DAVIES, CERIDWEN LLOYD (1900 - 1983), musician and lecturer

Born Ceridwen Lloyd on 24 September 1900 in Griffithstown, Pontypool, she was the eldest of the five children of Herbert Davies Lloyd, a foundry worker born in Ebbw Vale, and his wife Ceridwen, born in Blaenafon. She received her education at the Pontypool High School for Girls and at the University College in Cardiff, where she took the degree of Mus. Bac. in 1921, becoming only the second woman to take that degree in the University of Wales (the first was the composer Morfydd Llwyn Owen). Following a period of study at the Royal Academy of Music in London, at the age of 24 she was appointed Director of Music Studies at the Normal College, Bangor, a post she retained until 1930; by 1932 she had become a lecturer at St Mary's College, another teacher training college in Bangor.

On 9 July 1929 she married the Reverend Gwilym Davies (1887-1980), a native of the Llandysul area and a clergyman of the Church in Wales who was a minor canon at Bangor Cathedral at the time, and they had one son. She supported her husband in the work of the church, particularly in its musical aspects, and BBC broadcasts were an important part of her life. Both she and her husband were members of the Gorsedd.

During 1932, at the invitation of the editor, J. Lloyd Williams, she contributed to the bilingual journal Y Cerddor a series of twelve articles on 'Music Teaching in Schools'. They were well-received, and in 1933 appeared in book form under the title The Teaching of Music in Schools: a consideration of matter and method from kindergarten to senior classes. Sir Walford Davies, Director of the National Council of Music for Wales, wrote a Foreword to the book, which was dedicated to her professor at Cardiff, David Evans, 'for all he has taught me'.

Between 1959 and her retirement in 1966 she was Head of the Music Department at Trinity College, Carmarthen. She and her husband retired to Llandudno, where she was one of the founders of the Llandudno Music Club (later the Llandudno Music Society), and was a regular correspondent on music matters for the North Wales Weekly News and the Liverpool Daily Post.

She adjudicated regularly at eisteddfodau, including the National Eisteddfod, and throughout her career shared her love of music with enthusiasts of all ages, including members of WEA classes and those on residential courses.

Ceridwen Lloyd Davies died on 30 October 1983. Her funeral was held at Holy Trinity church, Llandudno on 4 November, and she was buried with her husband at St Cross church, Llanllechid.

Author

• Rhidian Griffiths

Sources

• Welsh Music, 7/6, Spring 1984, p. 101
• Information supplied by her son, Dr D. Ff. Lloyd Davies

Additional Links

• Wikidata: Q114261259

Published date: 2022-09-26

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