Blodeugerdd: An Anthology of Welsh Music & Song

Irish Flute
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Blodeugerdd: Song of the Flowers - An Anthology of Welsh Music and Song
Various Artists SFW40552

A new album issued by Smithsonian Folkways in conjunction with Wales being a featured nation at this summer’s Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington DC, produced by Ceri Rhys Matthews (of Fernhill) and featuring both well-known and as-yet-little-known musicians active in Welsh traditional music. A PDF of the CD liner is available here if you want more detail. (I am in one track, in duet with my erstwhile pupil Tom Scott.) There are several tracks featuring flute players.

The album is seemingly available to download right now (I haven’t tried!) for U$9.99: http://www.folkways.si.edu/albumdetails.aspx?itemid=3229. Individual tracks are also available to purchase and each has a brief free trailer sample on the same web-page.

I think you can also order hard copy CDs direct from the Smithsonian Folkways website.

Hard copy CDs will also be available from Amazon/Amazon UK in due course (released July 28th) and can be pre-ordered: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blodeugerdd-Song-Flowers-Various-Artists/dp/B002AWJESK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1245758770&sr=1-1.

Any US readers in reach of WDC, the Festival is starting tomorrow, I believe, and a good few of my friends from the Welsh trad scene are out there representing us all, including Ceri who produced the CD and who is a fine fluter himself - go check it out!

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Congratulations, Jem, on your album track!

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I think there’s an extra “.” at the end of the download link – it works better without:

http://www.folkways.si.edu/albumdetails.aspx?itemid=3229


:slight_smile:

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Thanks, Aerowhip - OP amended.

And thanks MTGuru.

I should perhaps say that I haven’t heard the final production cut even of my own track yet, let alone the rest of the album (I have listened to the brief free sample on the Folkways page…) - am awaiting arrival of my complimentary copies of the CD. I do know Ceri is very pleased with it all. I’m looking forward to hearing it. Meanwhile, if anyone does download it, any feedback would be much appreciated.

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Congratulations, Jem, on being able to represent Wales on the Smithsonian CD. It sounds like you taught your student well, as it is impossible to tell who is the teacher and who is the student on the track excerpt. I have to say that on the album notes I prefer reading the English on the left side of the page. The right side of the page is a translation in a strange language.

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:open_mouth: :boggle: :laughing:
Thanks Doug! Actually, the Welsh text will be the original (as Ceri is a 1st language Welsh speaker who doubtless composed his thoughts in Welsh) and the English is a translation -given primacy on the pages because of the American production and primary audience/market, I daresay. I don’t suppose anyone expects the majority of readers to even try to approach the Welsh text, but the bilingual principle is an important one and, as a dabbler in linguistics, I always find parallel texts interesting even when I understand very little of the other language(s). I have done so ever since (as a teenager) I got into listening to Opera (Mozart, Verdi etc.) with parallel text libretti to hand.

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What then is the pronunciation of the title, Blodeugerdd? I shall download this to take with me as I am off to Wales on Wednesday. :sunglasses: Jem, do you happen to know of any music sessions or venues near Snowdon or Prestatyn? I will traverse mountains in search of the high, lonesome trad sound…
FF

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I really enjoyed all of the tracks, including yours. Loved the sean-nos tracks, esp. Dod dy law. I’ll have to add this to my collection.

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Is it merely coincidence that two of the tunes involve drunkeness?

Any US readers in reach of WDC, the Festival is starting tomorrow, I believe, and a good few of my friends from the Welsh trad scene are out there representing us all, including Ceri who produced the CD and who is a fine fluter himself - go check it out!

The website for the Folklife Festival is sadly lacking in details, but the release party for the CD is Friday @6 pm. I’m hoping to be out there tomorrow or Friday.

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Lucky you! Enjoy, I hope!

As for the drunken tunes… actually yes, it was coincidence originally, but I’ve since made a point of it when introducing the set, and the theme feeds on through - both Uni students and Wrexham folk are well known for their fondness for a good tipple (and ensuing misbehaviour)!

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Glad you like it! Puzzled by your post, though - “sean-nos” tracks??? Sean-nos is Irish, no such thing in Welsh…

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Blodeugerdd - I think there is a pronunciation guide in the album notes PDF? Any way, very roughly:
Blod - (rhyme whith “hod”) - eye - gairth (the “e” is similar to an English “ai” as in “hair”, the “r” is somwhat rolled and the “dd” = a soft, voiced “th” as in “breathe”), with the main emphasis falling on the (underlined) penultimate syllable.

Sessions etc. - you’ve missed this month’s main Welsh trad session in NW Wales, which falls on 2nd Mondays at the Nelson in Bangor. There is a weekly Irish session there on a Friday. There is a WTM session in the Ty’n Llan in Nant Peris (right under Snowdon!) on last Tuesdays, so you may be in area for that. I’ve never been to that one, but I think Cass Meurig leads it. If you’re still around for Monday July 6th, there will be the first meeting of a brand new WTM sesh at the Tyn Llan (different pub, same name!) in Llandwrog, near Caernarfon. Apart from those, I only have info from the current Taplas magazine listings which are not necessarily reliable as they depend on folk sending in updates and cancellations - which they tend not to do! If you let me have an e-address I can scan it and zap it to you, but phone calls ahead are strongly advised! Any other sessions listed there are unlikely to be Welsh orientated, more likely Irish/general.

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I made it down to the Festival today with my eleven-year old in tow.

First stop was “Flutes & Pipes” which turned out to be Ceri Matthews
and three other musicians whose names I cannot recall. (One was a
woman, and the other two were from the same small village in NW Wales
– Slip? One of them played fiddle quite nicely.) They played a
variety of Welsh music in different styles, including a toe-tapping
pibgorn (hornpipe) duet.

I would have camped in the performance tent for the rest of the
afternoon, but my long-suffering son dragged me away. I have to
confess that we explored the Wales food offerings but went instead for
the Central American food. Vegetarian sausages? I mean, really,
isn’t that a bit of an oxymoron?

I did note that Wales brought a pub with them. That’s the first time
I’ve seen that done, although I did miss Northern Ireland last year.

Somewhat later we made it around to the “Musical Instruments” booth.
This was showcasing John Glenydd, a pipe and pibgorn maker. But when
we came up Ceri Matthews was there as well. I ended up in a long chat
with him which was just delightful. He couldn’t have been nicer or
more interesting. There was a bit of a pothole when I mentioned Jem’s
name – he kicked me in the shins and had me down on the ground for a
beating in a flash. Fortunately I was able to explain that I wasn’t a
friend and only knew Jem from Chiff & Fipple. Then he let me up and
apologized.

No, I jest of course, he was delighted that I knew of Jem and had only
good things to say about him.

Ceri & I had a good long chat about the Welsh instruments, and the
similarities and differences with the Irish tradition. My son (who
does trumpet at this point) was able to play the pibgorn and that was
very popular. (I, myself, with my extensive (ahem) flute experience
was unable to sound the low D. Hmmph.) Ceri isn’t on the Blodeugerdd
CD (as producer, he didn’t want to put himself on) but before he left
he very graciously gave me a CD of his flute playing.

After Ceri slipped away I had another good chat with John, who matched
Ceri as ambassador for the Welsh people. Fascinating man with some
great insights into instrument making.

I went by the Festival market to get the Blodeugerdd CD and also
picked up a CD by Crasdant. I didn’t get a chance to hear them play,
but the description sounded wonderful.

All in all, a great time. I’m delighted to live in DC and get a
chance to visit the Festival every year. There’s always delightful
surprises.

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Thanks so much, srt19170 for your account. Great stuff. Ceri is indeed a delightful, knowledgeable, gentle person. I’d warrant the people you saw him playing with were probably his current fiddle-playing musical partner Christine Cooper, and the other two were most likely from Sling near Bethesda…and if one was paying pibgorn (and a George Ormiston flute I overhauled recently…) that will have been Andy MacLauchlin of Crasdant and maybe Stephen Rees, Crasdant’s fiddler (I’m not sure if he lives in Sling, though I know he’s in the Bethesda area… he’s a music lecturer at Bangor University and former member of the best known Welsh band, Ar Log) who also plays pibgorn occasionally as well as whistle. I get to play with them both in Y Glerorfa, the Welsh Folk Orchestra, of which Stephen is one of the musical directors together with (another Crasdant member) Robin Huw Bowen, the Triple Harper.

BTW, my own pibgorn is one of John Glenydd’s, by recommendation from Ceri. I have yet to meet with John, having only spoken to him by phone a few times when ordering my pibgorn.

Playing the pibgorn is a bit odd to a fluter - I struggled myself to begin with (not just with awkward reeds) because you have to keep up the breath pressure or even increase it at the low end of the range, not drop off pressure as we are used to doing on flutes and whistles - very counter-intuitive!

I hope you’ll get to check out some more of the festival events, meet/hear a few more of the guys and maybe report back here again? There are bound to be some Welsh sessions too… and another friend of mine from my local session, John Neilson is over in his capacity as a letter-carver and stone-mason; he’s a very fine ITM (mostly) piano accordionist.

Anyone else able to visit and let us know about it?

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Hi Jem
thanks so much for all that info about sessions in North Wales. We’ll be driving around in search of all and any, especially that new one you mention. Will drop you a pm with my e-address, thanks for your kind offer to scan info.
all the best
Fabien

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Well, I’ve got to say it… Wow! I received my complimentary (as a contributor) copies of the Blodeugerdd CD this-morning and I’ve just listened to it (while working on iainbeag’s flute). It really is superb; Ceri has done a fantastic production job both in putting together the contributions and on the technical side. It is a great introduction to Welsh trad music and musicians and the current WTM scene, and everyone can be very proud of their contributions, but it also works well as an album, as was Ceri’s intention. I hope someone else will give it a proper review here! I don’t think anyone who enjoys traditional music will be disappointed if they buy it.

(BTW, this doesn’t count as a commercial plug as I won’t be gaining any significant royalties or anything from CD sales.)

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Stephen Rees was indeed the fiddler. I didn’t get to see Crasdant at the Festival, but I bought one of their CDs and was surprised/happy to hear the Polthogue Jig, which I recently learned. It’s a lovely tune, and I like the Crasdant name for it as well – the Teapot Jig.

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Thanks for the tip on the album, Jem. I picked up a copy today at the Folklife Festival down at the National Mall. It really is wonderful stuff. I’d highly recommend it.

There’s lots of fine music being made under the hot D.C. sun down there on the National Mall. The kids and I saw The Hennessys … Sild … Linda Griffiths and her daughter, Lisa (who played smoothly thru some unexpected polyrhythmic accompaniment from Gai Toms and a group of Washington schoolkids … banging, one tent over, on a “found” drum kit of scrap metal and plastic tubs).

My 4-year-old daughter, however, was most taken with a woman named Angharad Pearce Jones, who was clanging on an anvil next to a smoking furnace, demonstrating traditional iron-working. My daughter spent part of the evening yesterday clattering on an imaginary anvil with a wooden spoon. Music of a kind … at least to her dad …

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After a more careful reading of the liner notes, I see that the Teapot Jig (Dick Lee) is actually the second jig on that track. Still a great name for a tune, though!

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Does anyone know anything about the tune on Track 4 of this CD? It’s listed as “Ton can Pensylvania” or “Pennsylvania Song Tune.”

It’s beautiful … and I’d like to learn it. Googling turns up nothing.

I’m doubly interested because I come from a pretty long-line of Pennsylvania coalminers and steelworkers, and I know something about the Welsh experience in the coalfields and steel mills of Pennsylvania. Just curious if there’s a connection between that history and this tune …