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  Master (Arthur) Iwan Davies    (b. 20 February 1915) Boy Soprano Soloist 
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Master (Arthur) Iwan Davies Iwan was born at Llandyssul near Newcastle Emlyn, Cardiganshire, Wales. The birth date given above is correct; in the chapter devoted to him in Stephen Beet's book "The Better Land" (2005) the year is given erroneously as 1916. He trained at the London Choir School in Denmark Hill from September 1930, and became a chorister at the King's Chapel of the Savoy (a "royal peculiar" in the private possession of the monarch, located off the Strand in central London) and later at All Souls Church, Langham Place, London. Iwan died in January 1996.

He made two sides for Decca aged 15 and recorded two items each for Decca & HMV just before and after his 17th birthday, which is why his voice has something of the power and quality of a counter-tenor. In October 1932, when nearly 18, he made a "party" record and sang two carols for Decca as an alto plus some Welsh songs unpublished on 78rpm.
Related Sites
British Pathe Films
Video Footage of Iwan singing "Charming Cloe" from 1932. The soundtrack has been lost.
The Better Land

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Featured Recordings Compact | Full
no cover
"Decca Juvenile Stars Have A Party" (Decca F.3261 (10-inch), 78 RPM) December 1932
Featuring Master (Arthur) Iwan Davies   Master Leslie Day  
Exact content not known. Artists are: Mary Hagan ("child comedienne"), Iwan Davies (boy soprano) (in Part 1), Wilfred Worden (piano), "Little Leslie Day" (boy soprano) (in Part 2), Louis Cabrelli (accordian) and the Terry Juveniles. Music composed or arranged by H. Hudson.
(matrices GB5086-87)
Both sides rec. 30 Oct. 1932.

Mary Hagan, 12 years old, was said in Decca publicity (June 1932) to support her unemployed ex-boxer father, invalid mother and little sister, with pennies earned by singing in the streets of Newcastle. She was discovered and brought to London by the boxing trainer Ted Broadribb and sang at boxing matches in the Albert Hall before being introduced to Horace Sheldon, musical director of the Victoria Palace, who secured her engagements to appear in the London music halls.
  Side A -   "Decca Juvenile Stars Have A Party" (Part 1)  
  Side B -   "Decca Juvenile Stars Have A Party" (Part 2)  
no cover
Hark! The Herald-Angels Sing / O Come, All Ye Faithful (Decca F.3264 (10-inch), 78 RPM) December 1932
Featuring Master (Arthur) Iwan Davies  
A: Hark! The Herald-Angels Sing (please see under Charles Hawtrey for details of this carol)
(matrix GB5090)
B: O Come, All Ye Faithful (please see under Jimmy Phelan for details of this carol)
(GB5093)
Both rec. 31 Oct. 1932 with Claude Ivy, piano.
Davies is catalogued as an alto for this disc.

Unpublished recordings made the same day:
Can Yr Arad Goch (Song of the Plough) (Idris Lewis) (GB5088)
Cymru Fach (My Own Little Country) (Lewis & Richards) (GB5089)
Selection of Welsh Airs from Songs of Wales (Boosey songbook) (GB5091/92)
(From Decca recording sheets - marked "alto" - on NSA microfilm.)
  Side A -   Hark! The Herald-Angels Sing (carol)  
  Side B -   O Come, All Ye Faithful (carol)  
Master (Arthur) Iwan Davies - Adams: The Holy City / Mendelssohn: Jerusalem, thou that killest the Prophets
Adams: The Holy City / Mendelssohn: Jerusalem, thou that killest the Prophets (Decca (Black Label) K.632 (12-inch), 78 RPM) April 1932
Featuring Master (Arthur) Iwan Davies  
A: The Holy City (song: wds F.E. Weatherly (1848-1929) - music Stephen Adams (pseud. of Michael Maybrick (1841(sic)-1913)), 1892) (matrix GA3672)
B: Jerusalem, thou that killest the Prophets (soprano aria based on Matt. 23:37 from Part 1 of oratorio "St Paul" (1836) by Mendelsson (1809-47), Engl. version by William Ball (c.1784-1869)) (GA3673) This item erroneously shown on label as the Blake-Parry song "Jerusalem", but correctly identified in the catalogues of the day.
Both rec. 27 Jan. 1932 with piano accomp. (Earlier takes on 3 Dec. 1931 [sic, the recording sheet is misdated] were not used.)
The first piece is on Amphion CD "The Better Land" vol. 1.

"This record could not have come at a more opportune moment. Recently Iwan Davies, a seventeen-years-old Welsh boy from Llandyssul, Cardiganshire, spent an hour in the White Drawing-room at Buckingham Palace, singing to the King [George V] and Queen [Mary]. The boy is a pupil at the London Choir School, Denmark Hill, and a soloist at All Souls, Langham Place, and was discovered by Professor Edward Morgan, his instructor, some seven years ago, at a social party. Since then he has won 52 cups, a scholarship, and has toured Canada. The record is a magnificent example of his really lovely singing, and should, on no account, be missed."
(Review in The Sound Wave [London], March 1932, p. 97.) The record retailed at 2/6.

A contrasting view comes from Hubert S. Ryan in The Talking Machine and Wireless Trade News (London, March 1932, p. 34): "Those who like boy sopranos - or rather, trebles - will find much to their taste in this disc. The youngster has some good notes, but has as yet indifferent command over them, and was probably overawed by the immensity of an appearance before the microphone."
  Side A -   The Holy City (Adams)  
  Side B -   Jerusalem, thou that killest the Prophets (Mendelssohn)   (from "St Paul")
Master (Arthur) Iwan Davies - Handel: Oh, had I Jubal's lyre / Come unto Him
Handel: Oh, had I Jubal's lyre / Come unto Him (HMV B.4108 (10-inch), 78 RPM) April 1932
Featuring Master (Arthur) Iwan Davies  
Two pieces by G.F. Handel (1685-1759):
A: Oh, had I Jubal's lyre (from oratorio "Joshua", 1748) (matrix 0B1590-2)
B: Come unto Him (soprano half of duet based on Matt. 11:28-29 from Part 1 of oratorio "Messiah", 1742) (0B1591-1)
Both rec. 4 Mar. 1932 with Herbert Dawson, organ.
  Side A -   Oh, had I Jubal's lyre (Handel)   (from "Joshua")
  Side B -   Come unto Him (Handel)   (from "Messiah")
no cover
Clutsam: I Know of Two Bright Eyes / Geehl: "Good Day!" said the Blackbird (Decca F.1740 910-inch), 78 RPM) June 1930
Featuring Master (Arthur) Iwan Davies  
A: I Know of Two Bright Eyes (Myrra) (incipit: I know of two bright eyes watching for me.) (song, 1901: wds after poem by Abd-Ul-Mejid (see note below)- music George Howard Clutsam (1866-1951) in "Songs of the Turkish Hills", Set 1, no. 4)
(matrix MB1220)
B: "Good Day!" said the Blackbird (incipit: "Good Day!" said the Blackbird, on the lilac tree.) (song, 1923: wds Edward Frederick Lockton (c.1876-1940) - music Henry Ernest Geehl (1881-1961))
(MB1221-1)
Both rec. 14 Apl 1930 with Claude Ivy, piano.

Abd-Ul-Mejid (or 'Abdu-'l-Mejid, Abdülmecid I, etc.) (1823-61) succeeded in 1839 as 31st Sultan of the 'Osman dynasty, but left no poetry to posterity according to Elias Gibb's "Ottoman Poetry" (1882).
  Side A -   I Know of Two Bright Eyes (Clutsam)  
  Side B -   "Good Day!" said the Blackbird (Geehl)  
Other Recordings Compact | Full
Master (Arthur) Iwan Davies - The Better Land - Great Boy Sopranos Recorded 1914-1944
The Better Land - Great Boy Sopranos Recorded 1914-1944 (Amphion PHI CD 158, CD) 1999
Featuring The Better Land Series   Denis Barthel   John Bonner   Master Gordon Carter   Master (Arthur) Iwan Davies   Master Leslie Day   Frederick (John) Firth   Robert Harris   Aled Jones   Derrick Jones   Walter Lawrence   Trevor Schofield   Morris Stevens   Thomas Tweedy   Denis Wright  
The celebrated series of CD albums featuring the boy sopranos of the past. This volume is now deleted but replaced by the double CD volume The Better Land Volumes 1 & 2. See above.
  1.   The Better Land (Hemans-Cowen) (L)   Denis Wright
  2.   I Hear You Calling Me (Harford-Marshall) (L)   Leslie Day
  3.   He was Despised (Handel) (L)   Denis Barthel
  4.   Who is Sylvia? (Schubert ­ arr. Geehl)   Robert Harris
  5.   O Lord Whose Mercies Numberless (Handel) (L)   Frederick Firth
  6.   Somewhere a Voice is Calling(Newton & Tate)   John Bonner
  7.   God Shall Wipe Away all Tears(Sullivan) (L)   Morris Stevens
  8.   O For the Wings of a Dove (Mendelssohn) (L)   Gordon Carter
  9.   Serenade (Schubert)   Frederick Firth
10.   Smilin' Through (Arthur A. Penn) (L)   Derrick Jones
11.   Spring Morning (Carey)   Walter Lawrence
12.   If there were dreams to sell (Ireland) (L)   Frederick Firth
13.   Christopher Robin is saying his prayers (Milne- Fraser-Simson) (L)   Denis Wright
14.   By an Old Abbey Door (Towers, Leon, Nicholls)   Thomas Tweedy
15.   Goodnight Said the Cuckoo (P.B. Harding)   Trevor Schofield
16.   O Little Town of Bethlehem (H. Walford Davies) (L)   Denis Barthel
17.   The Last Rose of Summer (Thomas Moore) (L)   Denis Wright
18.   My Heart Ever Faithful (Bach) (L)   Frederick Firth
19.   Nymphs & Shepherds (Purcell)   John Bonner
20.   Market Square (Fraser-Simpson) (L)   Denis Wright
21.   The Holy City (Adams Weatherley) (L)   Iwan Davies
22.   For you alone (P.J.O'Reilly-Henry Geehl) (L)   Leslie Day
Email   Purchase from Stephen Beet Individual CD's £10 each plus postage. The Better Land set of 6 CD's is available from StephenRBeet@gmail.com Price £55 plus postage. Included in this offer is a FREE copy of "The Better Land - In search of the Lost Boy Sopranos" (retail value £10) Paypal address: beetstphn@aol.com
Books Compact | Full
Master (Arthur) Iwan Davies - Better Land, The: In Search of the Lost Boy Sopranos
Better Land, The: In Search of the Lost Boy Sopranos (Rectory Press , Book) April 2005
Featuring The Better Land Series   Temple Church Choir   Clifford Adams   Derek Barsham   Denis Barthel   John Bonner   Richard Bonsall   Alan Bradbrook   Master John Brookman   Richard Brown   Master Gordon Carter   Master (Arthur) Iwan Davies   Master Leslie Day   Robin Fairhurst   Frederick (John) Firth   Michael Ginn   John Gwilym Griffith(s)   Robert Harris   Michael Hartnett   Aled Jones   Beverley Jones   Raymond Kinsey   Harold Langston   Ernest Lough   Robin Lough   Thomas Meddings   Brian Moody   Billy Neely   Graham Payn   Robert Duncan Peel   Kenneth Purves   The Choir of the Queen's Chapel of the Savoy   Steffani and his Silver Songsters   Thomas Tweedy   Denis Wright  
By Stephen Beet. Features much newly-discovered material, telling the often very human stories of the boys behind the voices, at the height of their singing careers and in their later lives. Copiously illustrated with many previously-unpublished photographs and manuscript samples, with a Foreword by Peter Purves.

As well as chapters on Iwan Davies, Derek Barsham, and Denis Wright, amongst others there are also chapters under the following headings: The Temple Boys, The Manchester Boys, The Music Hall Boys, The Fleeting Boys, and The Broadcast Boys.

This book is available directly from the author: Contact StephenRBeet@gmail.com Price £10 plus postage

This book is available for the cost of postage and packing only if the set of six The Better Land CD albums is ordered.
Email   Stephen Beet The book costs £10 plus postage. Cheque or PayPal.
This page last modified on Saturday, October 24, 2009
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