DAVIES
,
DAVID THOMAS FFRANGCON
(
1855
-
1918
),
singer
;
b. at
Mount Pleasant
,
Bethesda, Caerns.
,
11 Dec. 1855
, son of
Dafydd
and
Gwen
Davies.
He was educated at the national school,
Bethesda
,
Friars School
,
Bangor
, and
Jesus College
,
Oxford
, where he graduated in
1881
. In
Feb. 1883
he was ordained
deacon
(in the church at
Llantysilio
); in
1884
he was appointed
curate
at
Llanaelhaiarn
and in
1885
at
Conway
. While at
Conway
he was given lessons on the organ by
Dr.
Roland
Rogers
(q.v.)
. He was advised to apply for the post of
minor canon
at
Bangor cathedral
but, to his great disappointment, was unsuccessful. This decided him to concentrate on a musical career and to endeavour to realize his dream of becoming a
singer
. He now applied for a curacy at
S. Mary's
,
Hoxton
,
London
, was duly appointed, and there received sympathy and encouragement from his
vicar
. He studied under
William
Shakespeare
who was an
authority on voice production
. In
1889
he m.
Annie Francis
Rayner
and the two visited
Clara Novello
Davies
in
Cardiff
. There he was given an audition by
John
Davies
,
Clara Novello
's husband, who secured contracts for him to sing in a series of concerts. He started his career as a
professional singer
in
Cardiff
. In
1888
he joined the
Carl Rosa company
and took the part of the herald in
Wagner
's
Lohengrin
. In
1890
, at the
Horringham, Yorks., music festival
, he sang for the first time the part of
Elijah
in
Mendelssohn
's oratorio of that name. He preached his first sermon on
Elijah
in
Wales
and his last in
England
. His services were in demand at all the principal music festivals in the kingdom. In
1896
and
1898
he sang in the
U.S.A.
, and in
1898
toured
Germany
. He now settled in
Berlin
as a
singer
and
teacher of singing
. In
1901
he again visited the
U.S.A.
, where he
lectured on the music of different countries
and
sang in the principal concerts
. In
1904
he was appointed
professor
at the
Royal Academy of Music
and in the following year published his book,
The Singing of the Future
. In
1907
his health broke down and he was taken to
Bethlem hospital
, where he d.
13 April 1918
.
Bibliography:
-
‘Llechidon,’
Llyfr Hanes Llenyddiaeth ac Enwogion
Llanllechid a Llandegai
, 1921
;
-
David Ffrangcon Davies, his Life and
Book
, London, 1938
,
1938
.
Author:
Robert David Griffith, M.A., (1877-1958), Old Colwyn
