Clara Novello Davies (7 April 1861 – 7 February 1943) was a Welsh singer, teacher and conductor. She used the pen name Pencerddes Morgannwg.

Early life

Clara Novello Davies was born in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

to Jacob Davies, a miner, and Margaret (née Evans) Davies. She was named after

Clara Novello Clara Anastasia Novello (10 June 1818 – 12 March 1908) was an acclaimed soprano, the fourth daughter of Vincent Novello, a musician and music publisher, and his wife, Mary Sabilla Hehl. Her acclaimed soprano and pure style made her one o ...

, a famous soprano (1818–1908). Her father, leader of the church choir, taught her to play the

harmonium The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. Th ...

. She also studied music with Charles Williams of the

Llandaff Cathedral Llandaff Cathedral ( cy, Eglwys Gadeiriol Llandaf) is an Anglican cathedral and parish church in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales. It is the seat of the Bishop of Llandaff, head of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff. It is dedicated to Saint Pet ...

Career

Davies was accompanist for the Cardiff United Choir and Cardiff Blue Ribbon Choir, as a young woman. In 1883, she founded and conducted the

Royal Welsh Ladies' Choir Royal Welsh Ladies' Choir was a performing group of women singers based in Cardiff, active from the 1880s until World War II. Early years The Welsh Ladies' Choir was formed about 1883. Clara Novello Davies was its first leader, "a spirited condu ...

. In 1893 two of her students, May John and Elsie Drinkwater won a prize at the National Eisteddfod in Pontypridd singing 'Quis est homo?' from Rossini's '' Stabat Mater''. This led to an invitation for her choir to attend the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, hel ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

that year. At the Exposition May John took the prize for best soprano. The choir also sang at the Paris Exposition (1900). Davies was still conducting into her seventies when her New York-based Novello Davies Artist Choir was invited to the 1937 Paris Exposition. The choir raised funds for charity during both World Wars. Clara Novello Davies published an instructional book, ''You Can Sing'' (1928), and a memoir, ''The Life I Have Loved'' (1940). She also wrote songs, including "Friend!" (1905) and "Mother!" (1911). She was awarded the Médaille de Mérite by the French government, in 1937. Among her voice students were American actress

Dorothy Dickson Dorothy Dickson (July 25, 1893 – September 25, 1995) was an American-born, London-based theater actress and singer, and a centenarian. Biography and Career Dickson is known mostly for her rendition of the Jerome Kern song "Look for the S ...

, baritone Louis Graveure, and opera singer

Mary Ellis Mary Ellis (born May Belle Elsas, June 15, 1897 – January 30, 2003) was an American actress and singer appearing on stage, radio, television and film, best known for her musical theatre roles, particularly in Ivor Novello works. After appe ...

Death

Clara Novello Davies married David Davies, a solicitor's clerk with the same surname as her own, on 31 October 1883. Their son, David Ivor Davies, became better known as Ivor Novello, the actor, composer, dramatist and director. Their adopted daughter, who was born Maria Williams but took the name Marie Novello, was a concert pianist who died from

throat cancer Head and neck cancer develops from tissues in the lip and oral cavity (mouth), larynx (throat), salivary glands, nose, sinuses or the skin of the face. The most common types of head and neck cancers occur in the lip, mouth, and larynx. Symptoms ...

on 21 June 1928, aged 44. Clara Novello Davies was widowed in 1931, and died in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1943, aged 81. She was cremated at

Golders Green Crematorium Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £135,987 in 2021), ...

. The character "Madame Annie" in Rhys Davies' ''The Painted King'' (1954) is based on Clara Novello Davies.

References

External links

*Gwawr Jones, '''The mighty Mam': Clara Novello Davies a byd cerddoriaeth broffesiynol yng Nghymru
', PhD thesis, Bangor University, 2015.
Clara Novello Davies
portraits at the National Portrait Gallery (London). * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Clara Novello 1861 births 1943 deaths Musicians from Cardiff Singers from Cardiff 20th-century Welsh women singers Welsh conductors (music) Ivor Novello 19th-century Welsh women singers