Lady Llanover was one of the greatest supporters of the Welsh cultural revival in the nineteenth century. Born in 1802 to English parents who had settled in Wales, she always regarded herself as thoroughly Welsh and she made it her mission to promote and protect Welsh language, literature, music and costume. She married politician Sir Benjamin Hall and their home at Llanover Court became the focal point for her circle of like-minded intellectuals and artists – for example, folklorist Maria Jane Williams, philanthropist and translator Lady Charlotte Guest, composer Henry Brinley Richards and Carnhuanawc (Rev. Thomas Price). Lady Llanover regarded the Welsh triple harp as ‘the most perfect national instrument in the world’ and employed harpists and harp makers in her household.
When Brinley Richards discovered a score of the Handel Harp Concerto for the Welsh harp in the British Museum, he approached Lady Llanover about a performance – the first since the concerto was played in Handel’s lifetime. They invited the internationally renowned Swedish harpist Adolf Sjödén (1843–93) to perform the work in 1869, and he learnt the Welsh triple harp in order to do so. Sjödén’s meeting with Lady Llanover and her circle served as a catalyst for his interest in folk music and culture; not only did he frequently include Welsh music in his European concerts, sometimes played on the triple harp, but he also saw Lady Llanover as a role model in the revival of Welsh music and culture.