Edward Jones Stephen (also ''Stephens''; December 1822 – 10 May 1885), often known by his

bardic name A bardic name (, ) is a pseudonym used in Wales, Cornwall, or Brittany by poets and other artists, especially those involved in the eisteddfod movement. The Welsh language, Welsh term bardd ('poet') originally referred to the Welsh poets of the M ...

of Tanymarian, was a

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musician, singer and composer, mainly of hymns and songs. He was born in

Maentwrog Maentwrog () is a village and community in the Welsh county of Merionethshire (now part of Gwynedd), lying in the Vale of Ffestiniog just below Blaenau Ffestiniog, within the Snowdonia National Park. The River Dwyryd runs alongside the vil ...

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, into a musical family. He went to school at Penralltgoch and was then apprenticed to his brother, William. He began preaching and in 1843 he went to the Congregational college at

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to train as a minister. While there he changed his name to Edward Stephen to avoid confusion with another Edward Jones. In 1847 he became a minister at Dwygyfylchi in

Caernarfonshire Caernarfonshire (; , ), previously spelled Caernarvonshire or Carnarvonshire, was one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It was located in the north-west of Wales. Geography The county ...

and in 1852 he composed an oratorio entitled ''Ystorm Tiberias''. In 1856 he moved to another chapel at

Llanllechid Llanllechid () is a village and community (Wales), community in Gwynedd, Wales. The village is near Bethesda, Gwynedd, Bethesda, and the community had a population of 889 at the 2011 UK census and an area of . The community also includes Talybo ...

, and two years later he composed a requiem in memory of

John Jones, Talysarn John Jones, Talysarn (1 March 1796 in Wales, 1796 – 16 August 1857 in Wales, 1857), was a Welsh people, Welsh John Calvin, Calvinistic Methodism, Methodist minister, regarded as one of the greatest preachers in the history of Wales. Because ...

. He composed many hymns and also wrote books and articles about music, in the

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Musical works

Anthems

*''Llawen floeddiwch i Dduw'' *''Wrth afonydd Babilon'' *''Disgwyliad Israel''

Hymn-tunes

*''Tanymarian''

Songs

*''Hen Gadair Freichiau'' *''Caingc y delyn'' *''Carlo''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephen, Edward 1822 births 1885 deaths Welsh composers Welsh male composers 19th-century British composers 19th-century British male musicians People from Maentwrog