Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

3 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

Byd y Gan.

EDWARD GERMAN'S "WELSH RHAPSODY."

Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

EDWARD GERMAN'S "WELSH RHAPSODY." By HARRY EVANS. Loudly proclaim o'er land and sea This is the home of liberty. When it became known that a foremost living composer, in the person of Edward German, was to produce a new work, based on five beautiful Welsh melodies, at the Cardiff Triennial Festival, the liveliest interest was aroused amongst musicians generally, and especially amongst Welshmen. But, though it was felt that no one could do better justice to the tunes than Mr. German, the production of the work at Cardiff revealed a work which in design, structure, beauty, and colour was nothing short of a wonderful surprise to us all, and Welshmen were delighted beyond measure. The old complaint has been, and is, that we are so backward in orchestral music, and there are many reasons to account for this; but, from recent experience, lack of appreciation of orches- tral music must not in future be given as a reason. Having heard four public performances of the Rhapsody, two of which I had the pleasure and privilege of conducting, I came to the conclusion, after having witnessed the extraordinary enthu- siasm and appreciation of the audiences, that there would be little difficulty in getting Welsh people to thoroughly appreciate orchestral music. But it must be served judiciously, and what could be a better means than through the medium of our national folk-songs ? There can be no doubt that Welsh music has been considerably enriched and enhanced by this most important and far-reaching work, our fine tunes have been given a world-wide pro- minence, and the people have been convinced that the melodies are more beautiful and charac- teristic than they ever imagined them to be. German is certainly at his best in the Rhapsody -which, by the way, is not a rhapsody in the ordinary meaning of the term—spasmodic, emotional, fantasia-like. It is in regular classic form-a miniature symphony, in fact. The colouring is always charming and the atmosphere created is always true and convincing, whether in the patriotic and noble opening, Loudly proclaim," the sprightly hunting song, Hunting the Hare," the dainty Bells of Aberdovey," the poignant and touching" Dafydd y Gareg Wen," or in the warlike, bold March of the Men of Harlech (the finest march tune in existence), which reaches a stupendous climax. Welshmen owe a deep debt of gratitude to the composer for the loving care he has bestowed on the tunes, and it is the duty of every Welshman who loves his country and its folk-songs to become acquainted with this lasting monument to the beauty of our national melodies. This opportunity will be given to Londoners on Thursday evening next, at the Queen's Hall, when the work will receive its first performance in London in its original form at the concert of the Philharmonic Society-the premier musical society of Great Britain—under the conductor- ship of Dr. Cowen.

- SEISNIGYDDIAETH.