Oxford
. In
1891
he m.
Clara
Leighton
, a
soprano
in the
Carl Rosa Opera Company
. In
1894
, out of 100 candidates, he was appointed
assistant vicar-choral
of
S. Paul's cathedral
,
London
. He continued to
compose
and was considered one of the best
Welsh
composers of his time. He d.
30 Jan. 1907
and was buried at
Abney Park
,
London
.
Bibliography:
-
Y Cerddor
,
May 1897, March 1907
;
-
Rhestr gyda nodiadau byrion, o Enwogion
Cymreig o 1700 i 1900
. National Eisteddfod
Association, 1908
.
Author:
Robert David Griffith, M.A., (1877-1958), Old Colwyn
