Blogs
Christmas Musical Bonus - Hear 'Nos Galan' ( Deck the Halls ) Played on the Crwth
By Ceri Shaw, 2018-12-18
From the Wikipedia :- " Deck the Halls" (original English title: "Deck the Hall") is a traditional Yuletide and New Years' carol. The "fa-la-la" refrains were probably originally played on the harp. The tune is Welsh dating back to the sixteenth century, and belongs to a winter carol, Nos Galan.
The tune is that of an old Welsh air, first found in a musical manuscript by Welsh harpist John Parry Ddall (c. 17101782), but undoubtedly much older than that. The composition is still popular as a dance tune in Wales, and was published in the 1784 and 1794 editions of the harpist Edward Jones's Musical and Poetical Relics of the Welsh Bards. Poet John Ceiriog Hughes wrote the first published lyrics for the piece in Welsh, titling it "Nos Galan" ("New Year's Eve"). A middle verse was later added by folk singers. In the eighteenth century the tune spread widely, with Mozart using it in a piano and violin concerto and, later, Haydn in the song "New Year's Night.
Originally, carols were dances and not songs. The accompanying tune would have been used as a setting for any verses of appropriate metre. Singers would compete with each other, verse for verse known as canu penillion dull y De ("singing verses in the southern style"). The church actively opposed these folk dances. Consequently, tunes originally used to accompany carols became separated from the original dances, but were still referred to as "carols". The popular English lyrics for this carol are not a translation from the Welsh."
The above version ( together with many other tracks ) is performed by Dr J.Marshall Bevil on the Welsh traditional instrument - the crwth. Linked below is a three part interview with Dr Bevil about the instrument:-
...
Master of The Crwth - Digon o Grwth Part 1
Master of The Crwth - Digon o Grwth Part 2
Master of The Crwth - Digon o Grwth Part 3
...
AmeriCymru: Hi Gwyndaf and many thanks for agreeing to this interview. What can you tell us about your forthcoming album 'Songs My Mother Taught Me'?
Gwyndaf: This new album that I have just recorded has been something I have wanted to do for a few years now. I wanted to record works from people that i enjoyed listening to as I grew into who I am today.
AmeriCymru: When did you first realise that you had been gifted with an extraordinary voice? At what point did you decide to become a singer?
Gwyndaf: I was very fortunate to have been born into a wonderfully diverse musical family. My mother was an operatic contralto who opened my ears and soul to the wonderful world of Italian opera. It was perfect for me... I love drama on the stage but not in my real life. It is fantastic for me to suffer and battle and even die on stage and then go home to my fantastically normal life with my beautiful wife and daughter.
My father introduced me to Jazz and sacred music. He also brought amazing words of the Welsh Greats. This absolutely helped realize that words matter so much. Even to shape the phrasing in a musical score.
My grandparents brought the wonderful music of the 1920s to the 50s to my life.
Friends that showed me that we are all so different emotionally. We choose music for different reasons and why it touches our heart. Mostly from our culture, belief system and upbringing and life experiences. Especially suffering and love.
My wife and daughter are two of the greatest reasons why I continue to sing professionally. It is a hard life. Without a family it is also very lonely. From the day I met and began living with the love of my life, my professional life has been made much easier. Her support is shockingly strong. We created a beautiful child from our love. She will also be an artist. She oozes that wonderful artistry that is so wonderful to witness.
To answer your question of when i realized i had a gift of an extraordinary voice... Well I do not see or hear it. As a Welsh artist we are very critical of our voices and every step of the entire process.
Thank God that some people think I have a gift that is good enough to make a living. My wife is the greatest driving force in slowly lifting that insecurity from me. Maybe one day I will hear what others hear in me.
AmeriCymru: How would you describe your current repertoire?
Gwyndaf: My current repertoire is exactly what I love to do. A bit of everything that I like to think that I can do well, which is to sing and connect with an audience.
It is so wonderful to enjoy myself on a stage or a studio and have a person of any age come up to me and say that I had really touched them that evening.
Mainly older women. I love to sing songs from their youth. Somehow I understand that time better than today's.
AmeriCymru: What is your proudest achievement or moment? Is there any one performance, tour or album in your career that stands out for you?
Gwyndaf: My proudest achievement career wise will always be when my father got to see and hear me perform the lead in Il Trovatore before he died. I played along side my teacher from the age of 8 years old. He was so proud. I felt it was and still is the greatest performance of my life. It was a magical night. I will carry it in my heart forever.
My greatest recording is this one that I have just finished called Songs My Mother Taught Me. We can all relate to that term. Mothers have always taught us songs. It is my tribute to great composers, singers, musicians and all the lovely people who have shared their music with me over the past 49 years.
I hope to have it manufactured and on the market in the new year.
AmeriCymru: Where can people go online to hear/buy your music?
Gwyndaf: My website can be found at welshtenor.ca .
AmeriCymru: Any final message for the readers and members of AmeriCymru?
Gwyndaf: I hope that all the Welsh people world wide realize, cherish and share their God given gifts with anyone who is willing to listen. I know that it builds and creates wonderful artistry in so many people.
I can only say thank you to everyone that have shared their gifts with me. It helped make me the man and artist that I am today.
Singing is healthy. It connects all of us. No matter what language. Mind you Welsh is by far the best.
What you wish for is
not always careful
a glib handover
in an ambient Tiger tank
in shadows of oboes
on an European coastline
you know so well
a meaningful vote
devoid of much meaning
not the kind of leaving
you had in mind
when you let that paper
drop into the aperture
we’ve been mis-sold
overblown oligarchies
and demoralised democracies
so let’s invent pop up monarchies
and subvert history
as it is all made up
as it stumbles along
or at least that’s what
the fecklessness of many
of our leaders seems to suggest
and remember to schedule a tour
of our shiny new fiefdom
some time after we have
regained control of it
not that we ever had it
under our control
journey to the more neglected areas
whose road signs brightly herald
the contribution made
by the former partner
to the construction of those routes
linking these communities
to the prospect of a more civilizing life
though by then these may well
have been taken down
or fallen down
amid the amnesia often
reserved for the poor
ticking a box
shouting the loudest
and decrying those
who don’t share exactly
the same views
doesn’t always deliver our wish lists
as our unity drip drip drips
into stalactite statues
in mothballed baggage reclaim halls
what we've packed
is what we've become
This is my first book and I am currently working on book two, so I am still learning.
I have added part of the preface in my book. The book has only just gone up so I don't know how much I am allowed to show.
Preface (Snippets of )
This story sort of came to me in a dream, the charters names and plot danced in front of my eyes at around three am forcing me to wake up. By four am I was writing the story you see before you.
I did not want to write about the usual stuff but the charters had other ideas on the matter, they pushed me in certain directions and did things I did not want them to do but they are their own people after all. Who am I to interfere?
You will notice that there is a large Welsh influence throughout the book (shock horror I am Welsh), there will be a little Welsh folklore as well as symbols and some contextual passages throughout the book that all add to the storyline both in this book and hopefully in books to come.
Links with another planet which you are all familiar with will become apparent as will the link between this world and the creation of the Welsh culture which may not be made clear in this book. What was the reason for this?
Most books and films that have characters from the UK in them only have them from England, Ireland, and Scotland. I felt this to be wrong and that it was time for a change.
Paperback back cover
Myth, magic add a little Welsh folklore.
Throw in an evil so old that it is only called the darkness.
Add two children, one boy and one girl both 12years old and attending the first year of school at the same time.
The school teaches magic born and mundane alike and NO there is no waving of sticks or flying on broomsticks (broomsticks are for sweeping after all).
Thomas is rich arrogant and entitled, also unhappy and lonely.
Andra is quiet, bright, not at all comfortable with the way she looks and also lonely.
We follow them through their epic battle with evil.
We follow them through the good times and the bad, through joy and sorrow.
They live on a planet that is in a different dimension, where dragons are thought extinct and mythical creatures exist.
I have two introductions that may characters Andra and Thomas made me write, I will post them if anyone is interested.
Yes I know there will be errors but I will learn from them and do better next time
Diolch guys (and girls)
Win Two Tickets To Karl Jenkins' 75th Birthday Celebration Presented by DCINY
By AmeriCymru, 2018-12-05
WE HAVE A WINNER!!
And the winner is..... Dave Klein. Dave will be informed via email and his tickets will be available at 'will call' on the night. For those who entered but did not win, don't despair!! You can take advantage of DCINY's extremely generous 20% discount offer for AmeriCymru readers. The code is DCG30382 and it can be used online, over the phone, or in person at Carnegie Hall. Don't miss this prestigious annual event BOOK NOW!
"Sir Karl Jenkins is the most performed living composer in the world."
We are extremely pleased and proud to announce that Distinguished Concerts International have made available a pair of tickets for the forthcoming Karl Jenkins concert in New York at the Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage, Carnegie Hall on Monday, January 21st, 2019. The program includes Sir Karl Jenkins’s Symphonic Adiemus as well as Jenkins’s Stabat Mater. Read our (2010) interview with Karl Jenkins here
We are offering these tickets as a QUIZ PRIZE on Americymru!
Just answer the three easy quiz questions below ( answers can all be found on Wikipedia ) and send them to us at americymru@gmail.com ( all email addresses will be deleted when the competition closes ). We'll throw all the entries in a hat and pick the winner! Please email us by Monday, January 14th, 2019 no later than 9 PM ( Pacific Time ). Tickets will be ready at will call on 1/21 at the Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, Carnegie Hall; the winner will just need to bring a photo ID.
Only one entry per email address is permitted. Duplicates will be disqualified. You do not need to be an AmeriCymru member or logged into the site in order to enter this competition.
If you don't win the competition, please do not despair. DCINY is very kindly offering a 30% discount code for AmeriCymru readers. The code is DCG30382 and it can be used online, over the phone, or in person at Carnegie Hall
Karl Jenkins Quiz
- Which famous jazz-rock fusion band was Karl Jenkins a member of in the 70's?
- Which of Jenkins' works was listed as No. 1 in Classic FM's "Top 10 by living composers"?
- Where was Karl Jenkins born?
The Music of Sir Karl Jenkins: A 75th Birthday Celebration
Monday, January 21, 2019 at 7:00 PM
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, Carnegie Hall
DCINY presents the US premiere of Welsh composer and DCINY’s composer-in-residence Sir Karl Jenkins’s Symphonic Adiemus as well as Jenkins’s Stabat Mater. Maestro Jonathan Griffithleads the Distinguished Concerts Orchestra and Distinguished Concerts Singers International in a celebration of Sir Karl Jenkins’s 75th birthday.
Performers
Jonathan Griffith, Conductor
Baidar Al Basri, Ethnic Soloist
Distinguished Concerts Orchestra and Distinguished Concerts Singers International
Program
All-Sir Karl Jenkins Program
Symphonic Adiemus (US Premiere)
Stabat Mater
Tickets $20-$100!
On Sale Now!
Visit CarnegieHall.org or call 212-247-7800
Box Office: 57th Street and Seventh Avenue
Ticket Link: https://www.carnegiehall.org/calendar/2019/01/21/the-music-of-sir-karl-jenkins-0700pm
..
It was many years ago that I first met Ceri Shaw online. I would go so far as to say that both he and I gave Zuckerburg the idea for Facebook.
At the time we were dabbling with what technology was available, basically an old sospan fach, a cheeseboard, some tin foil and a transistor radio demolished for parts.
That said we managed to create two networking sites. Americymru and Deheubarth.
Years later a magazine fell off my dusty old shelf and up popped Ceri's name again. I guessed that the platform called NING had long gone but also guessed that Ceri might have found another way to bond people together like a grand mixture for Welshcakes.
He had and Americymru was and is alive and kicking. Sad to say that my old NING site is still in a folder on a hard drive somewhere. I did however turn my attentions to writing for a newspaper before leaving having been unpaid to the sum of almost £7k. Yes they are about.
So it was that I set about doing what I know best and creating another online platform for my hometown of Llanelli. Llanelli Online. What else? The site is a news led site but also has some great features like interviews with politicians, celebs and local characters.
It is here then that I will direct you to find out more and it is here here that I will endeavour to share some of the best bits with you.
Wherever you are in the world, I hope you enjoy the blog.
Link to purchase on Amazon:- Bring The Rising Home!
For anyone who is unacquainted with the historical details of the 1831 Merthyr Rising, the following link should be of some assistance - Merthyr Rising . Of course, the most thorough and authoritative account of these events can be found in Gwyn Williams' - The Merthyr Rising.
The Rising is commemorated with an annual festival in Castle Street, Merthyr where twenty four of the protestors were shot and killed in 1831. This collection was published to coincide with the 2017 event.
The anthology consists of 25 poems (four in Welsh with English translations) and accompanying illustrations by Welsh artist Gustavius Payne. For more details about Mike Jernkins and Gustavius Payne please see the biographical details and links at the bottom of this page.
In 'Ble?' Mike Jenkins asks:-
Ble mae'r enwau'r pedwerydd ar hugain,
gafodd eu saethu gan y fyddin?
Where are the names of the twenty-four,
killed by the army in this square?
Other poems in the collection directly refer to the historical events of 1831 but more concern themselves with contemporary living conditions in Merthyr Tydfil and elsewhere.
In 'Bag Full of Writings (For Merthyr Rock Bands)' we meet a street poet/songwriter who is down on his luck:-
He's been living in the dole age
since they invented it;
his plasticine face moulded
by worry and rage.
A chance encounter with a young lad fresh out of Swansea jail is immortalised in 'Outa Jail':-
Don' know wha I woz doin, see,
pissed outa my ead-
least I gotta job washin cars,
better 'an-a las one
in-a juice factree
all overtime, no breaks an unions,
treated like bloody sheep.
Many of Mike's poems give voice to the disadvantaged, the homeless and the destitute. For example 'In Portland, Oregon' recounts an incident at the local bus station when a homeless person temporarily waylaid Mikes bus when he was on his way to a West Coast Eisteddfod event in the town:-
A downtown junkie came out
from the toilet ranting
and hi-jacked our bus,
the black woman driver calming him
until the cops turned up.
The collection ends with the somewhat disturbing 'We Want it Back!' in which the protagonists are heard to demand:-
We want it back
we want our country back!
We want Grammar Schools
(though not Sec-Mods),
where working-class kids
can achieve (well, a few of them)
we want corporal punishment
like the cane and the tawse,
pupils will be grateful
when they are abused
There is perhaps a certain irony in demanding a partial return to conditions that once led to insurrectionary violence and bloodshed in the streets. But, Mike Jenkins is no preacher and readers are left to their own deliberations and to draw their own conclusions.
The illustrations are powerful and provocative throughout and perfectly evocative of Mike's poetic themes. In a note at the end of the book Gustavius Payne, after detailing their many shared interests, has this to say about his artistic collaboration with Mike Jenkins:-
"It may be that the basic ingredients of our artistic endeavours have more in common than many, and perhaps explains why the visual work I've done resonates so closely with the series of poems that Mike has written."
Whatever the shared background and interests, their collaboration has produced an outstanding book. We have no hesitation in recommending this collection to anyone with an interest in contemporary Merthyr, Welsh working class history or fine poetry and artwork.
Notes on Two Welsh Artists
Mike Jenkins is a retired teacher of English at comprehensive schools. He lives in Merthyr Tydfil, has co-edited 'Red Poets' for 23 years and has blogged weekly on his website www.mikejenkins.net since 2009. He runs creative writing workshops with children and adults and organises regular poetry events in Merthyr and elsewhere in south Wales. He is winner of the 1998 Wales Book of the Year for a book of short stories, Wanting To Belong (Seren); his latest book of poetry is in Merthyr vernacular Sofa Surfin' (Carreg Gwalch); and he was shortlisted for the Bread and Roses Poetry Award 2017.
Gustavius Payne is a Welsh figurative artist, represented by Ffin-Y-Parc Gallery, Llanrwst, where his work is regularly exhibited and held in stock. His paintings are also held in collections including at the University of South Wales and the Museum of Modern Art, Wales. He has exhibited regularly since 1994 including a touring exhibition with Mike jenkins in 2011/2012, funded by Arts Council Wales.
The Music of Sir Karl Jenkins: A 75th Birthday Celebration (Discount Code For AmeriCymru Readers)
By AmeriCymru, 2018-11-29
The Music of Sir Karl Jenkins: A 75th Birthday Celebration
Monday, January 21, 2019 at 7:00 PM - Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, Carnegie Hall
DCINY presents the US premiere of Welsh composer and DCINY’s composer-in-residence Sir Karl Jenkins’s Symphonic Adiemus as well as Jenkins’s Stabat Mater. Maestro Jonathan Griffithleads the Distinguished Concerts Orchestra and Distinguished Concerts Singers International in a celebration of Sir Karl Jenkins’s 75th birthday.
Performers:
Jonathan Griffith, Conductor
Baidar Al Basri, Ethnic Soloist
Distinguished Concerts Orchestra and Distinguished Concerts Singers International
Program:
All-Sir Karl Jenkins Program
Symphonic Adiemus (US Premiere)
Stabat Mater
Tickets $20-$100!
On Sale Now!
Visit CarnegieHall.org or call 212-247-7800
Box Office: 57th Street and Seventh Avenue
Ticket Link: https://www.carnegiehall.org/calendar/2019/01/21/the-music-of-sir-karl-jenkins-0700pm
AmeriCymru has 4 spots available in the right hand column on ad supporting pages. These ads are $25 for a year AND we'll throw in the period between now and Christmas as well!!! We welcome ads for Welsh themed books, music, artwork and gifts BUT, please act now, time for this offer is running out.
We also have 5 $10 dollar spots on our new Christmas shopping page. If you want to advertise here to test the response, we will credit your $10 toward a full length (12 month) ad next year. So, for a mere $15 extra you can advertise right up until next Christmas. Use the PayPal button below to reserve your spot or email americymru@gmail.com for more details.
When I was a lad in Pontypool I would frequently visit 'Aldo's' on the way home from school to play pinball, drink coffee and socialize. I don't know if it's still there but in my youth it was one of many Italian cafe's that graced the south Wales mining valleys. From Pontypool to Ammanford or from Treorchy to Cardiff you would likely spot a 'Rabaiotti's', 'Bracchi's' or 'Carini's'. These cafe's were run by Italian immigrants who left home to escape poverty, Mussolini, or both.
'Hear The Echo' is Rob Gittins' fifth novel and in choosing to set it against the background of this migration and a related tragic historical incident, he has once again succeeded in crafting a superbly intriguing and suspenseful novel.
In the 1930's, Chiara emigrates from Italy to forge a new and better life in Wales. She encounters bigotry and xenophobia as she and her employer battle to keep their italian cafe in business in the shadow of World War II. But all that's soon eclipsed by a love triangle that threatens to destroy everything.
Meanwhile present-day Welsh-Italian Frankie struggles to find the money and hope to hold her family together in the same valleys community. Along the way she has to decide how far she's prepared to go to do that - and whether what she has is actually worth the fight.
The two women never meet. But as their joint experiences begin to resonate down through time, their journeys intersect. And each becomes as real to the other as if they'd physically breathed the same air.
This is a superbly crafted and suspenseful thriller which will hold the reader spellbound throughout. It also has much to say on topics of vital contemporary concern such as immigration and integration.
Arandora Star
From the Wikipedia:- " SS Arandora Star was a British passenger ship of the Blue Star Line. She was built in 1927 as an ocean liner and refrigerated cargo ship, converted in 1929 into a cruise ship and requisitioned as a troop ship in World War II. At the end of June 1940 she was assigned the task of transporting Italian and German civilians among a small number of prisoners of war to Canada. On 2 July 1940 she was sunk in controversial circumstances by a German U-boat with a large loss of life, 865."
