Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

18 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

f WELSH FOLK-SONG.

Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

f WELSH FOLK-SONG. MR HARRY EVANS AND WELSH t COMPOSERS. i- Lecturing before the Denbigh Iiitorary and social Society on Friday evening on "Welsh folk-songs," with Mr R. E. Hughes, Ang'uorfa, in the chair, Mr Harry Evans, F.R.C.O., said it astonishing how the professional singers of 'Wales, with the notable exception of the "four ^avies's," had ignored their national songs, ■^hey had no idea of the beauty which such J songs possessed in the hands of such skiiled ^ocaiisrts as those ho had mentioned. They had woon too long under the swav of the hymn- lunes (hear, hear). The hymn-tune in Wales had rped the place of the national song, and it *3 hoped to seo the time when those hymn- junes would no longer be hawked about at fairs, ootball matches, railway carriages, and eistedd- forl platforms (loud applause). Speaking of the characteristics of Welsh fciusic, Mr Evans said its chief was its emotional strength. As a nation, however, they had been so long in the wilderness, they had wailed and "loaned to such an extent, that it had come to h n™0!' tunes must of necessity o Welsh; and the overburdening of the hymn by minor key tunes was one of the reasons for th w ^a,llacy (h°ar, hear). It had been said of Welshman that he was never so happy as When miserable (laughter), and especially when sjfging funeral tunes (renewed laughter). It was l"c swing and the spirit of the tune that made »u the difference m the world, and any emo- «onal musician knew at once that certain tunes woreWeish and could only be written and sung by Welsh people (applause). One could undergo ho' ^Painful experience, musically, than to nnfr-, Aberystwyth" sung in England. It waa os its home. It could only be sung by Wrebh- a( m3' ai a'ea> where it breathed the same and cou!d bc brought up in the soil sc titted to receive it. j ferririg to tlie works of Welsh composers, _r sPyaking with due regard to the importance ,!c subject, Mr Evans said that in spite of 0 fact of their being considered a great musi- dan, n^it'on there still remained one most tp SmS fact. When asked what.Jiad the -sti nation contributed to the world's great would have to answer "Nothing," n r.ie si1;nplo reason that it had contributed vi\ | that had gone outside the borders of »n u gfTat music had 1)0011 Produced, it u a have gone abroad—nothing could have Peventcd it. The monotony of style, together lith the paucity of rhythmic force and origin- 1 y» to bo found in the works of W^elsh com- am61^ anc* was'ono °f them (laughter)—was in view of the wealth of style and 'Jthm to be found in Welsh national folk-songs ud applause). This was due perhaps to the prevalence of the hymn-tune. As a nation they had got into a narrow groove. People clamoured for "wailing" music, with the result tfeat Welsh composers had given way and had met the de- mand. Who ever heard of dance music being written by a Welsh composer? (laughter). In fact, Welshmen had been so long' dawdling in the same narrow groove of music that whole. avenues ha.d become closed to them. Tho material, how- ever, was at hand; the hour, too, was here, and it now wanted the man or the woman to do the work (applause). Welsh solo singers for example, were notoriously weak in rhythm; they preferred to loll and dawdle over the notes in order to show off the voice. They had lost their art in respect of rhythm and counterpoint, but seemed to have retained the happy-go-lucky style of irre- spon.iibility (applause and laughter). This made liim think that there was an extraordinary gap between the soloists of the present day and the jolly c'd pennillion singers of days gone by. The lecturer concluded by recommending the Welsh Folk-song Society as one doing excellent work and one worthy of every snpport. During the lecture Mr Evans received material assistance from Miss Tregonning Townsend, who sang several of the old Welsh songs and ballads referred to by Mr Evans, who jiaid her a well- descrving tribute.

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