Welsh secret

[Wizard of Oz]

.. Bob I recently read that a local church was going to present a GYMANFA GANU .. am I correct in thinking that this might be some kind of Welsh da Vinci code rite ?? .. or is it just a code word for a piss-up ?? .. either way it intrigued me ..

monolingual WoZ

[Bobinwales]

Hardly WoZ.
GYMANFA GANU translates as "Congregation Singing". It is an excuse to spend an evening singing hymns.

Welsh chapel harmony is quite rightly world renowned. I only hear it at funerals now because as I don't have a faith, I feel quite hypocritical in churches and chapels.

[Wizard of Oz]

.. hmmmm ..*WoZ tears up ad* .. must be a good knees up somewhere .. and yes I do agree that the Welsh do have a universal melodic bent .. Stella says that it has to do with the alignment of the welsh jaw .. and she's Welsh so she would know .. ;-]

WoZ humming

[Shelley]

.. Stella says that it has to do with the alignment of the welsh jaw ..

. . . you mean, their rare bite? (Buh dum bah!)

[trolley]

So cheesy.

[tony h]

Welsh chapel harmony is quite rightly world renowned. I only hear it at funerals now because as I don't have a faith, I feel quite hypocritical in churches and chapels.

We had a family friend, a Welsh vicar, and I remember him saying that as a boy in the 1920s he lived in India and he was very taken with the philosophy of Hinduism but the music wasn't good enough to commit your life to it.

Bob: you shouldn't let faith, or an absence of it, get in the way of enjoying a good sing song.

[Bobinwales]

Last week I conducted the cremation service of an old friend. It was one of the most difficult jobs that I have ever done. We finished by singing Calon Lan. Although it is a hymn, the first two verses and the chorus are quite secular, so I usually sing them and stand respectfully during the third verse, joining in with the chorus again. There was no way that I could sing when we said goodbye to Neal, so I just stood and listened knowing that after it was finished I had some words to say before pressing the button.

This is a lovely version of Calon Lan. I have to admit that not many chapel congregations would sing the descant after the key-change, but it gives you an idea of what we can do.

Here are the words in Welsh and English.

[tony h]

Emotional.

[Wizard of Oz]

I enjoyed that Bob.

WoZ who loves choirs