Denis ApIvor manuscripts,

Music manuscripts, 1935-1995, of Denis ApIvor, including those of his operas She Stoops To Conquer, Yerma, Ubu Roi and Bouvard et Pécuchet, as well as solo and choral works (including The Hollow Men), songs, concertos, chamber music, etc.

Denis ApIvor, composer, was born in 1916 in the Republic of Ireland, where he was brought up until his family moved to Wales in 1921. In 1925 ApIvor left the family home in Caernarfon to become a chorister at Christ Church, Oxford where, by the age of ten, he was already showing compositions to his music master Henry Ley. He later transferred to Hereford Cathedral, where his father was by now chaplain. At Hereford ApIvor learnt the clarinet, piano and organ and played in local orchestras while also continuing to compose. It was as a medical student, however, that ApIvor entered University College, London in 1934; however, with the help of Cecil Gray, who had written a biography of the composer Peter Warlock, ApIvor became the pupil of the composer and Cambridge University professor Patrick Hadley. He would later work with Alan Rawsthorne, who was to become an important figure in the contemporary music of the 1930s. ApIvor fulfilled his war service at hospitals in India, all the while continuing to compose music. He returned to London in 1945; in 1987, he took up residence near Llanidloes. Amongst ApIvor's most noted works are the operas She Stoops To Conquer, Yerma, Ubu Roi and Bouvard et Pécuchet and his ballets A Mirror For Witches and Blood Wedding, the latter based on the work of Federico García Lorca, for whose poetical works ApIvor showed great enthusiasm. He also produced numerous solo and choral works, chamber music and songs and numbered Igor Stravinsky, Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg and Anton Webern amongst his greatest influences.

Arranged according to NLW MSS reference numbers: NLW MSS 22648-22665, 22882-22886, 23465-23470.

Readers consulting modern papers in the National Library of Wales are required to abide by the conditions noted on the 'Modern papers - data protection' form issued with their readers' tickets.

NLW MSS 22648-22665; Denis ApIvor; Llanidloes; Purchase; 1989
NLW MSS 22882-22886; Denis ApIvor; Saltdean, East Sussex; Purchase; 1991
NLW MSS 23465-23470; Denis ApIvor; Saltdean, East Sussex; Purchase; 1995

Denis ApIvor, composer, was born in 1916 in the Republic of Ireland, where he was brought up until his family moved to Wales in 1921. In 1925 ApIvor left the family home in Caernarfon to become a chorister at Christ Church, Oxford where, by the age of ten, he was already showing compositions to his music master Henry Ley. He later transferred to Hereford Cathedral, where his father was by now chaplain. At Hereford ApIvor learnt the clarinet, piano and organ and played in local orchestras while also continuing to compose. It was as a medical student, however, that ApIvor entered University College, London in 1934; however, with the help of Cecil Gray, who had written a biography of the composer Peter Warlock, ApIvor became the pupil of the composer and Cambridge University professor Patrick Hadley. He would later work with Alan Rawsthorne, who was to become an important figure in the contemporary music of the 1930s. ApIvor fulfilled his war service at hospitals in India, all the while continuing to compose music. He returned to London in 1945; in 1987, he took up residence near Llanidloes. Amongst ApIvor's most noted works are the operas She Stoops To Conquer, Yerma, Ubu Roi and Bouvard et Pécuchet and his ballets A Mirror For Witches and Blood Wedding, the latter based on the work of Federico García Lorca, for whose poetical works ApIvor showed great enthusiasm. He also produced numerous solo and choral works, chamber music and songs and numbered Igor Stravinsky, Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg and Anton Webern amongst his greatest influences.

Title based on contents.

March 2009.

Description compiled by Bethan Ifans for the retrospective conversion project of NLW MSS. The following sources were used in the compilation of this description: Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales, Vol. VIII (Aberystwyth, 1999); Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales, Volume IX (Aberystwyth, 2003); MusicWeb International WWW site;

Usual copyright laws apply.

See also NLW Facs. 775, which contains a typescript catalogue of the composer's works.

Published

Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru = The National Library of Wales