Early life
William Rhys Herbert was born in 1868 in Ffwrnas, near Resolven inUnited States
After moving to the United States in 1899, he was appointed organist at Hennepin Avenue Methodist Church in Minneapolis. In 1911 he became organist and choir director at the Church of the Redeemer, a downtown Minneapolis structure destroyed by fire in 1953 (the congregation is now called the First Universalist Church). Rhys-Herbert also directed the Elks Glee Club, and served as principal accompanist to the Apollo Club (now thWorks
Many of his more than one thousand compositions are part songs for male voices. Many others are for children. He was well known as an adjudicator at ''eisteddfodau'' and as conductor at ''cymanfaoedd canu'' across America. He became an American citizen in 1913. At the heart of his work is a cycle of sacred cantatas – ''Bethlehem'', ''The Nazarene'', ''Bethany'', ''Calvary'' and ''Olivet''. By far the most successful was ''Bethany''; first published in 1909, it quickly became his most celebrated piece. It was performed widely in the USA during the 1920s and 30s. After that its popularity seems to have dwindled fairly quickly; however a performance was given in Houston in 1955. The words of this cantata were written by William ApMadoc, a noted singer, adjudicator, publisher, temperance campaigner and conductor from Chicago, who provided Dr Rhys-Herbert with texts for many other settings in both Welsh and English. ApMadoc also was a native of Glamorgan, he arrived in America in 1878, settling first in Utica, subsequently in Chicago, where he was appointed musical director of the Chicago high schools, holding the title of Professor. In 1893 the World Fair was held in Chicago, an international ''eisteddfod'' was included, and an official American branch of the Welsh Gorsedd (subsequently abolished) was established in the city under the aegis of the Cymmrodorion Society of Chicago; ApMadoc was appointed 'Cofiadur' (Bardic Scribe). ApMadoc was also the music critic for ''The Cambrian'', a magazine for Welsh Americans. The dog ate my homework#cite note-Slate-1 He died in Chicago in 1916 at the age of 78. In America, Rhys-Herbert's music has now all but disappeared, and little remains anywhere in print. If he is remembered for anything today, it is most likely to be for his operetta ''Sylvia'', which still has some reputation. Other operettas include ''Bo'sn's Bride'', ''Bulbul'', ''Captain Van der Hum'', ''A Nautical Knot'', ''The Rivals'', ''The Wild Rose'', and ''Will Tell'', which was published posthumously. However, in his home town of Resolven, he is honoured as one of 'Y Tri Doctoriaid': three doctors of music who were born there (the others being Dr David Evans and Dr Tom Hopkin Evans). A concert featuring choral music by all three composers was given in Resolven in November 2008. A vocal duet, 'Ffarwel i'r Gwynt a'r Eira', (with text by ApMadoc) was included in the syllabus for the 2008 Urdd Eisteddfod in Llandudno. William Rhys-Herbert also wrote choral music and piano sheet music under the pseudonym "W. H. Rees." He died in Chicago on his fifty-third birthday, October 3, 1921, having reportedly been unwell for one or two weeks previously.References
Sources
* * William Rhys Herbert – Welsh-American Composer : Ninnau Vol 35 #5 Sep/Oct 2010 p25External links
* . {{DEFAULTSORT:Rhys-Herbert, William 1868 births 1921 deaths American male composers American composers Welsh emigrants to the United States