Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

6 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

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Editopial Notes.

Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

Editopial Notes. The Swansea National Eisteddfod was in every way a complete success. The financial enterprise which, is behind a five days' festival is no ordinary one; there must be a long pull, a strong pull, and a good pull together before the two sides of the balance sheet will realise healthy satisfaction in the Eisteddfod town; there must be strenuous work in long and weary committees, and members must be pre- pared for small compensations in the way of personal advertisement before this great national institution ends in complete success. Evidently this has been the result at Swansea during last year, and the reward to the genuine worker in the record finance which has been achieved. We were glad to find that the Exhibition connected with the Eisteddfod proved growing popularity and appreciation. This department of the Eisteddfod should receive a fostering solicitude from every true-hearted Welshman. The exhibits this year in the Art Section revealed some striking latent talent amongst the com- petitors, both in drawing and sculpture, and evidenced very clearly that Wales has its embryo in art and design as well as in music and poetry. The day is past and gone, we hope, when it is thought that Welsh potentiality can express only itself in vocal music and the bardio muse. The emotionalism which is so full in the Celtic nature has, and must always have, many forms of utterance, and from the Exhi- bition we are able to gather fresh hopes that Wales has in its children many powers which are, as yet, only in the budding stages of development. We should have liked to have witnessed a better display of competition in stringed and wood instruments. Only one orches- tral society made its appearance in the Eisteddfod. The Rhondda societies and others in South Wales were absent. It is to be hoped that we shall move upward in this direction. The discouragement meted to school orchestras has not helped this department of music. The great desiderata in life is the power to fill up agreeably and with edification the leisure time of life. Miss Hall, the greatest violinist of the day, received her first enthusiasm in the school violin classes. We know several in our limited Rhondda experience who have found their recreation in the violin through these classes. Hearty encourage- ment to violin classes in the Elementary Schools from Education Committees can do much to stimulate this particular branch of instrumental music, and we trust that it will, in the future, be given with more generous sympathy. We are quite confident in the prediction that, if given, the harvest will come with the affluent richness which is now enjoyed by the brass instrumentalists of the country. The choral performances, particularly in the mixed choirs competition, touched a very lofty standard and was a sublime gratification to an immense concourse of people gathered from all parts of Wales. Cardiff Ohoir won, and anyone could not fail to discern that the Triennial Musical Festivak at., the Webh Metropolis have soaked into the vocal aspirants of that district a tradition of artistic and cultured rendition of the great choruses of the classical writers. The Cardiff choristers achieved a triumph over splendidly equipped choirs permeated with imported singers from every part of the country- Brynamman Choir was typical of the sporting methods which has so largely entered mto the mercenary spirit that now governs many of our united choirs. We observed in this choir, though advertised as Brynamman," singers from many parts of Wales. We admit that, generally) the result was vocally very fine; but locally designated, it was a fraud. There were comparatively few Brynamman folks in it when the return journey from Swansea was made. If singers in any given locality cannot be trained to a worthy performance, then they should not tack on to that locality the credit of the combination. We want badly a training school for conductors these days. The vocal material to make a choir is in plenty in every locality. The soil of Wales in every part is fruitful enough of latent vocalists if the trainer is at hand. We favour the conductor who consults a specialist before the conductor who iJIl- ports ready-made singers from other dis- tricts. There is more honesty in the plan, and certainly it is better for the cultiva- tion of song. Further, the importation of singers from "there and everywhere" is a very costly one, and has landed the guilty organisations in dire and irreparable financial straits. Brynamman Society, I it had been successful, we are told oil good authority, would have been in debt. This Northern Union professionalism in choral compotitioms not only carries condemnation from local patriotism, but reacts with deserved financial punishment on those that have degraded choral ambition into a sporting and gambling greed for name and fame. Let these choirs, by all means, spend on securing the best available talent in the education of the local singers and make them. The result will be a permanent gain to the dis- tricts, and the choirs will be genuine*? locally. For an example of this method v 3 have only to look at the illustration of the Tonvnandy and District Harmon10 Society, and we know what has been the result.

Dairymen Combine.

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Theatre Royal, Tonypandy*

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