Mervyn Burtch

Burtch was born in Ystrad Mynach, Wales. Except for his two years of National Service in the RAF, he lived his entire life in the Rhymney Valley. He attended Lewis' School Pengam, and was inspired to become a composer when he watched his teacher, David Wynne, copying out parts, and decided that was the kind of work he would like to do. He studied at Cardiff University, and subsequently became Head of Music at Bargoed Grammar Technical School, and then Head of Music at Lewis Girls' School in Ystrad Mynach.

Ganed Burtch yn Ystrad Mynach, Cymru. Ac eithrio ei ddwy flynedd o Wasanaeth Cenedlaethol yn yr Awyrlu, bu’n byw ei oes gyfan yng Nghwm Rhymni. Mynychodd Ysgol Lewis, Pengam, a chafodd ei ysbrydoli i ddod yn gyfansoddwr pan wyliodd ei athro, David Wynne, yn copïo rhannau, a phenderfynodd mai dyna'r math o waith yr hoffai ei wneud. Astudiodd ym Mhrifysgol Caerdydd, ac wedi hynny daeth yn Bennaeth Cerddoriaeth yn Ysgol Dechnegol Ramadeg Bargoed, ac yna'n Bennaeth Cerddoriaeth yn Ysgol Lewis i Ferched yn Ystrad Mynach.

In 1979 he joined the staff of the then Welsh College of Music and Drama (WCMD) and was Head of the Performance course at the College until 1989. After that he devoted himself to composition. His extensive output of instrumental and vocal works included 17 string quartets, 14 concertos, 13 operas for children and numerous choral and brass band pieces.

Drawing on his experience as a teacher, he was especially successful in composing for young musicians. In 1984 the WCMD began its Schools' Opera Programme under his direction, and he wrote some dozen short children's operas that were performed by more than 80,000 school children.

In 1996, together with the Welsh-Canadian author and educator Mark Morris, Mervyn founded the international KidsOp project. This won a prestigious Cable and Wireless Childnet Award in 1998.

In 2003 Mervyn Burtch was awarded the MBE for his services to music and education in Wales, and for his work as President of KidsOp.

The children in Year 2/3 have enjoyed learning about Mervyn's life, work and contributions to music. We listened to some of his pieces and talked about how music has the power to influence our emotions.

Volume and the Tonal Scale

We talked about the tonal scale we use in art and related it to the volume of sound and how different instruments make us want to mark make differently. We spoke about how the volume and tempo changes within music and how this has the power to change the way we feel in response to the technical changes.

Emotions and Colour

We then created a colour key to use in our work. The colour key was linked to our emotions and also the different instruments we heard. We discussed how some colours make us feel happy and excited, where others remind us of more negative feelings like fear or anxiety. The children had many interesting discussions around this idea and created their own colour keys with the colours they associate with different emotions.

Emotions and Shapes

We then created a shape key and used this to help us mark make in response to Mervyn's music and the emotions we felt at different parts of each composition. We found that mark making while listening to the music helped us pay attention to the different instruments played within each piece and the different feelings the composition conjured up within us.

Here are some snapshots of the children mark making in response to Mervyn's music!

We learned to really listen to the music and listened out for all the different types of instruments used in each piece.

We paused the music at certain parts and discussed how it made us feel. The music definitely influenced our mood and made us experience a variety of emotions throughout.

Some parts were fast tempo and loud and it made us mark make more quickly and apply more pressure, thus creating darker tones in our work.

Other parts were quieter and softer, which made us slow down and draw with more curves and circles. We also applied less pressure and felt more relaxed in our work.

Here are some of Mervyn's musical compositions we have listened to and enjoyed as a class...

Mervyn's Legacy

A portrait of Mervyn, painted by international landscape artist and 'step-daughter in law', Gigi Jones hangs proudly in the Royal Welsh College.

Mervyn was a distinguished figure amongst Wales’s composers and a long serving member of staff of the College from 1979 to 1994. He always maintained his interest in the College and commitment to our students’ development in his quiet, modest and unassuming way, including sponsoring the annual Mervyn Burtch composition prize.

Over a period of some sixty years, Mervyn’s output ranged from operas, concertos and string quartets through to a vast output for brass bands, choirs, community groups and, in particular, children.

Head of Composition John Hardy said, “As well as being a prolific composer, Mervyn was also an incredibly unassuming, friendly and encouraging human being. He was always hugely supportive of other musicians, with a kind or helpful word to offer to those often decades younger than himself.”

The citation read at Mervyn’s Fellowship ended with the words, “Mervyn Burtch is an artist of the highest order and has devoted his life to the culture and people of Wales and has a particular affinity with young people.”

The Mervyn Burtch Trust exists to make his work available as widely as possible and keep his music alive.

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