Robin Huw Bowen
Encyclopedia
Triple Harp
The triple harp, often referred to as the Welsh triple harp , is a type of harp employing three rows of strings instead of the more common single row...
, known in Welsh as Telyn Deires (Three-row Harp), and is recognised internationally as the leading exponent of the instrument. He was awarded the Glyndŵr Award
Glyndwr Award
The Glyndŵr Award is made for an Outstanding Contribution to the Arts in Wales. It is given by the Machynlleth Tabernacle Trust to pre-eminent figures in music, art and literature in rotation...
in 2000.
Born into the Welsh community in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
into a family originally from Anglesey
Anglesey
Anglesey , also known by its Welsh name Ynys Môn , is an island and, as Isle of Anglesey, a county off the north west coast of Wales...
, Robin learned to play the simple Celtic Harp
Clàrsach
Clàrsach or Cláirseach , is the generic Gaelic word for 'a harp', as derived from Middle Irish...
while at school, inspired by the Breton harper, Alan Stivell
Alan Stivell
Alan Stivell is a Breton musician and singer, recording artist and master of the celtic harp who from the early 1970s revived global interest in the Celtic harp and Celtic music as part of world music.- Background: learning Breton music and culture :Alan was born in the Auvergnat town of Riom...
. In 1979 he received a degree in Welsh Language and Literature from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth
University of Wales, Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth University is a university located in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding Member Institution of the former federal University of Wales. As of late 2006, the university had over 12,000 students spread across seventeen academic departments.The university was founded in 1872 as...
.
He was first exposed to the more complicated Welsh Triple Harp by two members of the Welsh
traditional music group Ar Log
Ar Log
Ar Log are a well-established folk band in Wales who have performed since the 1970s. They perform both instrumental music and songs in Welsh. Their name in Welsh means For Hire....
, brothers Dafydd and Gwyndaf Roberts. They had learned to play the instrument from Nansi Richards
Nansi Richards
Nansi Richards Jones of Penybontfawr, Oswestry, was a Welsh harpist, sometimes known as the “Queen of the Harp”....
, one of the last truly traditional Welsh folk harpists from the previous generation, and the very last to still play the Welsh Triple harp in the correct traditional manner.
Although he regularly performs as a soloist, Robin joined the Welsh traditional group Mabsant in 1986 and later joined Cusan Tân. Since 1998 he has been a member of the Welsh 'super-group' Crasdant. In 2004 he and four other Triple Harpists formed Rhes Ganol, the very first Welsh Triple Harp 'Choir' to exist since that of Llanover Court during its heyday at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Robin Huw Bowen worked for many years at the National Library of Wales
National Library of Wales
The National Library of Wales , Aberystwyth, is the national legal deposit library of Wales; one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies.Welsh is its main medium of communication...
in Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth is a historic market town, administrative centre and holiday resort within Ceredigion, Wales. Often colloquially known as Aber, it is located at the confluence of the rivers Ystwyth and Rheidol....
. While there he discovered several old collections of Welsh tunes and arrangements for harp, some of which have since been published either by the Library or by his own music publishing company, Gwasg Teires. His research has also drawn on living sources, in particular the harpist Eldra Jarman (great granddaughter of John Roberts ('Telynor Cymru') the last exponent of the true Welsh Gypsy harping tradition.
Albums
- Trwy'r Weiar - Through the Wire (1987) with Mabsant
- Telyn Berseiniol Fy Ngwlad - Sweet Harp of My Land (1991)
- Cusan Tân - Kiss of Fire (1992) with Cusan Tân
- Hela'r Draenog - Hunting the Hedgehog (1994)
- Cerddoriaeth Telyn Cymru - Harp Music Of Wales (1995)
- Esgair - The Ridge (1996) with Cusan Tân
- Hen Aelwyd - Old Hearth (1999)
- Crasdant (1999) with Crasdant
- Nos Sadwrn Bach - Not Yet Saturday (2001) with Crasdant
- Yn y Gwaed - In the Blood (2004) with Rhes Ganol
- Dwndwr - The Great Noise (2005) with Crasdant
- Y Ffordd i Aberystwyth - The Road to Aberystwyth (2007)