# Gwyn Arch
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{{Short description|British musical arranger and choirmaster (1931–2021)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox person/Wikidata|fetchwikidata=ALL|noicon=on|dateformat=dmy}}
'''Gwyn Arch''' {{postnom|country=GBR|MBE}} (4 May 1931 – June 2021) was a British [musical arranger](/source/arrangement), composer, and [choir director](/source/choirmaster).[{{cite web |title=Gwyn Arch {{!}} composer |url=https://www.hebu-music.com/en/musician/gwyn-arch.38834/ |website=www.hebu-music.com |access-date=8 June 2021}}] He grew up in [Birmingham](/source/Birmingham) and then [Ipswich](/source/Ipswich), where he attended secondary school.[{{cite news| title=Gwyn Arch — April 5, 1931-June 6, 2021 | work=Henley Standard|first=Liz|last=Harrison | date=5 July 2021 | url=https://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/sonning-common/163531/gwyn-arch-april-5-1931-june-6-2021.html | access-date=13 October 2025}}][{{cite magazine | title=In celebration of Gwyn Arch, MBE|work=Caversham Bridge|page=16| url=https://rga-artists.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/CB_September_2021_Edition-compressed.pdf | access-date=13 October 2025}}] After [national service](/source/Conscription_in_the_United_Kingdom) he studied English at [Selwyn College](/source/Selwyn_College%2C_Cambridge), [University of Cambridge](/source/University_of_Cambridge).[{{cite news |title=The man who made music come alive |url=https://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/music/70627/The-man-who-made-music-come.html |access-date=8 June 2021 |work=[Henley Standard](/source/Henley_Standard)}}][{{cite web |title=Gwyn Arch |url=https://www.goodmusicpublishing.co.uk/composer/gwyn-arch |publisher=Good Music |access-date=8 June 2021}}] He played in [jazz band](/source/jazz_band)s there and at [Wadham College, Oxford](/source/Wadham_College%2C_Oxford),[{{cite news |title=Our boy's the musical star of Strictly but hates fame |url=https://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/sonning-common/103360/our-boy-s-the-musical-star-of-strictly-but-hates-fame.html |access-date=8 June 2021 |work=Henley Standard}}][{{cite web |title=Gwyn Arch - arranger, choral director biography |url=https://www.singers.com/arrangers/Gwyn-Arch/ |website=Singers.com |access-date=8 June 2021}}] In the 1960s he arranged music for [BBC Home Service](/source/BBC_Home_Service) radio programmes for schools, and in the 1970s, he made several appearances, as a [conductor](/source/Conductor_(music)), on the [BBC Television](/source/BBC_Television) programme ''Seeing and Believing''.[{{cite web |title=Gwyn Arch |url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?adv=0&q=Gwyn%20Arch+&media=all&yf=1923&yt=2009&mf=1&mt=12&tf=00%3A00&tt=00%3A00#search |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608204338/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?adv=0&q=Gwyn%20Arch+&media=all&yf=1923&yt=2009&mf=1&mt=12&tf=00:00&tt=00:00#search |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 June 2021 |website=[BBC Genome](/source/BBC_Genome) |access-date=8 June 2021}}]
In 1969 the publishers [B. Feldman](/source/Bert_Feldman) asked Arch to contribute to the ''Pop Cantata'' school music genre established by its rival Novello and Co., in works such as ''The Daniel Jazz'' (by [Herbert Chappell](/source/Herbert_Chappell)) and ''Jonah-man Jazz'' (by [Michael Hurd](/source/Michael_Hurd_(composer))). Setting a text by his colleague Patrick Rooke, Arch composed ''Creation Jazz'', a lively account of how God created the world. It is a fifteen minute work of seven songs linked by recitative sections. It was broadcast by BBC Television on 1 February 1970.[David Chandler. 'Appalling Popularity! The Daniel Jazz and the Cultural Phenomenon of the Pop Cantata, 1960-1971', in ''British Music'', Vol 47 (2025), pp. 11-26]
He was [musical director](/source/musical_director) of the South Chiltern Choral Society for almost 50 years, retiring in 2014.[{{cite news |title=Fond farewell to retiring musical director of the South Chiltern Choral Society |url=https://www.getreading.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/fond-farewell-retiring-musical-director-7410946 |access-date=8 June 2021 |work=BerkshireLive |date=2014-07-11 }}] In 1971 he established the Reading Male Voice Choir and served as the choir's musical director until 2015.[{{cite web | title=Helbling Publishing (search for "Gwyn Arch") | url=https://www.helblingpublishing.com/?pagename=search&search=Gwyn+Arch}}] He marketed many of his [arrangement](/source/arrangement)s for male voice choirs as [sheet music](/source/sheet_music) via his company Grove Music.{{efn|Not to be confused with the [Grove Dictionary of Music](/source/The_New_Grove_Dictionary_of_Music_and_Musicians).}}[{{cite web |title=TTBB Music for Male Voice Choirs |url=http://www.malechoirmusic.co.uk/ |publisher=Grove Music |access-date=8 June 2021}}]
==Honours==
Arch was appointed a [Member of the Order of the British Empire](/source/Member_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire) (MBE) in the [2006 Birthday Honours](/source/2006_Birthday_Honours), for services to music in [Berkshire](/source/Berkshire).[{{London Gazette |date=17 June 2006 |issue=58014 |page=14 |supp=1}}]
The Gwyn Arch Foundation was launched in his memory on 9 April 2022 at a celebration concert featuring several of the choirs he founded. It aims "to support the development and performance of choral music by and for young people within the Thames Valley".[{{cite web | title=Gwyn Arch Foundation|url=http://gwynarchfoundation.org.uk}}]
==Personal life==
Arch met Jane, subsequently a head teacher, when he was at [Oxford University](/source/Oxford_University), where he was musical director of the [Experimental Theatre Club](/source/Experimental_Theatre_Club) and she was in the choir.