MILLS
,
RICHARD
(
Rhydderch Hael
;
1809
-
1844
),
musician
;
b. in
March 1809
at
Tynewydd
,
Llanidloes
, son of the second marriage of
Henry
Mills
(q.v.)
. Leaving school at 11, he was
apprenticed to weaving
. When only 15 he became known as a
musician
, for his hymn-tune ‘
Maes-y-llan
’ was printed in
Seren Gomer
; and he was an active member of
Bethel (Llanidloes) Musical Society
. In
1835
Y Gwladgarwr
printed a lecture of his on music. He took prizes for hymn-tunes at the
Abergavenny
Cymreigyddion eisteddfod
of
1838
, and at a
Liverpool
eisteddfod in
1840
. In
1840
appeared his
Caniadau Seion
— supplement in
1842
. These two collections greatly influenced congregational singing in
Wales
, and were landmarks in the story of its improvement; they contained hymn-tunes by
Mills
himself and by
J. Ambrose
Lloyd
, and
Rosser
Beynon
(qq.v.)
, and anthems from
Handel
and
Haydn
. More tunes and anthems appeared in
Yr Arweinydd Cerddorol
(three parts,
1842-5
, the last posthumous), with hints on music and on singing; in this work a
German
hymn-tune (
J. S.
Bach
's ‘
Mannheim
’) appeared for the first time in
Wales
. The three parts had a very wide sale, and greatly improved congregational singing.
Mills
also
lectured
widely on this subject. He d.
24 Dec. 1844
; his widow m.
John
Pryse
(q.v.)
.
His son,
RICHARD
MILLS
(
1840
-
1903
), carried the family musical tradition into
east Denbighshire
. On his father's death the boy had been sent to his maternal grandfather at
Newtown
, but later he returned to
Llanidloes
as a
staff-notation compositor
in his stepfather
John
Pryse
's printing office. He studied music diligently, won an
eisteddfod prize
for his hymn-tune ‘
Pen-dref
,’ and another (
1864
) for a canon for three voices. He moved to
Wrexham
to serve the publishing firm of
Hughes and Son
, whose music-publishing he supervised down to
1877
, while
conducting choirs
at
Wrexham
,
Broughton
, and
Bangor Iscoed
. But his marriage in
1876
with
Sarah
Owen
of
Aberderfyn
,
Rhosllannerchrugog
, led him, in
1878
, to
set up a press
there — where, in
1894
, he also started the
Rhos Herald
newspaper, which he
edited
till his death, and where, too, he
conducted a very successful choir
. He
composed a good deal of music — anthems, hymn-tunes, and songs
— and
arranged many hymn-tunes
. His hymn-tune ‘
Arweiniad
’ is well known. He d.
18 May 1903
, and was buried in
Rhosllannerchrugog
cemetery.
Bibliography:
-
R. Mills
and
N. Cynhafal Jones
,
Buchdraeth y Parch. John Mills. F.R.G.S.,
M.R.A.S …
, and
, Aberdar, 1881
;
-
Y Traethodydd
,
1901, 1902, 1903
;
-
Y Cerddor
,
Dec. 1890
,
Jan. 1891
,
July 1903
;
-
Bye–Gones, relating to Wales and the Border
Counties
,
1903
;
-
Cymru
, v, 30;
-
M. O. Jones
,
Bywgraffiaeth Cerddorion Cymreig
,
National Eisteddfod Association publication, 1890
.
Author:
Principal Gwilym Prichard Ambrose, M.A., Caerleon
