REES-DAVIES, IEUAN (1894 - 1967), musician and author

Name: Ieuan Rees-davies
Date of birth: 1894
Date of death: 1967
Spouse: Barbara Rees-Davies (née Lacey)
Spouse: Jean Macdonald Rees-Davies (née Fitchet)
Gender: Male
Occupation: musician and author
Area of activity: Education; Literature and Writing; Music
Author: Rhidian Griffiths

Born 15 July 1894 in Treorchy, Rhondda, Glamorganshire, and educated at Pentre school. He moved to London c. 1914 and attended Goldsmith College and the Royal Academy of Music. He became particularly interested in the status of music in schools, and gained a teacher's diploma, L.T.S.C. He also had certificates of L.R.A.M. and A.R.C.M. and was an honorary F.T.S.C. and F.T.C.L. He became a schoolteacher and headmaster in London, and organised classes for music teachers in the Literary Institutes. He was appointed a lecturer at the college which was established in Marylebone to instruct music teachers. He advised the educational authorities of London, Kent, Essex, and Surrey on music in schools. He became a teacher and examiner of the Trinity College of Music in London and a member of the council of the College of Tonic Sol-fa. He published many books and articles on musical education, specializing in aural tests and classroom singing. His works include Transposition at the keyboard (1933), A sight-singing course for the non-specialist teacher (1955), Aural tests for schools (1960), Graded music reading (1961) and Music for C.S.E. (1966). He composed tunes and part-songs; the best known of his works is his setting for male choir of a nursery song which is attributed to Charles I, ' Close thine eyes ', and which was rendered into Welsh ('Cyn cau llygaid') by William Evans ('Wil Ifan ') and published by Curwen Press in 1938. He published also a bilingual anthology of poetry from his native district, Caniadau Cwm Rhondda (1928) which includes two of his own compositions, ' Y garreg fawr ' and ' A nocturne on Tylacoch '. That same year, with the bardic name ' Ieuan ', he became a member of the Gorsedd of bards during the national eisteddfod at Treorchy. He married (1) Jean Macdonald Fitchet (died 1938); (2) Barbara Lacey. Towards the end of his life he lived at Kingston-upon-Thames. He died 28 November 1967.

Author

Published date: 2001

Article Copyright: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

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