- Grace Williams
Grace Mary Williams (
February 19 ,1906 -February 10 ,1977 ) was a Welsh composer.Biography
Born in
Barry, Wales , she was educated at Barry County School, and won a scholarship to University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire. She then went to theRoyal College of Music , where she was taught byRalph Vaughan Williams . During theSecond World War , the students were evacuated toGrantham inLincolnshire , where Grace composed some of her earliest works, including the "Sinfonia Concertante" and her firstsymphony . During and after the war, she suffered from depression and other stress-related health problems. Having taught inLondon , she returned to Wales, where she worked for theBBC . One of her most popular works was her "Fantasia on Welsh Nursery Tunes" (1940). In 1960-61 she wrote her only opera, "The Parlour", which was not performed until 1966. In the same year, she turned down an offer of the OBE for her services to music.BBC Radio 3 devoted their Composer of the Week segment to her during the second week of August 2006. This resulted in several new performances of long-unperformed works, including her Violin Concerto.She is related to the famous Welsh political and environmental activist Emyr Gruffydd, who lives in
Caerphilly . She was his great grandmother's cousin.Other works
*"Four Illustrations for the Legend of Rhiannon" (1939)
*"Sea Sketches" (1944)
*"The Dancers" (1951)
*"Penillion" (1955)
*"Symphony no. 2" (1956)
*"All Seasons shall be Sweet" (1959)
*"The Parlour" (1961, opera)
*"Trumpet Concerto" (1963)
*"Ballads for Orchestra" (1968)
*"Ave Maris Stella" (1973)
*"Fairest of Stars" (1973)Recordings
Only a handful of Williams' works have been recorded. Her Second Symphony, "Penillion", "Sea Sketches" and "Fantasia on Welsh Nursery Tunes" have been included in two
Lyrita compilations, and several choral works, including "Ave Maris Stella", were recorded for aChandos Records collection. Ballads for Orchestra was recorded by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Baldur Brönnimann and was included in issue number 35 ofBBC Music Magazine Biography
Grace Williams left no autobiography, but a useful introduction to her work is
*cite book|author=Boyd, Malcolm|year=1996|title=Grace Williams|publisher=University of Wales Press|id=ISBN 0-7083-1372-8
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