Arwel Hughes

[1] Hughes was born in Rhosllannerchrugog near Wrexham and was educated at Ruabon Grammar School and at the Royal College of Music, where he studied with Ralph Vaughan Williams and C. H. Kitson.

His main legacy as a composer are perhaps his works for chorus and orchestra, including the large-scale oratorios, Dewi Sant (Saint David), commissioned for the Festival of Britain in 1951[3][4] and Pantycelyn, performed at the National Eisteddfod in Swansea in 1964.

These exemplify his imagination and technical competence, combining the early twentieth century British tradition with his original harmonic language.

For many years Arwel Hughes conducted performances by the Welsh National Opera, and his own two operas, Menna, to a libretto by Wyn Griffith, a tragedy based on a Welsh folk legend; and Serch yw’r Doctor ("Love’s the Doctor"), a comedy adapted by Saunders Lewis from Molière's L'Amour médecin, were produced by WNO in 1953 and 1960 respectively.

[5][6] These works played an important role in the development of opera in Wales, and demonstrate Hughes' lyricism and melodic originality.