FOREWORD

If it had not been for Ann Griffiths (1934-2020) asking us the question ‘Who was Adolf Sjödén?’, this publication might never have happened. She had come across his name in connection with her research into Augusta Hall, Lady Llanover (1802-1896), the great nineteenth-century patroness of all things Welsh, and the answer to her question has proved most interesting!

Adolf Sjödén (1843-1893) was born and brought up in Sollefteå in northern Sweden and he became one of the most famous travelling pedal-harp virtuosi of his time, widely acclaimed and celebrated throughout Scandinavia and Europe. He was also an avid collector of harp music and folk music and his large archive, held in Västernorrlands Museum, Härnösand, Sweden, bears witness to this. But until recent years he was largely forgotten. His archive contains many items of historical interest and also an extensive collection of folk tunes that he noted down on his travels. He met Lady Llanover in Wales in 1868 and became an accepted member of her circle. At her invitation, Sjödén performed Handel’s Concerto for the Welsh Harp, which had been rediscovered by Brinley Richards in the British Museum. For this performance, which took place before royalty and the great and the good of London society on 15 July 1869, Sjödén learnt to play the Welsh triple harp which possibly makes him one of the pioneers of historically informed performance practice.

Amongst the various important books of Welsh music in the Sjödén archive is a manuscript believed to be a copy of an original collection by John Parry. Several questions arose from this discovery. Was it indeed an original manuscript by John Parry; was it unique, and how accurate was the copy? In an attempt to answer these questions, the manuscript was compared to other contemporary and later manuscripts and publications. The origins of the tunes were examined and Sjödén´s accuracy both as a copyist and collector was evaluated. Our conclusion was that there is compelling evidence to believe that this manuscript copied by Sjödén is in fact a lost musical treasure by John Parry and thus a great addition to Welsh harp repertoire of the eighteenth century.

Helen Davies Mikkelborg
Maximilian Ehrhardt
Lia Lonnert
June 2025

Copyright ©2025 Adlais