Eiluned Davies (1913-1999) was a British concert pianist and composer.

Early life

Born in

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a town within the London Borough of Waltham Forest in east London. The town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and South Woodford to the east, Leyton and Leytonstone to the south, and Tottenham to the west. At ...

, 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 (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

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. Early life Long was born in Brentford, a suburb of London in the UK. Her early instruction in music, which began aged six, was with her aunt, Miss J. E. Long. ...

. 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 Rotterda ...

Career

Davies' 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 Davies 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 more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

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, Schumann, and Brahms. Career Early life Julia Myra Hess was born on 25 February 189 ...

, 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 Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded ...

'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 The Mary Ward Centre is an adult education college in Stratford, London. History The centre was founded by Mary Augusta Ward, a Victorian novelist and founding president of the Women's National Anti-Suffrage League, better known by her married ...

(from 1956) and the Stanhope Institute, before retiring from teaching in 1979. Davies' 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. Davies' repertoire included Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Busoni and

Bernard Stevens Bernard (George) Stevens (2 March 1916 – 6 January 1983) was a British composer who first became known to the wider public when he won a newspaper composition prize for a 'Victory Symphony' post-war in 1946. The broader success was not sus ...

. Davies recorded the complete solo piano works of Bernard van Dieren for the

British Music Society The British Music Society was first set up in 1918 by Arthur Eaglefield Hull to "advance the cause of British music at home and abroad". Its address was 19 Berners Street in London. The supporting committee included influential names such as Adria ...

in the 1980s. She also championed Welsh composers, naming 'Y Pump Cymreig' (The Welsh Five) as Denis ApIvor, 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, Vale o ...

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 Davies' 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 (, ) in 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 books and periodicals, and the l ...

.'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 20th-century British women classical pianists 20th-century British classical pianists 20th-century British women composers Alumni of the Royal College of Music