Osian Gwynn Ellis[1]CBE (8 February 1928 – 5 January 2021[2]) was a Welshharpist, composer and teacher. He was principal harpist of the London Symphony Orchestra, a founding member of the Melos Ensemble, and a harp teacher at the Royal Academy of Music. Many composers wrote music for him. From 1959 onwards, Ellis had a close professional partnership with Benjamin Britten that lasted to the latter's death. He often first performed and recorded Britten's works.
Career
Osian Gwynn Ellis was born in Ffynnongroew, Flintshire,[3] in 1928, the son of the Rev. Tomos Ellis, a Welsh Methodist minister, and his wife Jenny (née Lewis), a harpist,[4] and spent the first four years of his life at Llys Myfr on Llinegr Hill.[1] As a boy Ellis was obsessed with playing the harp and playing football. In 2018 he recalled: "I chose the harp because we had one at home. My mother, Jennie, was a good amateur harpist. We did spend some years living in Denbigh and I was the goalkeeper for Denbigh County School. I taught myself to play the harp to some degree and was encouraged by my mother."[5]
Concertos were written for him by Alun Hoddinott (for the Cheltenham Festival in 1957), William Mathias (for the Llandaff Festival of 1970), Jørgen Jersild (1972), William Alwyn (1979) and Robin Holloway (1985).[3][1][10]
Ellis is particularly known for his musical association with Benjamin Britten, with whom he collaborated extensively. Their relationship began when Ellis was the harpist in a performance of A Ceremony of Carols in London on 4 January 1959, conducted by George Malcolm, which resulted in an invitation to play at the Aldeburgh Festival the following year.[4] Britten wrote the harp part in several of his major pieces with Ellis in mind, particularly A Midsummer Night's Dream, the War Requiem and the church parables. Britten also wrote his Harp Suite, Op. 83, for Ellis in 1969.[1] Ellis appeared in many first recordings of Britten's pieces, often with Britten himself conducting.[1] When Britten had to withdraw, due to heart surgery, from accompanying his partner, the tenor Peter Pears, on the piano, Ellis came to accompany Pears, and Britten wrote new pieces for them,[4] including Canticle V: The Death of St Narcissus (1974) and A Birthday Hansel (1975).[10][7]
His writings include The Story of the Harp in Wales (1991) ISBN0-7083-1104-0 (a revision of an earlier publication in Welsh), which traces the harp's development and discusses some famous harpists.[1][7]
