Henry Walford Davies
Sir Henry Walford Davies (born September 6, 1869 in Oswestry , Shropshire , † March 11, 1941 in Wrington , Somerset ), often just Walford Davies , was an English composer , organist and professor . From 1934 he held the honorary title of Master of the King's Music .
life and work
After his first musical training as assistant to Walter Parratt in the choir of St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle , Walford Davies became a student at the Royal College of Music from 1890 with Hubert Parry and Charles Villiers Stanford . From 1895 he taught there himself as a teacher for counterpoint. In 1898 he became organist at Temple Church in London, where he held the position for 21 years. He also worked from 1903 to 1907 as the conductor of the London Bach Choir . In 1918 he became music director at the RAF and from 1919 to 1926 he was music professor at the University College of Wales at Aberystwyth. As chairman of the Welsh National Council of Music, he built the music industry there considerably. From 1924 he succeeded Frank Bridge as Professor of Music at Gresham College . From 1927 to 1932 he was also the organist of St. George's Chapel in Windsor.
Walford Davies was knighted as a Knight Bachelor in 1922 and in 1934 he was awarded the honorary title of Master of the King's Music , succeeding Edward Elgar (successor after his death was Arnold Bax ).
From 1926, Walford Davies was in charge of the BBC 's regular "Music and the Ordinary Listener" program. His radio lectures were collected in book form and published in 1935 as "The Pursuit of Music". There were also numerous radio programs about music for children and recordings with instructive content for the His Master's Voice label .
The compositional work of Henry Walford Davies is largely forgotten today. These include several oratorios on biblical subjects, but also secular choral works. The 1904 cantata "Everyman" has been repeatedly performed successfully. In 1937 he performed several choral works for the coronation of George VI. and was inducted into the Royal Victorian Order as a Knight Commander . Walford Davies also composed orchestral works (including an early symphony in D major in 1894, another in G major from 1911 and a Children's Symphony in 1927), chamber music (including 5 violin sonatas), numerous songs, anthems , hymns and organ compositions. His “Royal Airforce March Past” from 1918 remained a repertoire for marching bands .
literature
- Hugh Ottaway, Lewis Foreman: Davies, Henry Walford. In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).
- Items. In: Friedrich Blume (Ed.): The music in past and present . 1st edition. 1949-1986.
Web links
- Sheet music and audio files by Henry Walford Davies in the International Music Score Library Project
- Free scores of Henry Walford Davies in the Choral Public Domain Library - ChoralWiki (English)
- Stephen R. Beet's biography on boychoirs.org (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Knights and Dames: COM-DON at Leigh Rayment's Peerage
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Davies, Henry Walford |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Davies, Walford |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English composer, organist and university lecturer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 6, 1869 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Oswestry , Shropshire |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 11, 1941 |
| Place of death | Wrington , Somerset |