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In the 1880's British universities, including Cambridge, awarded "non-collegiate" music degrees to any applicant who could pass the necessary examinations. Young Henry Walford Davies entered for the Cambridge bachelor of music examinations in 1889, but his exercise (a cantata, The Future, to words by Matthew Arnold) failed. With the encouragement of Charles Villiers Stanford, professor of music at Cambridge, Davies made a second attempt; it was successful, and he graduated in 1891. His close friendship with Stanford was to last for many years.
In 1890 Davies was awarded a scholarship in composition at the Royal College of Music, London, where he was a student until 1894 studying composition under Stanford.
As a composer Davies achieved his most substantial success in 1904, with his cantata Everyman, based on the 15th century morality play of the same name. Everyman was very well received, and in the next few years it was performed by all the major choral societies, even in Australia and the USA.
Davies's BBC broadcast in April 1924 was the first of many he made between then and 1941. He became well known for his programmes "Music and the Ordinary Listener" . The Times, in an obituary tribute said:
His name has become known to many thousands of people who have not been interested hitherto in music or in musicians. He proved himself to be one of the very few lecturers who could immediately establish the sense of personal contact with audiences over the wireless.
On the death of Sir Edward Elgar in 1934, Davies was appointed as Master of the King's Music.
3 Welsh Tunes - 1922
These are entitled:
1. Yn y Gwydd
2. Caerllyngoed
3. Lledrod
The first of the three tunes is calm and serene. One motif recurs throughout.
A solo violin brings this short movement to an end.
SAMPLE: Welsh Tune No 1
Big Ben Looks On - 1937
‘Big Ben Looks On’ – an orchestral phantasy, was written for the Robert Mayer Children's Concert held on April 6, 1937. It was dedicated to the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret Rose and they both attended the performance.
The Times reviewed this concert:
‘The Fantasy has the title Big Ben Looks On and in it the Master of the King’s Music has imagined the familiar chimes, which may now be heard broadcast all over the world, as a bond between England and Empire. So we visit, among other places, a village school in Warwickshire, from which a child of nine has supplied what the composer afterwards modestly described as the best tune in the piece, and an outpost in Central Australia is characterized by a native melody. The whole fantasy is framed between two charming little tunes – one for each of the dedicatees.'
SAMPLE: Big Ben Looks On - from the 1st half
Score full of crossing outs and additions
SAMPLE: Big Ben Looks On - ending
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