DAVIES
,
CLARA NOVELLO
(
‘Pencerddes Morgannwg’
;
1861
-
1943
)
musician
;
b.
7 Apr.
1861
in
Canton
,
Cardiff
, dau. of
Jacob
Davies
and
Margaret
his wife, and named
Clara Novello
after
Clara Anastasia
(née
Novello
)
, whom
Jacob
Davies
had heard
singing
. She received her musical education from her father,
Dr.
Frost
,
Frederick
Atkins
(
Cardiff
), and
Charles
Williams
(
organist
of
Llandaff Cathedral
). She was appointed, when quite young,
accompanist
to the
Cardiff United Choir
and the
Cardiff Blue Ribbon Choir
, which took many prizes at the
Crystal Palace
,
London
, under her father's baton. In
1883
,
Clara Novello
formed a ladies choir
which held many successful concerts in
Wales
and
England
. In
1893
the choir won the prize in the
World Fair
,
Chicago
, the test pieces being ‘
The Lord is my Shepherd
’ (
Schubert
) and ‘
The Spanish Gypsy
’. Afterwards they toured through part of the
United States
and gave several concerts in some of the chief towns of
England
and
Wales
on their return. In
1900
that choir was invited to sing in the
Paris
Exposition
. Throughout the years some of
Clara Novello
's pupils succeeded in winning prizes in
national
eisteddfodau
. In
1927
she began to
experiment with her own particular method of voice-production and breathing
, and in
1928
published an explanatory book entitled
You can sing
; this work was dedicated to her son,
Ivor Novello
(
1893
-
1951
; see below)
. She
had a voice-training school
in
New York
, and, in
1924
, she formed the
Novello Davies Artist Choir
to take part in concerts. In
1928
the
Welsh Ladies Choir
was invited to sing at
Windsor Castle
; it also received a similar invitation on
26 Apr.
to the
Paris Exposition
in
1937
. The Choir rendered much service by
raising funds for charitable purposes
, especially during the two
World Wars
. An autobiographical work, entitled
The Life I have loved
, was published by
Clara Novello
in
1940
. She d.
7 February 1943
and was cremated at
Golder's Green
,
London
.
Bibliography:
-
F. Griffith
,
Notable Welsh Musicians
, 4th ed.,
1896
;
-
Y Cerddor
,
March 1896
;
-
Who was who?
,
1941-50
.
Author:
Robert David Griffith, M.A., (1877-1958), Old Colwyn
