Wales: A Land of Song

urn:iso:std:iso:639:ed-3:eng

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text excerpt

The Cymanfa Ganu which has now become an appendage of the National Eisteddfod (being held on the Friday) reveals similar local excellence. At the first Cymanfa, held in connexion with the Aberystwyth National Eisteddfod, the eight thousand singers rendered hymns and difficult choruses with such complete skill (without any rehearsal) that Sir W. H. Hadow, Mus. Doc., and Dr. H. P. Allen (conductor of the famous London Bach choir and now Professor of Music at Oxford) acknowledged in speeches at the Cymanfa, that they were utterly amazed. They confessed that the singing was unique in their experience. Indeed, their enthusiastic and unbounded appreciation almost astonished (though it pleased) Welshmen who knew this “scratch” choir, drawn mainly from the rural parts of Cardiganshire and the slopes of Plynlimon, was by no means a portent. At the Neath National Eisteddfod Cymanfa Ganu this year [1918] over twenty thousand singers assembled (though among them were many who had come to see and hear Mr. Lloyd George), and many thousands who had prepared for the festival for many months failed to get admitted. The singing of these many thousands, in the evening especially, was of unforgettable excellence.

excerpt from 'Wales: A Land of Song' pp. 337 (194 words)

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