I think it's all a question of balance, Annie. The great Welsh male voice choirs (Treorchy, Pontarddulais etc) have always included English language songs in their repertoires but I tend to agree that the proportion of these has increased over the years. One of my abiding memories is of a visit by the latter choir to the RAF in Germany where I was serving. Out of politenes, following "Mae Hen Wlad" , they sang "God Save the Queen". I have never since heard it sung with such meaning and light and shade. Even here in Wales we would expect the choirs to include some of the old favourites in English such as "Speed your Journey" , "The old Rugged Cross" etc balanced with eg "Ar Hyd y Nos" and "Cwm Rhondda". Ironically the number of Welsh language pop groups is growing by the day and these are regarded as "cool" by the youngsters. Paul ----- Original Message ----- From: <cardi2@aol.com> To: <dyfed@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, July 13, 2009 2:15 AM Subject: [Dyfed] Welsh Choirs > > I noted Ms Robertson's comment about the Tenby Male Voice Choir singing > and she wanted a CD of it.? > > I'm sure they have beautiful voices, but what I'm curious about is, why > weren't they singing Welsh-language songs? > > I have heard many Welsh choirs come here to the USA and sing show tunes, > Danny Boy, etc.? Great - they have wonderful voices - but the people in > the audience get very angry - they want only Welsh-language songs.??? They > want something from home not a show tune. > > I know that the choirs feel it is a mark of distinction that they can sing > show tunes, Danny Boy, etc. - but that's not what the American people > want.? By the way, many of them don't speak the Welsh language but they > still want it sung in the "Language of Heaven."? There is a difference > when a song is sung in Welsh and when its not.? There's no feeling when > the song is sung in English.? I do not speak the language, although I sing > it.? My father spoke and sang the language and I come from a > Welsh-speaking Cardiganshire family. > > Annie > > > > > > > > > - > > > > > > > > > > > Attached Message > > > > > > > > From: > > > LeaMarie Robertson <leamarrob@gmail.com> > > > > > > > To: > > > DYFED@rootsweb.com > > > > > > > Subject: > > > [Dyfed] DYFED - Welsh male choirs - question > > > > > > > Date: > > > Sat, 11 Jul 2009 02:09:00 -0500 > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Some of the songs we heard on the Tenby beach that night were: "When you > Walk Through a Storm", "Danny Boy", "Shanendoah" (sp), "Take me home"? > (from > Les Miserable), "All Through the Night" etc. The sounds were deep and > rich > and beyond description. > > Does anyone know of any other Welsh Male Choir CDs that we might enjoy or > that may be of that quality? Thank you, Lea > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Attac > > > > > > > > ================================ > Dyfed list http://home.clara.net/daibevan/DyfedML.html > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > DYFED-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message