St. David's Day

Radio Record, Volume IV, Issue 34, 6 March 1931, Page 4

St. David's Day

« Traditional Music ANY special concerts and come memorative services are being arranged for St. David’s Day. The fp music of Wales contains’ musical frngements which are probably of grealter antiquity than any found elsewhere in the British Isles, for "Wild Wales," as one of the English bards calls it, was the last stronghold of the original inhabitants of Britain. The music does not have the element of humour like that of the Irish, but is of a serious and frequently of a martial character. Many of the Welsh folk songs are vocal melodies of a stirring quality, which were evidently used as battle songs in the days gone by. That the Welsh, however, are not entirely given to the expression of rugged and heroic emotions in their music ig~ evidenced by such a tender poetic song as "All Through the Night." This is a fine traditional Welsh melody of great age; simple, dignified, and expressive, and it is the most popular Welsh air in England. ~