Morfydd Llwyn Owen's "Gweddi y Pechadur"

This March, the Daily Classical Music Post will introduce you to some of the most wonderful music ever composed—and, yes, it will all be by women composers!

https://youtu.be/jFj60LUcTVk

The Welsh composer Morfydd Llwyn Owen was born in 1891 and died, suddenly and tragically at the age of 26, of chloroform poisoning following an emergency appendectomy. This extraordinary woman had won prizes for her compositions as well as for her singing, and was incredibly prolific in her short life — nearly 200 compositions, including songs, chamber music, piano pieces, and orchestral works. Much of her music had its roots in Welsh literature and folk song.

"Gweddi y Pechadur," for voice and piano, with a Welsh text, is one of her best-known songs. She wrote this work, "The Sinner's Prayer," over one weekend in June 1913 at her parents' house. Keith Davies Jones said of this 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."

My classical music post for today is Morfydd Llwyn Owen's "Gweddi y Pechadur."




 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

William Byrd's "The Battell"

Image
Throughout September, the Daily Classical Music Post celebrates the music of 15th-, 16th-, and 17th-century England. https://youtu.be/jomZcpqkfUI The great English composer William Byrd (1543–1623) wrote his wonderfully descriptive virginals piece "The Battell" after the great Armada victory of 1588, although most musicologists believe that it is more likely to have been inspired by a smaller skirmish, perhaps an uprising of some sort. Sally Mosher has said of "The Battell": "By the 17th century, battle pieces had become a popular genre, so Byrd can be said to have launched a new keyboard genre in addition to composing the first English keyboard suite. All in C major, sections of ‘The Battle’ are harmonically very simple; for the most part they alternate between the tonic and the dominant, using no more than a handful of chords. Like the march, they often suggest trumpets and drums, but they also quite successfully suggest the sounds of soldiers marching, of ho
Read more

Edmond Dédé’s Chicago, grand valse à l'américaine

Image
This February, the Daily Classical Music Post celebrates Black composers and musicians whose music has been suppressed and ignored. All of these musicians should be added to the music history and music theory curriculum. https://youtu.be/gBeigjxviQc Edmond Dédé (1827–1901) was born in New Orleans. Following childhood studies on the clarinet and violin, he went to Paris and studied at the Conservatoire. He then became a conductor, mostly for ballet companies and also at the Folies Bordelaises. He continued composing and his works all met with success. Many of his scores can be found in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Lester Sullivan says, “In 1852 Dédé's melody Mon pauvre coeur appeared. It is the oldest surviving piece of sheet music by a New Orleans Creole of color. He supplemented his income from music with what today would be characterized as his day job: he was a cigar maker, as were a number of other local musicians.” Dédé’s Chicago, grand valse à l'américaine was p
Read more

Lili Boulanger’s Vieille Prière Bouddhique

Image
This March, the Daily Classical Music Post will introduce you to some of the most wonderful music ever composed—and, yes, it will all be by women composers! https://youtu.be/xF9SltYJAT8   The French composer Lili Boulanger (born 1893, died 1918) was the younger sister of Nadia Boulanger. Lili’s talent was obvious from the age of two, and her parents (both of whom were musicians) took her to all the best people for instruction, including Louis Vierne, Paul Vidal, Georges Caussade, and Gabriel Fauré. When Lili was 19, she won the Prix de Rome for her Faust et Hélène; she was the first woman composer to win. Lili had been chronically ill almost from birth, and she died from what is now known as Crohn’s disease at the age of 24. Adrian Corleonis says, "Artists who die young leave behind such an aura of promise that one examines their musical remains with divinatory care, for glimpses of what might have been. Lili Boulanger . . . tantalizes in this way. . . . [W]hat strikes one about L
Read more