Ieuan Gwyllt

Ieuan Gwyllt, around 1875, portrayed by the Welsh photographer John Thomas

Ieuan Gwyllt was the Welsh Bardic name of the Welsh musician and pastor John Roberts (* December 22, 1822 , † May 14, 1877 ). He developed his Bardic name from the pseudonym he used as a child. This was called: Ieuan Gwyllt Gelltydd Melindwr ([ ⁠j⁠ɛɨan ɡʊɨɫt ɡɛɫtɨð mɛlɪnɗʊr ] John of the wild woods by the Mill Tower ). He was born in Tanrhiwfelen, a house outside Aberystwyth , and died in Caernarfon . He was buried in the Caeathro cemetery near Caernarfon.

biography

At the beginning of his career, Roberts tried to gain a foothold in various places. Initially he worked as an employee of a drug store in Aberystwyth. After two years, he began teaching at Skinner Street School . After a few months, however, he switched to Borough Road Training College in London , where he stayed for nine months. In 1845 he returned to Aberystwyth, where he opened a school himself. Nine months later he tried his hand at a lawyer, with whom he stayed for seven years. Then in 1852 he became assistant editor of Yr Amserau , a Welsh magazine in Liverpool . He preached for the first time in Runcorn on June 15, 1856, and in 1858 he moved to Aberdare , where he published the magazine Y Gwladgarwr . The following year he married Jane Richards of Aberystwyth. In 1859 he was asked a preacher of the Presbyterian Church of Wales belonging Pant-tywyll -Church in Merthyr Tydfil to be. On August 7, 1861, he was ordained at the Newcastle Emlyn Association.

Although he had composed since his youth, it was not until 1859 that he published Llyfr Tonau Cynulleidfaol , a work that had taken six years to complete. This marked the beginning of a new era in Welsh congregational singing. Roberts initiated a number of regional music festivals: Gwent and Morgannwg in 1854, Gŵyl Eryri in 1866 and Gŵyl Ardudwy in 1868. In the 1870s he traveled widely across Wales teaching Cymanfa Ganu , congregational music.

From 1861 to 1865 he was editor and publisher of the Welsh magazine Y Cerddor Cymreig ("The Welsh Musician"), whose editor he remained until 1873. In 1864 he created a tonic Sol-fa edition of his own Llyfr Tonau Cynulleidfaol and in 1869 founded the Cerddor y Tonic Solffa ("Musicians in tonic Sol-Fa"), which he published until 1874. In 1865 he became a preacher at the Capel Coch Calvinistic Methodist church in Llanberis , where he stayed until his retirement in 1869. Then he moved to Y Fron , Llanfaglan , near Caernarvon. In 1874 he published Sŵn y Jiwbili , an arrangement of hymns and songs by Moody and Sankey .

Roberts wrote the hymns Mae d'eisiau, O mae d'eisiau (the English version "I Need Thee Every Hour" was written by Annie S. Hawks in 1872) and by Gwahoddiad ("Invitation"; the English title is "I Am Coming , Lord "or" I hear Thy welcome voice ", written and composed by Lewis Hartsough in 1872 ).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "Ieuan Gwyllt (John Roberts)" at www.canamus.org ( Memento of the original from June 9, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  

Web links

• Biography on the website of the National Library of Wales.