Hughes, Arwel

Composer

b Rhosllanerchrugog nr Wrexham, Denbighs (Clwyd), Wales 1909, d Cardiff 1988. Ruabon Grammar Sch nr Wrexham, N Wales, and RCM, London; after a period as organist at St Philip and St James Ch Oxford he returned to Wales in 1935. He joined the staff of the BBC’s Music Dept and became a regular choir and orchestra conductor. From 1965 to 1971 he was Head of Music for BBC Wales; his ‘Celtic personality’ (Grove) was evident in the two Welsh operas he wrote. He was a younger brother of John H (1896–1968), and father of conductor Owain Arwel Hughes; mainly a secular musician, but also organist at the Tabernacle Chapel, The Hayes, Cardiff, and best known for his cantata/oratorio Dewi Sant (Saint David, 1961). No.109.