Owen, Morfydd Llywn

Owen, Morfydd Llywn, Welsh composer, pianist, and singer; b. Treforest, Oct. 1, 1891; d. Gowerton, near Swansea, Sept. 7, 1918. She studied with David Evans at the Univ. of South Wales in Cardiff (B.M., 1912), then with F. Corder at the Royal Academy of Music in London (1912–17), where she later taught. On Feb. 4, 1917, she married Ernest Jones, the Welsh disciple and biographer of Sigmund Freud. Her early death from complications following an operation for appendicitis was greatly lamented, for she had already established herself as a promising composer of vocal works. Her Nocturne for Orch. received the Lucas Prize in Composition from the Royal Academy of Music. She appeared frequently at the semi-annual Eisteddfods, both as a vocalist and as a composer. A 4-vol. ed. of her works, containing a biographical memoir by Jones, was pubi, in London (1924).

Works

orch.:Nocturne (1913; Dallas, June 23, 1987); Morfa Rhuddlan, tone poem (1914); The Passing of Branwen (1917). chamber:Romance for Violin and Piano (1911); Piano Trio (1912). Piano: Sonata (1910); Étude (1911); Rhapsody (1911); Prélude after the Style of Bach (1912); Fantasie appassionata (1912); Rhapsodie (1913); Prélude (1913); 3 préludes: Waiting for Eirlys, Beti Bwt, and Nant-y-ffrith (1914–15); Preludio e Fuga grotesca (1914); Little Eric, humoresque (1915); Talyllyn (1916); 3 Welsh Impressions: Llanbynmair, Glantaf and Beti Bwt (1917). vocal:Ave Maria for Soprano, Chorus, and Orch. (1912); Choric Songs for Chorus and Orch. (1913); Towards the Unknown Region, vocal scena after Walt Whitman for Tenor and Orch. (1915); Pro Patria, cantata (1915); choral pieces, including The Refugee, after Schiller (1910), Fierce Raged the Tempest, after Thring (1911), Sweet and Low, after Tennyson (1911), Sweet and Low (1911), and Jubilate (1913); songs; hymns.

Bibliography

R. Davies, Yr eneth ddisglair annwyl: M. O. (1891–1918), ei bywyd mewn Iluniau: Never so Pure a Sight: M. O. (1891–1918), a Life in Pictures (Welsh and Eng., Llandysul, 1994).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire