Abbot Alan William Rees,

O.S.B. , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , found ...

(1 February 1941 – 2 October 2005) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

Roman Catholic monk, organist, and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

choral A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

and organ music. From 1986-1993, Rees was abbot of Belmont Abbey, Herefordshire.

Biography

Rees was born in Morriston, near Swansea, to Hilda and John Rees. He attended both an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

church with his mother, and a Welsh baptist church with his father. He attended Dynefor Grammar School, and later studied music and education at University College Cardiff. Rees began a musical career as organist and director of the choir at

Cardiff Metropolitan Cathedral The Metropolitan Cathedral Church of St David, also known as St David's Cathedral, Cardiff, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in the city centre of Cardiff, Wales, and is the centre of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cardiff. Located in Charles ...

, where he worked from 1963 until 1968. He then began a

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

at Belmont Abbey, became a monk four years later, and was ordained two years later. He directed the music there, and taught at the school. He became abbot of the abbey in 1986, a position he held until he resigned in 1993 due to the pressures of the role and his mental health. He was the ninth person to hold the position. Rees died suddenly after a fall in 2005. The

coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into Manner of death, the manner or cause of death, and to investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...

recorded a death of

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

, as he likely jumped from a landing. Rees had suffered from depression for much of his life, and attempted suicide the year before.

Selected compositions

*English MassEnglish Church Music 1968 - Page 63 " as in the English Masses by Guy Weitz (Chapman), Francis Duffy (John S. Burns) and Alan Rees (Chapman)." *Congress Mass, for the National Pastoral Congress in Liverpool, 1980 *Cardiff Mass, for Pope John Paul II's visit to Britain, 1982 *"A Winter Rose", carol

References

1941 births 2005 deaths British composers Associates of the Royal College of Music Burials at Belmont Abbey, Herefordshire {{Composer-stub