SAMUEL, WILLIAM THOMAS (1852-1917), musician;
b. 17 Oct. 1852 at Carmarthen. He attended a local day school and then received some instruction at the hands of the Rev. Lewis Lewis and Alcwyn Evans (q.v.). He started to learn the Tonic Sol-fa notation when he was quite young and succeeded in gaining many certificates, eventually becoming L.T.S.C., and a member of the council. He attended music classes at Aberystwyth College under Dr. Joseph Parry. He composed hymn-tunes, anthems, and other pieces. His ‘Storm the Fort of Sin,’ the quartette ‘Y Deigryn,’ and his two anthems ‘Mor hawddgar yw Dy bebyll’ and ‘O'r dyfnder y llefais,’ became popular. With J. H. Roberts (Pencerdd Gwynedd, q.v.), he edited Llawlyfr Moliant, the Baptist hymn and tune-book, and produced the Sol-fa version of the collection of hymn-tunes edited by Ellis Roberts (Elis Wyn o Wyrfai, q.v.). He was a successful conductor of hymnody festivals with a special gift for conducting juveniles. He d. suddenly at Cardiff on 23 Feb. 1917, after he had conducted a choir of five hundred children in the Park Hall. He was buried in the Aberystwyth cemetery on 28 Feb.
Bibliography:
- Y Cerddor, Nov. 1899 and April 1917.
Author:
Robert David Griffith, M.A., (1877-1958), Old Colwyn
