Ffrangcon-Davies, David (Thomas) real name, David Thomas Davis
Ffrangcon-Davies, David (Thomas) real name, David Thomas Davis
Ffrangcon-Davies, David (Thomas) (real name, David Thomas Davis, prominent Welsh baritone; b. Bethesda, Caernarvon, Dec. 11, 1855; d. London, April 13, 1918. (The surname Ffrangcon was taken from the Nant- Ffrangcon mountain range near his birthplace.) He was ordained a priest in 1884, but later left the church to take up a musical career. He studied singing with Richard Latter, Shakespeare, and Randegger in London, and made his concert debut in Manchester (Jan. 6, 1890) and his stage debut at Drury Lane Theatre in London (April 26, 1890). From 1896 to 1898, he sang in festivals throughout the U.S. and Canada, then lived in Berlin (1898–1901). From 1903 he was a prof, of singing at the Royal Coll. of Music in London. After a nervous breakdown in 1907, he gave up public singing. His book, The Singing of the Future (London, 1905), was republ. by his daughter, Marjorie Ffrangcon-Davies, as Part II of David Ffrangcon-Davies, His Life and Book (London, 1938).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire