OWEN, MORFYDD LLWYN (1891 - 1918), composer, singer, and pianist
Date of birth: 1891
Date of death: 1918
Spouse: Alfred Ernest Jones
Parent: Sarah Jane Owen
Parent: William Owen
Gender: Female
Occupation: composer, singer, and pianist
Area of activity: Music; Performing Arts
Author: Evan Thomas Davies
Born 1 October 1891 at Treforest, Glamorganshire, daughter of William and Sarah Jane Owen. Her parents were very musical, her mother being a singer and pianist of more than average ability. She was educated at Pontypridd county school; University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire (holder of the Caradog Music Scholarship, 1909-12, Mus. Bac. 1912). She had a distinguished career at the Royal Academy of Music, 1912-7 (holder of Goring Thomas scholarship for composition, 1913-7, and awarded many of the academy's principal prizes and medals).
She married in February 1917 the psychiatrist Alfred Ernest Jones. Her early death on 7 September 1918, at the age of 26, was a serious loss to Welsh music. Morfydd Owen was a versatile and sensitive musician and an unusually gifted composer. Her compositions, which include orchestral and choral works, chamber music, piano solos, songs and folk-song arrangements, have striking originality, impeccable technique, and a distinctive quality of their own. Much of her music has sprung from a deep personal and national consciousness stimulated by the literature and folk-songs of her people. Three of her songs - ' To our Lady of Sorrows,' ' Slumber Song of the Madonna,' ' Gweddi Pechadur,' and the hymn tune ' William,' have found great favour in Wales, are outstanding examples of her genius.
Author
- Evan Thomas Davies, (1878 - 1969)
- personal knowledge
Sources
- Y Goleuad, 10 August 1960
- Rhian Davies, Eneth ddisglair annwyl: Never so pure a sight (1994)
- Ben Gwalchmai, 'If the significance were fully realised, a nation would weep at her grave', WalesOnline, 1 March 2017
- Morfydd Owen (1891-1918), Discover Welsh Music website, viewed 7 March 2018
- Tom Davies, 'Marwolaeth Morfudd Llwyn Owen', Y Traethodydd (Cyf. 173, rhif 725, Ebrill/April 2018), pp. 104-113
- Andrew Green, Morfydd Llwyn Owen a Ruth Herbert Lewis
- Wikipedia Article: Morfydd Llwyn Owen
Further Reading
- NLW Archives: NLW MS 18247D. - Material relating to Morfydd Owen (1891-1918), musician, including a typescript biography
- Archifau LlGC: Eliot Crawshay-Williams Papers, G 25-48: Morfydd Llwyn Owen - correspondence
- Archifau LlGC: Kitty Idwal Jones papers: Morfydd Llwyn Owen
- VIAF: 50033248
- Wikidata: Q6911506
Additional Links
Published date: 1959
Article Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/
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