Sir Henry Walford Davies (6 September 1869 – 11 March 1941) was an English composer, organist, and educator who held the title
Master of the King's Music
Master of the King's Music (or Master of the Queen's Music, or earlier Master of the King's Musick) is a post in the Royal Household of the United Kingdom. The holder of the post originally served the monarch of England, directing the court orche ...
from 1934 until 1941. He served with the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
during the First World War, during which he composed the ''
Royal Air Force March Past
The "Royal Air Force March Past" is the official march of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and is used in some other Commonwealth air forces.
The original score was completed by Walford Davies in 1918 for the new RAF. It combined the rhythm of the bugl ...
'', and was music adviser to the
British Broadcasting Corporation #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
, for whom he gave commended talks on music between 1924 and 1941.
Life and career
Early years
Henry Walford Davies was born in the Shropshire town of
Oswestry
Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483 and A495 roads.
The town was the administrative headquarters of the Borough of ...
close to the
border with Wales. He was the seventh of nine children of John Whitridge Davies and Susan, ''née'' Gregory, and the youngest of four surviving sons.
[Dibble, Jeremy]
"Davies, Sir (Henry) Walford (1869–1941)"
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, online edition, January 2011, retrieved 6 December 2015 It was a musical family: Davies senior, an accountant by profession was a keen amateur musician, who founded and conducted a choral society at Oswestry and was choirmaster of Christ Church
Congregational church
Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...
, at which Walford was a chorister.
["Dr Walford Davies"]
''The Musical Times'', June 1908, pp. 365–370 Two of his other sons, Charlie and
Harold
Harold may refer to:
People
* Harold (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name
* Harold (surname), surname in the English language
* András Arató, known in meme culture as "Hide the Pain Harold"
Arts a ...
, later held the post of organist at the church; the latter was professor of music at the
University of Adelaide
The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...
from 1919 to 1947. In 1882 Walford was accepted as a
chorister at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, by the organist,
Sir George Elvey.
[Ley, H. G]
"Davies, Sir (Henry) Walford (1869–1941)"
''Dictionary of National Biography'' Archive, Oxford University Press, online edition, January 2011, retrieved 10 December 2015
When his voice broke in 1885 Davies left the choir and later that year was appointed organist of the
Royal Chapel of All Saints
The Royal Chapel of All Saints or Queen Victoria's Chapel is a Grade II listed church in the grounds of the Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, Berkshire, England and is a Royal Peculiar, serving as an informal parish church for the inhabitants and ...
, Windsor Great Park and was secretary to Elvey's successor,
Walter Parratt
Sir Walter Parratt (10 February 184127 March 1924) was an English organist and composer.
Biography
Born in Huddersfield, son of a parish organist, Parratt began to play the pipe organ from an early age, and held posts as an organist while still ...
, and Dean (later Archbishop)
Randall Davidson
Randall Thomas Davidson, 1st Baron Davidson of Lambeth, (7 April 1848 – 25 May 1930) was an Anglican priest who was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1903 to 1928. He was the longest-serving holder of the office since the English Reformation, Re ...
.
[ At this time British universities, including ]Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
, awarded "non-collegiate" music degrees to any applicant who could pass the necessary examinations. Davies entered for the Cambridge bachelor of music examinations in 1889, but his exercise (a cantata, ''The Future'', to words by Matthew Arnold
Matthew Arnold (24 December 1822 – 15 April 1888) was an English poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the celebrated headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold, lite ...
) failed. With the encouragement of Charles Villiers Stanford
Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (30 September 1852 – 29 March 1924) was an Anglo-Irish composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Romantic music, Romantic era. Born to a well-off and highly musical family in Dublin, Stanford was ed ...
, professor of music at Cambridge, Davies made a second attempt; it was successful, and he graduated in 1891.[
In 1890 Davies was awarded a scholarship in composition at the ]Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...
(RCM), London, where he was a student until 1894.["Davies, Sir (Henry) Walford"]
''Who Was Who'', online edition, Oxford University Press, 2014 His teachers there were Hubert Parry
Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet (27 February 18487 October 1918) was an English composer, teacher and historian of music. Born in Richmond Hill in Bournemouth, Parry's first major works appeared in 1880. As a composer he is b ...
and (for a single term) Stanford for composition,[Ottaway, Hugh and Lewis Foreman]
"Davies, Sir Walford"
''Grove Music Online'', Oxford University Press, retrieved 10 December 2015 and W. S. Rockstro
William Smith Rockstro (5 January 1823 – 1 July 1895) was an English musicologist, teacher, pianist and composer. He is best remembered for his books, including music textbooks, music history and biographies of famous musicians.
Life and caree ...
(counterpoint), Herbert Sharpe
Herbert Francis Sharpe, (1 March 1861 – 14 October 1925) was a British pianist, composer and music professor of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He studied piano at the Royal College of Music in London later becoming professor there. He c ...
(piano) and Haydn Inwards (violin). While still at the RCM he was organist of St George's Church, Campden Hill
Campden Hill is a hill in Kensington, West London, bounded by Holland Park Avenue on the north, Kensington High Street on the south, Kensington Palace Gardens on the east and Abbotsbury Road on the west. The name derives from the former ''Campde ...
, for three months, and St Anne's Church, Soho
Saint Anne's Church serves in the Church of England the Soho section of London. It was consecrated on 21 March 1686 by Bishop Henry Compton as the parish church of the new civil and ecclesiastical parish of St Anne, created from part of the par ...
for a year until 1891, when he resigned for health reasons.[ In the following year was appointed organist of ]Christ Church, Hampstead
Christ Church, Hampstead, is a Church of England church in Hampstead, London. It is a church with particular connections to the old village of Hampstead and the Heath.
Former Prime Minister Clement Attlee was married to his wife, Violet Attlee, ...
; he remained there until 1897, holding the post in tandem for the last two years with an appointment from 1895 as teacher of counterpoint at the RCM in succession to Rockstro, a post that he held until 1903.[ He considered resigning the post in 1896, when he failed the counterpoint paper in the Cambridge examinations for the degree of doctor of music; he was successful at his second attempt, and the doctorate was conferred in March 1898.][
]
National reputation
In May 1898 Davies was appointed organist and director of the choir at the Temple Church
The Temple Church is a Royal peculiar church in the City of London located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built by the Knights Templar as their English headquarters. It was consecrated on 10 February 1185 by Patriarch Heraclius of J ...
in the City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...
, a post he retained until 1923.[ With this appointment, in the view of his biographer, Jeremy Dibble, Davies began to be seen as a prominent figure in British musical life.][ As an organist he became well known both as a soloist and as a teacher – the most celebrated of his pupils being ]Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra and his appeara ...
.[ As a conductor he directed the London Church Choir Association (1901–13) and succeeded Stanford at the ]Bach Choir
The Bach Choir is a large independent musical organisation founded in London, England in 1876 to give the first performance of J. S. Bach's ''Mass in B minor'' in Britain.
The choir has around 240 active members. Directed by David Hill MBE ( Yal ...
(1902–07).[
As a composer Davies achieved his most substantial success in 1904, with his cantata ''Everyman'', based on the 15th century ]morality play
The morality play is a genre of medieval and early Tudor drama. The term is used by scholars of literary and dramatic history to refer to a genre of play texts from the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries that feature personified concepts ( ...
of the same name. His friend and biographer H. C. Colles
Henry Cope Colles (20 April 18794 March 1943) was an English music critic, music lexicographer, writer on music and organist. He is best known for his 32 years as chief music critic of ''The Times'' (1911–1943) and for editing the 3rd and 4th ...
wrote, " e music itself was not like anything he had written before or would write again. ''Everyman'' was tumultuously received, and in the next few years given by every choral society in the country which aimed at a standard of firstrateness."[Colles, H. C]
"Walford Davies"
''Music & Letters'', July 1941, pp. 199–207 The work was also given in Australia and the US.[
During the First World War Davies joined the Committee for Music in War Time under Parry's chairmanship, organised concerts for the troops in France and musical events for the Fight for Right movement.][ In 1918 he was appointed director of music of the ]Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
, with the rank of major
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
.[ He established the RAF School of Music and two RAF bands, and composed the "]Royal Air Force March Past
The "Royal Air Force March Past" is the official march of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and is used in some other Commonwealth air forces.
The original score was completed by Walford Davies in 1918 for the new RAF. It combined the rhythm of the bugl ...
", to which a slow "trio" section was later added by his successor, Major George Dyson. Since 1930 Walford Davies' "Solemn Melody" has been one of the permanent selection of national airs and mourning music performed on Remembrance Sunday
Remembrance Sunday is held in the United Kingdom as a day to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts. It is held on the second Sunday in Nov ...
at The Cenotaph, Whitehall
The Cenotaph is a war memorial on Whitehall in London, England. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, it was unveiled in 1920 as the United Kingdom's national memorial to the British and Commonwealth dead of the First World War, was rededicated in 19 ...
.
1919–41
In 1919 Davies accepted the professorship of music at University College, Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth University ( cy, Prifysgol Aberystwyth) is a Public university, public Research university, research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The universi ...
, together with the post of director of music for the University of Wales
The University of Wales (Welsh language, Welsh: ''Prifysgol Cymru'') is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff †...
and chairman of the National Council of Music. Here, in the words of his biographer Henry Ley, he "laboured unceasingly for the musical enlightenment of the principality",[ and in 1922 he was knighted in ]David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during t ...
's resignation honours.
In 1924 he gave the Cramb lectures at the University of Glasgow
, image = UofG Coat of Arms.png
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
, gave his first broadcast talk for the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
.