Morfydd Llwyn Owen (1 October 1891 – 7 September 1918) was a Welsh composer, pianist and mezzo-soprano. A prolific composer, as well as a member of influential intellectual circles, she died shortly before her 27th birthday. Early life and education Owen was born in Treforest, Wales on 1 October 1891 to William Owen and his wife, Sara Jane (née Jones). Her parents were both amateur musicians who ran a drapery business. She was a musical child, showing great talent at an early age and received piano lessons early on. While in her teens she appeared as a soloist in a performance of the Grieg Piano Concerto. At 16 she began to study piano and composition with Dr David Evans in Cardiff and had her first published work, a hymn tune entitled "Morfydd", produced in 1909. After two years of study with Evans, Owen won a scholarship to study at the University College in Cardiff and was formally admitted into the composition class. Many of her works were performed in student recitals at Cardiff, and she graduated in 1912. The same year, she was admitted to the Gorsedd of the Bards at the Wrexham National Eisteddfod under the name Morfydd Llwyn Owen, honouring the placename of her father's Montgomeryshire home Plas Llwyn Owen by adopting 'Llwyn' as her middle name. Owen's parents were reluctant for her to continue her studies in London, but were persuaded to allow this partly by the intervention of the Liberal politician Eliot Crawshay-Williams. Owen and her father had jointly set Crawshay-Williams' poem Lullaby at Sunset to music, and her father wrote to him requesting permission for this to be published. Owen took her BA in music in July 1912 and was accepted by the Royal Academy of Music on the Goring Thomas scholarship, which she held for four years. She took up her place at the Royal Academy in September 1912 where her principal study was composition, with piano and singing as second studies. She received individual composition lessons with Frederick Corder, who taught several other notable British composers. She was a very successful student and won two prizes in her first year: the Charles Lucas medal for composition, for her Nocturne in D major, and the Oliveria Prescott prize for general excellence. She continued to accumulate awards during her time at the Royal Academy where her works – songs, part-songs and piano pieces including a