Eiluned Davies (1913-1999) was an Anglo Welsh concert pianist and composer. Born in

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London and the ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Charing Cross, the town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and Sou ...

, London, the daughter of Welsh bard Owen Davies of Llanarth, Davies won a scholarship to 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 ...

at the age of 15 (1929-1933) where her teachers included

Gordon Jacob Gordon Percival Septimus Jacob CBE (5 July 18958 June 1984) was an English composer and teacher. He was a professor at the Royal College of Music in London from 1924 until his retirement in 1966, and published four books and many articles about ...

, C H Kitson and

Kathleen Long Kathleen (Ida) Long CBE (7 July 189620 March 1968) was an English pianist and teacher. Life and career Long was born in Brentford, a suburb of London in the UK. McVeagh, Diana"Long, Kathleen"''Grove Music Online'', Oxford Music Online, accessed ...

. She also took private piano lessons with Frida Kindler (1879–1964), a pupil of

Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (1 April 1866 – 27 July 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher. His international career and reputation led him to work closely with many of the leading musicians, artists and literary ...

and the wife of composer

Bernard van Dieren Bernard Hélène Joseph van Dieren (27 December 188724 April 1936) was a Dutch composer, critic, author, and writer on music, much of whose working life was spent in England. Biography Van Dieren was the last of five children of a Dutch Rotter ...

. Her first London piano recital took place in June 1936 at the Aeolian Hall,'New Welsh Pianist's Criticism', in ''The Western Mail'', 25 June 1936, p.6 and her first radio broadcast followed in April 1937. During the war she performed at the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

concerts organized by

Myra Hess Dame Julia Myra Hess, (25 February 1890 – 25 November 1965) was an English pianist best known for her performances of the works of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Schumann. Career Early life Julia Myra Hess was born on 25 February 1890 to a Jew ...

, at which she gave the first performance in England of

Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throughout his life as a major compo ...

's Piano Sonata, Op. 12 (on 31 May 1943). She also taught at the

City Literary Institute City Lit is an adult education college in Holborn, central London, founded by the London County Council in 1919, which has charitable status. It offers part-time courses across four schools and five "centres of expertise", covering humanities an ...

(from 1945), the Mary Ward Centre (from 1956) and the Stanhope Institute, before retiring from teaching in 1979. Her compositions include choral, song and piano works, such as the ''Sociable Pieces'' for piano six hands, ''Three European Folk Dances'' for piano, a ''Requiem'' (1972, performed in Winchester, revised 1991) and the song cycle ''Glimpses'' (1993) for female vocal quartet.'Eiluned Davies', ''Contemporary Music Review'', 1994, Vol 11, Parts 1 & 2, pp. 77-80
/ref> All her pre-war compositions were withdrawn and destroyed. Her repertoire included Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Busoni and

Bernard Stevens Bernard (George) Stevens (2 March 1916 – 6 January 1983) was a British composer. Life Born in London, Stevens studied English and Music at St John's College, Cambridge with E. J. Dent and Cyril Rootham, then at the Royal College of Music ...

. Davies recorded the complete solo piano works of Bernard van Dieren for the British Music Society in the 1980s. She also championed Welsh composers, naming 'Y Pump Cymreig' (The Welsh Five) as

Denis ApIvor Denis ApIvor (14 April 191627 May 2004) was a British composer, best known for his ballet score ''Blood Wedding''. He had a parallel career as a consultant anaesthetist.Leach, Gerald. ''British Composer Profiles'' (3rd. Ed, 2012), p. 10 Biograph ...

, Daniel Jones,

Mervyn Roberts Mervyn Roberts (23 November, 1906 12 July 1990), full name William Henry Mervyn Roberts, was a Welsh composer, best known for his piano music. Eiluned Davies regarded him as one of 'Y Pump Cymreig' (The Welsh Five) along with Denis ApIvor, Dani ...

Grace Williams Grace Mary Williams (19 February 1906 – 10 February 1977) was a Welsh composer, generally regarded as Wales's most notable female composer, and the first British woman to score a feature film. Early life Williams was born in Barry, Glamo ...

and David Wynne. She premiered ApIvor's Piano Concerto, op. 13 in 1948 and Wynne's Piano Sonata No 2 in 1957. In the 1950s her London address was Flat 2, 23 Coram Street, WC1. She later moved to 40, The Limes Avenue,

New Southgate New Southgate is a residential suburb straddling three Outer London Boroughs: a small part of the east of Barnet, a south-west corner of Enfield and in loosest definitions, based on nearest railway stations, a small northern corner of Haringe ...

. Her archive is held at the

National Library of Wales The National Library of Wales ( cy, Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru), Aberystwyth, is the national legal deposit library of Wales and is one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million ...

.'Eiluned Davies', at The National Archives
/ref>

References

External links

''Three Traditional European Folk Dances''
No. 3, 'Tropanka', performed by Zoe Smith {{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Eiluned 1913 births 1999 deaths British classical pianists British women pianists British women composers 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century British musicians Women composers 20th-century women pianists