Home > Walford Davies

Davies was born in Oswestry on the Welsh border. He studied under, and was assistant to, the organist Walter Parratt for five years before entering the Royal College of Music where he studied under Hubert Parry and Charles Villiers Stanford. He held a number of organist posts and in 1918 was appointed director of music to the Royal Air ForceThe Royal Air Force (often abbreviated to RAF is the air force of the United Kingdom. History Formation and Early History The Royal Flying Corps was formed by Royal Warrant on May 13, 1912 superseding the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers. The Royal Na which led to him writing the marchFor alternative meanings, see March (disambiguation). March is the third month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 31 days. Named for Mars, the Roman god of war. In ancient Rome, March was called Martius. It was named after the war god ( Mars) and RAF March Past, still played by many marching bandA marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who generally perform outdoors, and who incorporate movement usually some type of marching with their musical performance. In addition to traditional parade performances, many bands also perform field ss today.

In 1919, Davies became professor of musicMusic often an art/ entertainment, is a total social fact whose definitions vary according to era and culture," according to Jean Molino. 1 It is often contrasted with noise. According to musicologist Jean-Jacques Nattiez: "The border between music and no at AberystwythAberystwyth (from the Welsh Mouth of the Ystwyth is a historic market town, administrative centre, and seaport of Ceredigion, Wales. It is situated near the confluence of the rivers Ystwyth and Rheidol, about mid way down the length of Cardigan Bay. Abery. He subsequently did much to promote Welsh music, becoming chairman of the Welsh National Council of Music. From 1927 he was organist at St George's Chapel, Windsor.

From the 1920sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s Years: 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 Events and trends Technology John Logie Baird invents the first working t, Davies made a series of records of lectures, which led to him being employed by the BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation BBC is primarily a national publicly-funded broadcaster based in the United Kingdom, which also has some international services. Some of the international services (such as BBC cable TV in America, Canada and elsewhere to give radio broadcasts on classical music under the title Music and the Ordinary Listener. These lasted from 1926 until the outbreak of World War II in 1939, and Davies became a well known and popular radio personality. His book The Pursuit of Music (1935) has a similar non-specialist tone.

Davies was knighted in 1922 and, following the death of Edward Elgar in 1934, was appointed Master of the King's Music. He died in 1944 in Bristol and is buried in the grounds of Bristol Cathedral.

Most of Davies' compositions were religious in flavour, and include the oratorio Everyman, other works for orchestra, choir and soloists, and a large number of services and anthems. He also wrote a setting of the Christmas carol "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and the Solemn Melody for organ and orchestra.