Well, it's getting near Christmas, so take a few minutes to relax - hear the poem, "A Child's Christmas in Wales", interwoven with the University of Arkansas Schola Cantorum Carols! 

A Child's Christmas in Wales - Dylan Thomas

Nos Galan (Old Welsh Carol) 

The White Snow - 2:14

The Cat Carol - 5:10

A Hot Time in the Old Town - 9:55

Between Covers of Books - 12:42

Mid-Winter - 15:33

Christmas Bells - 20:05

The Kings - 24:23

Toy Packaging - 27:30

One Tin Soldier - 30:45

Toyland - 34:31

The Christmas Song - 39:30

Upon the Sand - 44:10

O, the beautiful old story - 49:42

Peace, thou hippopotamus! - 52:28

Rum in my tea - 55:22

Good King Winceslas - 58:10

O come all ye faithful - 59:30

Cherry Ripe - 1:00:07

Drake's Drum - 1:01:13

Suo Gan (Welsh lullaby) - 1:02:22

Silent Night - 1:04:00

Happy Holidays!

- Emily

Here's 2 Welsh Tunes played by Angharad Jenkins - "Diferiad y Gerwyn" (trad "The Droppings of the Mashtub") and a tune she composed, "Nanty Felin".

I know I shared this video quite a while back, in a bowing thread for some of the cool techniques used - BUT, these are beautiful Welsh tunes that are worth taking a look at to learn! 

Medley of Welsh Folk Tunes - played by Angharad and Delyth Jenkins (TED-X). 

Just found a GREAT old book source of Welsh Tunes (thanks to thesession.org)!   

"Musical and Poetical Relicks of the Welsh Bards: Preserved, by Tradition and Authentic Manuscripts, from Very Remote Antiquity" - by Edward Jones 

There's a bunch of history & verse, then standard music notation starts on page 124 thru 183! 

Read/view it all for FREE here: 

Google Books

↑ Page 127 of Edward Jones's book has a tune I want to learn - "Eryri Wen" ("White Snowdon") 

Joseph Haydn used folk tunes & made Classical arrangements of them - here's "Eryri Wen" - played with the Haydn Trio Eisenstadt, Lorna Anderson & Jamie MacDougall. 

From Wikipedia: 

Sometimes, a folk tune (as notated by field workers) and the version in Haydn's work are identical. Often, however, there is divergence, with Haydn's version being less symmetrical and musically more interesting and expressive. As Hadow pointed out, the versions typically are closely similar at the beginning, divergent at the end. Under one view, this would reflect Haydn's creativity as a composer; starting with the kernel of the tune occurring at the beginning, Haydn elaborated it in ways grounded in his own Classical musical language. 

Alawon - The Society For The Traditional Instruments of Wales is a wonderful site for learning Welsh Tunes in Session Sets!  Sheet music (GREAT for beginners), midi, mp3 & more! 

Religion, throughout history, has promoted & regulated music - sometimes squelched it, too.  The Welsh had their share of this. 

VRÏ 

One of my new favorite groups, bringing Welsh tradition to life on Cello, Violin & Viola!

Description of their 1st album "Tŷ ein Tadau": 

The backbone of this record is music from the Welsh chapel tradition. Far from being a collection of sacred or religious music, it looks at the complex relationship between Welsh music and the clergy which stretches back centuries. At the height of the Methodist reformation, folk dancing, singing and playing in almost all of their forms were being shunned by the mighty chapel as instruments of sin – meanwhile many popular tunes were being harvested, reworked as hymns and sung by the masses in order to extoll the virtues of God. This selective amnesia for huge swathes of Welsh culture meant that the members of VRï inherited a tradition broken in many places, forced into submission then resurrected and kept alive only by the brave efforts of a tireless few.
'Tŷ ein Tadau' can be seen in some ways as a reclamation exercise, and an opportunity to bring some of these old tunes back full-circle. As well offering a nod to the importance of the Welsh Chapels, which are still the cornerstone of society in the small village communities where all three members were brought up, VRï relish the thought of bringing some of the more obscure hymn tunes back into the 'folk' domain'.

Some of the tunes in this album have vocals, but even these have wonderful instrumental breaks - ALL worth a listen! 

Tŷ ein Tadau - Playlist

2020 VRÏ - New Years Eve Concert (Live Music Now Special)! 

...great time to start learning by ear - if you haven't already started. 😊  

@stringy -

They have their twist on traditional and they also compose some of their own. 

This group really wants to talk about their music and help set the stage for their tunes.  I found it a rare treat to read about them and their lavish track notes for their 2nd album - wish I could find the same for their 1st one. 

VRÏ Bio

VRÏ Track Notes for their "Islais a genir" album.

Alawon - The Society For The Traditional Instruments of Wales is a wonderful site for learning Welsh Tunes in Session Sets!  Sheet music (GREAT for beginners), midi, mp3 & more! 

I've gone over most of these tunes, they're very nice Medieval sounding, simple monophonic melodies.

Only played a handful, so far - but they are the type of tunes that would make great building blocks for something more elaborate! 

"Musical and Poetical Relicks of the Welsh Bards: Preserved, by Tradition and Authentic Manuscripts, from Very Remote Antiquity" - by Edward Jones 

There's a bunch of history & verse, then standard music notation starts on page 124 thru 183! 

Read/view it all for FREE here: 

Google Books

Thought I'd mention this book again, because of all our recent discussions about software that can utilize a photo or scan of sheet music. 

If you enjoy old tunes, these are very interesting. 

Excerpts from an article on Welsh music at mustrad.org.uk:

There is sufficient evidence to prove that at a very early period a musical culture existed in Wales; a culture far in advance of what might have been expected in a country of rugged character, whose political conditions were continually plunging it into war. It has been asserted that this especial cultivation of scientific music was mainly due to the fact that the harp, an instrument of more capability than most primitive ones, was in popular use. Also it may be added that Wales possessed in its bards a race of men whose profession was the production of poetry and music for the purpose of inciting their countrymen, by song and chant, to deeds of valour. 

Prince Gruffydd ab Cynan, who lived in the 11th and 12th centuries, is credited with having put the professional music of Wales into some order, and with having made laws for the guidance and government of the bards and harpers, and others of the minstrel class. He is said to have enacted that certain 'measures' should be played to particular kinds of lyrics, and to have given names to these.

It may be now asked what authentic remnants of ancient Welsh music exist.  In the 18th century there were several libraries of old Welsh manuscripts which, in at least two instances, suffered greatly by fires; it does not, however, appear that among those destroyed were any manuscript musical collections which (as among English manuscripts) gave indication of the vocal or instrumental music of Wales at an early date, with the exception of two MSS. to be presently dealt with...  

It is not very clear when Welsh music, considered as national music, began to have attention paid to it. Towards the end of the 17th century stress began to be laid upon the fact that certain tunes were of Scottish origin, and that others were in the 'Scotch taste', but the present writer cannot find (save in one minor instance) that any attempt was made before 1742 to offer to the public a collection of melodies professedly of Welsh birth, although some Welsh tunes, indicated as such, occur at earlier date in certain London country dance books.

There's a HUGE Bibliography of Welsh National Music included with this article!