Music education in Wales

There has always been a choral tradition in Wales (some choirs having as many as 2,000 to 3,000 voices). Despite this, music education in Wales did not exist before the early years of the 20th century.

The Gregynog sisters

Around this time, sisters Gwendoline and Margaret Davies - granddaughters of Welsh industrialist David Davies and owners of Gregynog, a country estate in the county of Montgomeryshire (now Powys) - set up a peripatetic system and brought recordings of Beethoven and Mozart for the pupils of the schools in Wales to listen to. The sisters were friends with contemporary composers Delius, Elgar and Holst who performed in their home, Gregynog Hall.