Rhosymedre is a

hymn tune A hymn tune is the melody of a musical composition to which a hymn text is sung. Musically speaking, a hymn is generally understood to have four-part (or more) harmony, a fast harmonic rhythm (chords change frequently), with or without refrain ...

written by the 19th-century Welsh

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

priest John David Edwards. Edwards named the tune after the village of

Rhosymedre Rhosymedre () is a village within the community of Cefn, in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. The Anglican church, which was consecrated in 1837, is dedicated to St John the Evangelist, and is part of the Diocese of St Asaph. Former vicars inclu ...

in the County Borough of Wrexham,

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, where he was the vicar from 1843 until his death in 1885. The hymn tune is seven lines long, with a

metrical index A hymn metre (''US:'' meter) indicates the number of syllables for the lines in each stanza (verse) of a hymn. This provides a means of marrying the hymn's text with an appropriate hymn tune for singing. Hymn and poetic metre In the English langu ...

of 6.6.6.6.8.8.8. It appears in a number of hymnals and is sung to a variety of words. The tune was used by

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams ( ; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

as the basis of the second movement of his

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

composition ''Three Preludes on Welsh Hymn Tunes''. Although best known in this original version for solo organ, it is also well known as an orchestral arrangement by Arnold Foster published in 1938. The prelude has been arranged for other instruments or combinations of instruments, including solo piano,

piano duet According to the ''Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', there are two kinds of piano duet: " ieces of musicfor two players at one instrument, and those in which each of the two pianists has an instrument to themselves." In American usage th ...

clarinet choir A clarinet choir is a musical ensemble consisting entirely of instruments from the clarinet family. It will typically include E, B, alto, bass, and contra-alto or contrabass clarinets, although sometimes not all of these are included, and some ...

and four recorders. The "Prelude on the hymn tune 'Rhosymedre'" by

was played at the

funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales The funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, started on Saturday 6 September 1997 at 9:08am in London, when the tenor bell of Westminster Abbey started tolling to signal the departure of the cortège from Kensington Palace. Diana's coffin was ...

, at the request of her sister,

Lady Sarah McCorquodale Lady Elizabeth Sarah Lavinia McCorquodale (''née'' Spencer; born 19 March 1955) is one of the two older sisters of Diana, Princess of Wales, the other being Jane Fellowes, Baroness Fellowes. For a short period of time, she dated Prince Charles ...

. It was also played at the weddings of her two sons − in April 2011 at Prince William's wedding and in May 2018 at Prince Harry's wedding − and in 2023 at the

coronation of Charles III and Camilla The Coronation of the British monarch, coronation of Charles III and his wife, Queen Camilla, Camilla, as Monarchy of the United Kingdom, king and List of British royal consorts, queen of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth re ...

. In 2008, to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Vaughan Williams, Richard Morrison (chief music critic of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'') arranged the piece for

string quartet The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...

and solo

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

. The first performance took place in May 2008, with James Gilchrist singing the words of the hymn.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhosymedre (Hymn Tune) Hymn tunes

See also

References