Welsh Journals

Towards an Authentic Celtic Voice in Music: the Life and Work of David Vaughan Thomas (1873-1934) LYN DAVIES David Vaughan Thomas may be identified as one of the most important composers in the transitional period of Welsh music from the Victorian era to our own times.1 His abilities were not confined to music. He graduated in mathematics before turning to music where he excelled as composer, lecturer, adjudicator and examiner (for the overseas department of Trinity College of Music). He was also a talented poet, a perceptive diarist, a scholar of early Welsh poetry and literature, and read widely in several languages.2 After gradu- ating from Oxford he taught at two schools for a short period before returning to Wales where he eventually settled in Swansea with his family (one of his sons, Wynford, became especially well-known as a broadcaster).3 Vaughan Thomas's working life was that of a free- lance musician and teacher who travelled more widely than any Welsh musician of his generation. His failure to obtain the Chair of Music at University College of Wales, Aberystwyth in 1918 became something of a cause célèbre in Welsh musical circles, and left a trail of bad feeling for some time.4 Vaughan Thomas's family life and social background were typically Victorian. He was the son of Jenkin Thomas of Pontrhydyfen and Ann Rees of Betws, near Ammanford in South Wales. His father was employed in various iron works. In a period of economic decline the family moved frequently, living for short periods in Maesteg, Pontyclun, Llantrisant, Llangennech and Dowlais. From an early age Thomas played the harmonium, and was fortunate to secure elementary instruction in music from Meta and William Scott, two highly respected teachers of music in Merthyr, at that time a thriving musical centre. In 1883 the young composer was awarded a bronze medal at the National Eisteddfod in Cardiff (presented to him by Lady Bute).5 The family later moved to Pontarddulais where Vaughan Thomas made his name as