Morfydd Owen
Morfydd Owen
One of the greatest musical talents yet seen in Wales, Morfydd Owen was born at Treforest in South Wales in 1891. Both her father, an accountant, and her mother were accomplished amateur musicians, and Morfydd showed great musical talent at an early age. Whilst still in her teens she performed professionally as soloist in the Grieg Piano Concerto. She studied composition privately with Dr David Evans for two years before winning a scholarship to Cardiff University and being admitted formally to his composition class. Her first published work appeared in 1909. Altogether, twenty of Morfydd's compositions were premièred at student recitals in Cardiff. Upon graduation, she proceeded to the Royal Academy in London where her impact was swift and impressive. Under the guidance of her professor, Frederick Corder, Morfydd generated a stream of new music which dominated showcase programmes for young composers and elicited unanimous praise from the review columns of London newspapers. Morfydd also accumulated a steady stream of scholarships and awards, including the blue-riband award - the Charles Lucas Silver Medal for composition, for her Nocturne in D flat for large orchestra, described at the time as the most original student work ever heard at that Institution. Her record of distinction at the Academy is as yet unequalled.
On 18th September, 1917, a song, ‘For Jeannie’s Sake’ (the lyrics by Ethel Newman), was performed at a London Promenade Concert by Robert Radford (bass) and Frederick Kiddle (piano).
Morfydd was appointed to the teaching staff at the Academy, and began what promised to be a brilliant career as both singer and composer. Tragically, this promise was to be cut short by her death from appendicitis a month short of her 27th birthday in 1918. The previous year, she had married the famous psycho-analyst Dr Ernest Jones. In just over 10 years, she produced some 180 compositions, instrumental, choral, and orchestral; and at the heart of her work, some one hundred songs. Surprisingly for a Welsh composer of that time, sacred music formed only a small part of her output - 22 hymn tunes and a few anthems. However, she remains best known in Wales for her stunning setting of the Welsh hymn 'Gweddi y Pechadur' (The Sinner's Prayer). Morfydd Owen was a beautiful and romantic young woman, and her emotions are expressed freely in her music. Many of her works are advanced and innovative, and often astonishingly beautiful. As a singer herself, she composed with an especial understanding of the mezzo-soprano voice.
Program Note (1998)
'Prelude in F' was composed in 1913 during Morfydd's first term at the RAM, when her work seems to become increasingly autobiographical. It was written first for piano; later she began an orchestration, left incomplete as she moved on to other things. Morfydd was on a journey vividly portrayed in 'Nocturne', and she was travelling fast. The disturbing harmonic progressions of 'Suo Gân' and 'Foredoomed' suggest that she might already have had some misgivings about her ultimate destination, even if the stunning 'Gweddi y Pechadur' was to offer hope of redemption. Prelude in F is a transitional work, with a hint of some influences from Delius, and for the moment, we are in a safe haven.
There is an image of Morfydd at this time in a drama-documentary produced by the BBC in Wales in her Centenary year - we see her sitting by the window of her dingy lodging in London, writing a letter in which she complains of being ill with the 'flu and feeling very homesick. She gazes out of the window into the far distance, and it is in a scene such as this that the music of Prelude in F seems to me to find its truest resonance.
In this orchestration, I have simply made a transcription for small orchestra of Morfydd's piano piece, incorporating those ideas with which she had intended to flesh out the work for large orchestra. It is not authentic Morfydd, of course, but I feel that her spirit is in it. I have added nothing except orchestral colour. Like 'Nocturne', it begins with a sensuous solo for clarinet.....
Program Note (2005)
‘Gweddi y Pechadur’, written in June 1913, during her first year at the Academy, remains her best-known piece. It is a setting of a hymn by Thomas William (1761-1844) which is said to have been a favourite of David Lloyd-George. The penitent and guilt-laden sinner approaches God, standing far off and pleading for forgiveness. The proper title is ‘Gweddi Pechadur’, Morfydd’s insertion of the grammatically incorrect article implies a highly personal statement. Certainly, this song contains some of her most powerful music.
Keith Davies Jones
Slumber Song of the Madonna
In this lovely song, which Morfydd wrote in 1913, the influence of her ‘Russian period’ is clearly seen in the piano part, which bears a close resemblance to Rachmaninov’s song ‘Yesterday we met’, Op26 #13 (1906). The last line of the text by Yakov Petrovich Polonsky could be an epitaph for Morfydd herself -
‘Farewell, lost but dear soul’.
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Compositions by Morfydd Owen that have been performed in Winnipeg :
Songs :
A Mother's Lullaby
A Song of Sorrow
God Made a Lovely Garden
Gweddi y Pechadur
La Tristesse
Slumber Song of the Madonna
Speedwell
Suo-Gân
The Lamb
To Our Lady of Sorrows
To Violets
Heulwen Jones
Rachael Harwood-Jones
Jessica Havey
Mari Morgan
Piano :
Prelude in E minor (Beti Bwt)
Prelude in F sharp minor (Waiting for Eirlys)
Stewart Thomson
Hymn tunes :
Richard
‘Yr Arglwydd ar fy Nhaith’
(‘World Premiere’)
Orchestra :
Prelude in F (orchestration by Keith Davies Jones)
Winnipeg Chamber Ensemble
Blakeman Welch
Threnody for double string orchestra
Shenandoah Conservatory Orchestra, Winchester, Virginia
conducted by Larry Strachan, March, 2001
Discography :
Gweddi y Pechadur
John Lovering, baritone
Edison Bell Winner 4907 78rpm (1929)
William
God Made a Lovely Garden
Ceinwen Rowlands, soprano
Meirion Williams, piano
Decca K2440 78rpm (1951) nla
Recorded under the auspices of
The Welsh Music Society.
Gweddi y Pechadur
Helen Watts, contralto
London Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Mansel Thomas
Orchestration by Arwel Hughes
(arrangement in dminor)
‘Famous Welsh Songs’
Qualiton QMP 2003 : 10-inch LP (1956)
Gweddi y Pechadur
Megan Thomas, soprano
Geoffrey Howard, piano
‘A Late Lark Singing’
Cabaletta HRM 2001 (1968)
Recorded at age 75
Two Madonna Songs
Janet Price & Anthony Saunders
Composers of Wales
Argo ZRG 789 (LP) (1974)
Re-issue Curiad 002 (CD) - Cerddoriaeth Cymru (1996)
Gweddi y Pechadur
Mary Lloyd Davies
Cymanfa Corau Môn (1977)
SAIN (cassette re-issue) C701 (nla)
Gweddi y Pechadur
Stuart Burrows & John Constable
‘Yr Hen Ffefrynnau’
Enigma Records K53558 (LP) (1978)
Re-issue ASV (LP) ACM 2007 (1981)
SAIN SCD255620 (2010 re-issue)
Gweddi y Pechadur
Doreen O’Neill
‘Y Teulu O’Neill’ (SAIN LP, 1980; cassette C785)
Re-issue : Darlun fy Mam
SAIN SCDC 2109 (1995)
Gweddi y Pechadur
Leah-Marian Jones, mezzo
Ingrid Surgenor, piano
InterMezzo
SAIN SCD2204 (1998)
To Our Lady of Sorrows
Spring
The Lamb
Hwiangerdd Mam
La Tristesse
Slumber Song of the Madonna
Gweddi y Pechadur
Helen Field & Ingrid Surgenor
SAIN SCD 2196 (1999)
Slumber Song of the Madonna
To Our Lady of Sorrows
God Made a Lovely Garden
Mari Morgan & Richard Lind
Un Llais, Dwy Law
Westmark WCD 30087 (2000)
Gweddi y Pechadur
arr. Eric Rees
London Welsh Chorale
Kenneth Bowen conductor
Carys Hughes organ
Cennin Aur
A Century of Welsh Music
SCD2433 (2005)
Slumber Song of the Madonna
To Our Lady of Sorrows
Corâl Cymry Llundain
London Welsh Chorale
Gareth Hancock conductor
Seren Bethlehem
SAIN SCD 2555 (2010)
Gweddi y Pechadur
Gwyn Hughes Jones
& Annette Bryn Parri
Canu’r Cymry
SAIN SCD 2549 (2011)
Gweddi y Pechadur
Elin Manahan Thomas
& Christopher Glyn piano
Soprano World - Byd y Soprano
SAIN SCD 2651 (2011)
6 Pieces for Piano :
Beti Bwt, Glantâf,
Prelude in Eminor,
Nant - y - Ffrith, Little Eric,
Prelude in F#minor (‘Waiting for Eirlys’)
Brian Ellsbury - Piano
Works for Solo Piano, Vol. 1 (EP)
iTunes (2014)
Threnody for Strings
Cardiff University Orchestra
Mark Eager, conductor
ASC Records (2015 ?) (download)
Spring
Mother’s Lullaby
The Lamb
Rhapsody in C sharp minor+
Tristesse
Maida Vale+
Tal y Llyn+
Little Eric
Glantaf
To our Lady of Sorrows
Prelude in E minor
Four Flower Songs
Speedwell+
Daisy’s Song+
To Violets+
God Made a Lovely Garden
Gweddi y Pechadur
Branwen+
Sonata for Piano in E minor+
Adagio
Allegro Vivace
Minuet and Trio
Chorale (from Piano Quintet)+
The Land of Hush-a-bye+
Elin Manahan Thomas soprano
Brian Ellsbury piano
Morfydd Owen ‘Portrait of a Lost Icon’
Tŷ Cerdd Records (2016)
+World premiere recordings
Rhian Davies - Yr Eneth Ddisglair Annwyl - Never so Pure a Sight
Morfydd Owen – Ei bywyd mewn Lluniau
A Life in Pictures
Gwasg Gomer, 1994
Anne K Gray -
The World of Women in Classical Music
WordWorld, La Jolla, California, 2007
Brenda Maddox - Freud’s Wizard
Ernest Jones and the Transformation of Psychoanalysis
Da Capo Press, 2007
Music by Morfydd Owen is published
by Oriana Publications :
&
Cwmni Cyhoeddi Gwynn :
&
Ty Cerdd
Gweddi y Pechadur :
is available from
& the orchestration by
Arwel Hughes from
Aureus Publishing
Hymn Tunes :
Penucha
Trefforest
Cân Moliant (1916)
Penucha
Trefforest
William
Caneuon Ffydd (2001)
Richard
Hymns of the Kingdom (OUP, 1923)
Emynau’r Eglwys (1951)
Trefforest
William
Emynau’r Llan (1997)
William
Y Llawlyfr Moliant Newydd (1956)
Emynau Cymru/The Hymns of Wales
Y Lolfa (1995)
Penucha
Welsh and English Hymns & Anthems
Welsh National Gymanfa Ganu Association (1995)
Recent Performances :
May 6th, 2014
Recital by Duncan Honeybourne
The Gate Arts & Community Centre, Cardiff
Piano music by Morfydd Owen
( Four Welsh Impressions )
William Mathias, Mansel Thomas,
E.J. Moeran, Howard Skempton & Luke Whitlock.
Review by Paul Corfield Godfrey at :
http://seenandheard-international.com/2014/05/honeybourne
-recital-features-welsh-composers-and-whitlock-premiere/
June 8th, 2014
Acapela Studio, Cardiff
Duncan Honeybourne
Piano music by Morfydd Owen
William Mathias, Greville Cooke
& Archy Rosenthal
June 27th, 2014
Aberystwyth Arts Centre
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Morfa Rhuddlan
August 21st, 2014
London
Ellen Williams
Morfydd Llwyn Owen project
October 15th, 2014
Brangwyn Hall, Swansea (Swansea Festival)
Recital by Elin Manahan Thomas (soprano)
Songs by Morfydd Owen,
Elizabeth Lutyens,
Richard Rodney Bennett, Richard Strauss,
Igor Stravinsky, Francis Poulenc.
November 8th, 2014
Llandaff Cathedral, Cardiff
Cardiff University Orchestra
‘Threnody’ by Morfydd Owen
Works by Mathias, Duruflé & Caplet
‘I loved you and I loved you’
Dance-theatre production based on
Morfydd’s life and music.
On tour in UK
June - December 2015
A celebration of Welsh Women in Music
March 5th, 2016
16:30 – 17:30 Discover Welsh Music Seminar
Drama Rehearsal Room, Bangor University
Dr Rhiannon Mathias leads a discussion about the works of two major female Welsh composers, Dilys Elwyn-Edwards and Morfydd Owen alongside performances of their works by Ellen Williams and Brian Ellsbury.
May 21st, 2016
Malfest Festival - Malpas (Wrexham)
Brian Ellsbury & Sioned Terry
Songs by Morfydd Owen &
Rhapsody in C# minor for piano -
world premiere ?
‘Morfydd Owen -Portrait of a Lost Icon’
Tour to promote new CD due for release in November 2016
Elin Manahan Thomas - Soprano
Brian Ellsbury - Piano
19th November 2016 - Theatr Ardudwy, Harlech
25th November 2016 - The Great Hall, Swansea
31st March 2017 - Dora Stoutzker Hall, Cardiff
25th March 2017 - Eglwys Jewin, London
1st April, 2017
Gweddi’r Pechadur (arr. Rees)
The Refugee
London Welsh Chorale
Holy Trinity Church, Sloane Square
Newly published by
Tŷ Cerdd
Piano Sonata ( age 18 )
&
‘The Refugee’ satb/piano
(1911)
original German text by
Friedrich Schiller
English translation by
Edward Bulwer Lytton
Newydd Gyhoeddi :
Eigra Lewis Roberts - ‘Fel yr Haul’
Gwasg Gomer (2014)
Nofel sy’n porteadu chwe blynedd olaf Morfydd
CD release by Tŷ Cerdd Songs : Spring, Mother’s Lullaby, The Lamb, Tristesse,
November 2016 To our Lady of Sorrows, Speedwell, Daisy’s Song
Available now at To Violets, God made a Lovely Garden
www.tycerdd.org Gweddi y Pechadur, The Land of Hush-a-bye
Songs and Piano Music Piano : Rhapsody in C sharp minor, Maida Vale
by Morfydd Owen Tal y Llyn, Little Eric, Glantaf, Prelude in E minor
Brian Ellsbury & Branwen, Sonata for Piano in E minor
Elin Manahan Thomas Chorale from Piano Quintet
Promenade Concert, Albert Hall, London July 20th, 2018
Program included ‘Nocturne’ by Morfydd Owen
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Thomas Sondergard conductor
Pre - Concert talk by Dr Rhian Davies
Tabernacle Morriston Choir
Luke Spencer, conductor
7pm Saturday June 8th 2019
Woodfield Street
Swansea
Welsh Composers
Karl Jenkins, Carole Morgans
Morfydd Owen
