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Henry Brinley Richards (1817-1885): A Nineteenth-Century Propagandist for Welsh Music A. J. HEWARD REES The fashion for debunking celebrities from the nineteenth century and later continues apace, and, of course, makes for interesting reading. But, however many Eminent Victorians have fallen foul of the pens of Lytton Strachey and his successors, a number of lesser figures have so far escaped such stringent reconsideration, whether this is to their ultimate advantage or not. In this list we can safely include the Welsh musician, Brinley Richards, about whom surpris- ingly little has appeared in print for a century or more, in spite of his once considerable reputation and achievements. The cynically-minded may affect to believe that they know why. By all accounts, he was a thoroughly worthy and 'nice' man, who led a life devoid of sensationalism, if not completely devoid of interest, and this, to them, must be the main reason for his present obscurity. Others may more reasonably claim that the generally low post- humous value accorded to his compositions must chiefly be to blame for such neglect. This particular reason will perhaps one day prove shamefully inadequate, especially if students of Welsh music follow the lead recently given so eloquently by Peter Lord in the visual arts, and attempt to come to grips with what he has so memorably called the 'aesthetics of relevance'. In any case, there is something to be said for reconsidering Brinley Richards's musical career as that of a once-prominent public figure. And it now needs to be done by us in Wales for its social and historical impact, viewed from the final decade of the twentieth century. To this end we need to be reminded of the basic outline of his life story. He was born in Carmarthen town in 1817 (not 1819, as in some reference books).2 Like one of his brothers, John, who later became a vicar in mid-Wales, he was given his Swansea-born mother's maiden name, Brinley, as a middle name. His father, Henry Richards (1784-1852), was a characterful local musician who, as well as being