| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 486.1 | 1989 GYMANFA GANU | FSADMN::REESE | | Sat Jan 07 1989 12:07 | 7 |
| I forgot to mention in my base note, the 1989 National Gymanfa
Ganu will be held in Pittsburgh, Pa. If there is anyone out
there who would like more info about the National, I will try
to get it for them as soon as further details become available.
Karen
|
| 486.2 | | HARDY::HENDRICKS | The only way out is through | Sun Jan 08 1989 11:22 | 2 |
| Can records or tapes be purchased? I would love to hear some of
these!
|
| 486.3 | LOVE YOUR "SIGNATURE" | FSADMN::REESE | | Mon Jan 09 1989 22:22 | 30 |
| Holly, is tht you?
I'll try and find out for you when I get to work tomorrow (we have
that WATS line). The gentleman I have been in contact recently
books Welsh groups when they travel in this country, so if anyone
would know, he would.
The catalog he mailed me regarding Welsh crafts, etc. does
mention tapes in them, but it seems you must order them dir-
ectly from Wales and they don't mention the Gymanfas.
It's been a number of years since I have personally attended
a Gymanfa, but I'm going to try to get to Pittsburgh this
year for the National. Years ago at the Gymanfas in my home-
town there were attempts to tape them, but the quality wasn't
that good, but technology has come along way and I'm sure
extraordinary efforts will be made for the National.
A few years before my Dad passed away I was able to purchase
an LP by a group of Welsh coal miners (non-professionals) who
made the album in an attempt to earn money to aid families
after a mine disaster; the singing was awesome...you know,
the kind that makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck!
If you want to contact me directly, my DTN is 435-5621; I
hand't even thought of the idea.........I will go to work on
it as soon as I get to my "coal mine" tomorrow :-)
Karen
|
| 486.4 | | SUPER::HENDRICKS | The only way out is through | Tue Jan 10 1989 09:40 | 7 |
| Yes, it's me. SUPER:: was down the other day I logged in on HARDY::
Thanks for checking into this. I got some records from the library
of Welsh choirs last year and hoped to find out more about purchasing
this type of music.
Thanks!
|
| 486.5 | Choral Recordings | VOGON::WALTERS | | Fri Jan 13 1989 09:41 | 39 |
|
S'ydych chi,
Nice bit of uplifting prose in this note, look you - not like those
nasty Irish Celts with their preoccupation with the devil drink ;).
Ever wonder why there isn't a Welsh whisk(e)y? It's all that Puritan
spirit in the little chapels dotted around Cambria!
(Fellow Celts the world over will be aghast to know that on Sundays,
all the Pubs in Wales would close. No demon drink on the sabbath
Dai fach. Some counties of wales are "dry" on Sunday to this very
day.)
Yet most choristers, including yours truly, would be the first to
admit that the uplifting singing sounds so much the better when
the throat is well-oiled. Indispensible after a shift in the dusty
pit.
But back to the subject in hand. The Cymanfa is rare these days,
more likely to be part of an Eisteddfod. Choral competition is
more common, with intense competition between town and city choirs.
The best of these have made records and tapes and I have recently
sent off for a list of recording companies. Two of the finest choirs are
C�r Meibion Treorchy, and Morriston Orpheus. I can send you a
recording of my own choir in a few weeks - C�r Meibion Caerfilli - but
we're not really one of the rankers.
The best recording I have heard is from the annual Cymanfa held
in London (yes, I know....) This is held in the Albert Hall
as it has massed Welsh choirs of 1000 voices. I have not sung in
this, but my father has.
If you REALLY want to stand your hair on end, listen to 1000 people
singing the Dies Irae from Verdi's Requiem! I'll have a look around
for this before I relocate to the US in Feb.
Regards,
Colin
|
| 486.6 | NO SENSE BEING WELSH IF YOU CAN'T SING! | FSADMN::REESE | | Mon Jan 16 1989 20:17 | 38 |
| Colin -
I think my family must have come from one of those 'wet' counties!!
My Dad did love his beer! I'm starting to remember things he would
tell me....he was a breaker boy.......at the colliery, he never
worked down in the mines. Dad said some of the other men would
send him with a bucket to buy beer to "wash the coal dust out of
their throats". They would drink it at the shanty they used to
clean up before going home. Sounds rather unsanitary, buying beer
in an open bucket, but I guess that couldn't harm anyone as much
as swallowing all that coal dust!!
Of course, my Aunt Gwen felt that all the problems of the world
could be solved if all the ornery politicians would just sit down
to a nice, hot cuppa (cup of tea).
I would appreciate any info you can give me on ordering catalogs
for records or tapes. Also, would you know how I could get a Welsh
dictionary that would have the phonetic pronounciations of the words.
It is very interesting to see how you pronounced my Dad's name;
he pronounced is as Tally-es-sin.
I've found a lot of old hymnals that have the Welsh lyrics along
side the English - looking at those Welsh lyrics is one thing, knowing
how to pronounce them is another :-)
Karen
PS: I must be honest with you Colin, my knowledge of the language
is VERY limited......so....what does "s'ydych chi" mean? I assume
it is a greeting; since I'm planning to write to my newly located
cousins in Wales, I'd love to use it, but I thought perhaps I had
better know it's exact meaning first :-)
PPS: If you know off the top of your head.....what does Taliesin
mean?
|
| 486.7 | Sources for Welsh Words & Music | VOGON::WALTERS | | Thu Jan 19 1989 10:55 | 76 |
|
S'ydych chi, Karen
Which is an abbreviated form of "Sut yr ydych chi" translating
to "How are you?". Pronounced with the CH as in loch {sit er uddich
chi}. The conventional greeting in a letter is "Annwyl Karen"
- "Dear Karen". You would sign off with "Cofion Cynnes" - "Warm
Regards.
Your description of the beer-boy ,That sounds right - some of the older
Pubs used to have a window from the bar into the entrance hallway
called the "bottle & jug", where boys from the pits would buy beer by
the jug (or bucket) for the upcoming shift. Sometimes the same bucket
that the pit-ponies would drink from.
And, apparently, the per-capita consumption of tea is still about
1650 cups per person, per annum. (Only exceeded by the Irish)
Still a cure for all the ills of the world according to my Mam.
As to the language, there is a good basic dictionary, with hints
on pronunciation and an explanation of how Welsh relates to the
other Celtic languages:
Y Geiriadur Newydd
The New Welsh Dictionary
Published by:
Christopher Davies,
P.O. Box 403, Sketty,
Swansea,
Wales,
UK
SA2 9BE
ISBN Order number: 0 7154 0438 5
A good basic grammar (Gramadeg Cymraeg Cyfoes) is available from:
D. Brown a'i feibion Cyf.,
Y Bontfaen
Morgannwg
Wales
UK
There is a Welsh book/music shop at:
"Taflen"
Duke Street Arcade,
Caerdydd (Cardiff)
Wales
UK
CF1 2AZ
They are sending me a catalogue of recordings which I shall send
on to you.
You can also get Welsh music and language cassettes and records from
two companies called Black Mountain Records of Swansea or Sain 5 of
Cardiff. The problem is that both these companies seem to have moved
and I cannot locate their addresses - I have put the enormous resources
of the local Walters family on to this, and also to find out whether
'Taliesyn' has a translation.
POB HWYL,
(All the best!)
Colin
|
| 486.8 | | DUB01::POCONNELL | intrepid hoor | Wed Feb 15 1989 12:23 | 9 |
| After Jonah was "thrown up" by the fish, he was asked whether he
had learnt any new songs while he was there, because
Everbody sings in Whales!
My abject apologies!
|
| 486.9 | Whale Songs | VOGON::WALTERS | | Thu Feb 16 1989 10:12 | 16 |
|
I'ts a known fact that he did learn a few more songs:
Whale Meat Again,
Moby It's because I'm a Londoner
Three Whales on My Wagon
I Whale if You Whale
I'll Take You Home Again Baleen
The list is endless.
With even more abject apologies....
Y Ddraig Ddrwg
|