David Evans

Who was David Evans?

David Evans was a Welsh musician and composer.

Evans was born at Resolven, Glamorgan. He worked in the coal industry as a teenager, but music was always his primary interest. He won a music scholarship and became a pupil of Joseph Parry, which led to his qualifying at University of Wales, Cardiff, in 1895. He went on to become organist and choirmaster of Jewin Calvinistic Methodist Church in London. He succeeded Joseph Parry, his former teacher, in the Music department at Cardiff, where he was appointed a professor in 1908. Most of his compositions were of a religious nature, including many hymns. He participated actively in the Eisteddfod movement. Some compositions attributed to him were in fact written by his eldest son, Arthur, who died in the influenza pandemic of 1918.

Evans edited the revised edition of the Church of Scotland's Church Hymnary in 1927. Notably, it is in this publication that he combined an old Irish folk song with a versified English translation of an 8th-century Irish poem to produce the now widely known Christian hymn, "Be Thou My Vision".

Evans died at Rhosllannerchrugog. His papers are held by the National Library of Wales and some by his grandson, also named David Evans.