Averil Mary Thomas (2 August 1932 – 17 April 1997) was a Welsh soprano.

Career

After studying at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...

, she established herself in the 1960s as a successful

early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad musical era for the beginning of Western classical m ...

performer. She appeared as a soloist as well as a member of the

Deller Consort Alfred George Deller, CBE (31 May 1912 – 16 July 1979), was an English singer and one of the main figures in popularising the return of the countertenor voice in Renaissance and Baroque music during the 20th century. He is sometimes referre ...

. She was also notable for her work in contemporary music.

Peter Maxwell Davies Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (8 September 1934 – 14 March 2016) was an English composer and conductor, who in 2004 was made Master of the Queen's Music. As a student at both the University of Manchester and the Royal Manchester College of Music ...

wrote pieces with her voice and dramatic ability in mind.

Notable performances

She gave the first performances of a number of works by Peter Maxwell Davies, accompanied by the

Fires of London The Fires of London, founded as the Pierrot Players, was a British chamber music ensemble which was active from 1965 to 1987. The Pierrot Players was founded by Harrison Birtwistle, Alan Hacker, and Stephen Pruslin.''Who’s Who 1975'', page 13 ...

. * ''Revelation and Fall'' (premiered February 1968, adapted 1980). * ''Missa super l'homme armé'' (premiered February 1968, revised 1971). She appeared at the

Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

between 1962 and 1983 singing music ranging from

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

to Maxwell Davies.

Selected recordings

* Thomas' vocals appeared on the 1976

ELO Elo or ELO may refer to: Music * Electric Light Orchestra, a British rock music group ** ''The Electric Light Orchestra'' (album), the group's debut album ** ''ELO 2'', the group's second album * ELO Part II, an offshoot band of Electric Light ...

track, "

Rockaria! "Rockaria!" is a song by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), written by Jeff Lynne. It was the third track on the band's successful 1976 album ''A New World Record'', and was the second single from the album. On some CD pressings of ''A New World Re ...

", which was released as a single in 1977 and reached the Top Ten in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. * ''Revelation and Fall'' (reissued on CD in 2004)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Mary 1932 births 1997 deaths Musicians from Swansea Welsh sopranos 20th-century Welsh women singers