EVANS
,
DAVID
(
1874
-
1948
),
musician
;
b.
6 Feb. 1874
in
Resolven, Glam.
, s. of
Morgan
and
Sarah
Evans
. He was educated at
Arnold College
,
Swansea
, and at
University College
,
Cardiff
, where he succeeded
Dr.
Joseph
Parry
, in
1903
, as
head of the department of Music
, becoming
professor
in
1908
. He gained early prominence in
Wales
as a
composer
, with the following works:
Llawenhewch yn yr Iôr
, a short oratorio, performed at the
Caernarfon Festival
,
1906
;
The Coming of Arthur
, a dramatic cantata, performed at the
Cardiff Triennial Festival
,
1907
, and the choral ballad ‘
Deffro! Mae'n Ddydd
’ and ‘
Carmen
’ (setting of a
Latin
ode), both of which were sung at the
opening ceremony of the new University buildings, Cardiff
,
1909
. His unpublished incidental music to ‘
Alcestis
’ was written for a performance of the
Greek
play at
Cardiff
in
1928
, and the short cantata ‘
Gloria
’ for the
bicentenary celebration of Methodism in Wales
. He made a deep, and lasting, impression on
Welsh
music. His outstanding success as a
University teacher
was matched by his loyalty to the traditional
Welsh
musical institutions, the
Cymanfa Ganu
and the
Eisteddfod
. He strove untiringly to raise musical standards throughout the country, and his
Moliant Cenedl
, a scholarly collection of the best hymn tunes, was a beneficial influence at the time. His editorship of
Y Cerddor
(
1916-21
) also
revealed his thorough understanding of the musical scene in
Wales
. He
actively encouraged orchestral music
and he also proposed many reforms with regard to music at the
Eisteddfod
. His
expertise in the field of religious music
was widely recognised, and a number of his hymn tunes are to be found in the best
English
hymnals. He was
chairman of the committee of experts
responsible for the
editorship
of the
Revised Church Hymnary
and
editor
of
The Children's Hymnbook
(
Blackie
); and he was also largely responsible for the editing of the
Welsh Methodist
and
Wesleyan
Llyfr Emynau a Thonau
. Some of his smaller compositions appeared under the pseudonym
‘Edward Arthur’
.
He m.,
1899
,
Mary
Thomas
,
Plas-y-coed
,
Morriston
, and they had two sons. He d.
17 May, 1948
.
Bibliography:
- Personal knowledge;
-
Who was who?
,
1941-50
.
Author:
Professor David Ewart Parry Williams, D.Mus., (1900-96), Bangor
