b.
14 Nov. 1821
in
Crane Street
,
Chester
, the son of a
captain
Owen
. After receiving a good education he was apprenticed to
Messrs. Powell and Edwards
,
Cutlers
,
Chester
. He was taught music first of all by
Edward
Peters
of
Chester
, and later, by
C.
Lucas
of
London
. When still quite young he became
organist
in the
countess of Huntingdon chapel
; he also became
conductor
of the ‘
Octagon Orchestral Society
.’ In
1842
he m. a
Miss
Williams
of
Chester
, and two years later relinquished his business and decided to give his whole time to music. He was appointed
organist
of
S. Paul's church
,
Broughton
, and afterwards of
S. Bride's church
; later he became
organist
and
choirmaster
of
S. Mary's Welsh church
,
Chester
. He was
vocalist (baritone)
,
composer
,
organist
, and
accompanist
. A hymntune by him called ‘
Calfari
’ appeared in
Haleliwia
,
1849
; in the
Rhuddlan eisteddfod
of
1851
, where he was given the name of
Owain Alaw
, he took the prize for an anthem, ‘
Deborah a Barac
.’ In the same year he tied with
John Ambrose
Lloyd
(q.v.)
at the
Tremadoc eisteddfod
for a cantata, ‘
Gweddi Habacuc
.’ Other eisteddfodic successes were —
London
,
1855
, ‘
Can Mair
’;
Merthyr Tydfil
, ‘
Y ddaeargryn
’; ‘
Cymanfa Gwent a Morgannwg
,’ anthem ‘
Och, Annuwiol
;
Llanrwst
1859
anthem ‘
Arnat Ti y llefais
.’
In
1860
John
Owen
published
Gems of Welsh Melodies
, a collection which proved very useful,
and was widely used. He won the prize at a
Caernarfon eisteddfod
for his cantata, ‘
Tywysog Cymru
,’ whilst for the
Chester national eisteddfod
of
1866
he composed
‘Gŵyl Gwalia
.’ He published
Tonau yr Ysgol Sabothol; Welsh Harp
, airs arranged for four voices;
Ceinion Alawon Seisnig
. His greatest work, the oratorio ‘
Jeremiah
,’ was published in
1878
. Among his most popular anthems were ‘
Pa fodd y glanha
’ and ‘
Gwyn fyd a ystyria wrth y tlawd
.’ Anthems, part-songs, and songs, by him appeared in the series called
Y Gyfres Gerddorol
(of which he was
editor
), and in
Y Drysorfa Gorawl
,
Ceinion Cerddoriaeth
,
Miwsig y Miloedd
, y
Cerddor Cymreig
,
Greal y Corau
,
Y Cerddor
, and
Cronicl y Cerddor
. He was much in demand throughout
Wales
as
accompanist
and
adjudicator
. He d.
29 Jan. 1883
, and was buried in the old cemetery,
Chester
.
