Argraffiadau Cymraeg: Exploring Welsh identity in the music of three ‘Cardiff Group’ composers

Jones, Nicholas ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7098-6114 2024. Argraffiadau Cymraeg: Exploring Welsh identity in the music of three ‘Cardiff Group’ composers. Presented at: North American British Music Studies Association Conference 2024, Oberlin College and Conservatory, Ohio, USA, 25–29 July 2024.

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Abstract

In 1973, in an article provocatively titled ‘How Welsh is Welsh Music?’, Grace Williams made the following rather quirky observation: ‘When I am asked for my views on national influences in Welsh music I am reminded of the story of the centipede who, when asked which foot he put down first, got so confused he couldn’t walk at all.’ This paper explores the contested and problematic notion of ‘Welshness’ and the different ways in which this particular quality has influenced twentieth-century Welsh composers of art music. It begins by arguing that such music cannot reasonably be considered without acknowledging these composers’ relationship to their own cultural identity and environment. The paper then focuses on a series of case studies by three female Welsh composers, Morfydd Owen (1891–1918), Grace Williams (1906–1977) and Hilary Tann (1947–2023), all of whom studied at Cardiff University. Together with Alun Hoddinott (1929–2008) – who also studied at Cardiff and later became Professor and Head of Music there – these individuals can usefully and productively be considered together as a ‘Cardiff Group’ of composers whose influence and legacy continues to resonate powerfully within the contemporary Welsh art music scene. The shared preoccupations evident in the music of Owen, Williams and Tann – especially in relation to an awareness and pride in Wales’s history, mythology and ancient traditions; a love for the Welsh landscape; and a deep affection for the native homeland, including a sense of place, belonging and rootedness – all play their part in articulating unique and distinctive soundworlds. In the programme note to her 2002 choral work, Wales, Our Land, Tann explains that it was composed in response to a commission from the Welsh Heritage Program at Green Mountain College, Vermont, and sets a poem by an unknown Welsh-American slate quarryman. The text ‘speaks of the poet’s love of his country of origin, perhaps, even, his longing to return. It is this sense of longing for the homeland (in Welsh, hiraeth) which infuses the composition.’ In actual fact, as this paper will demonstrate, Welshness finds many ways to communicate itself, and a musical expression of nationhood often tends to be intrinsic and not always external.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Music
Subjects:	M Music and Books on Music > M Music
Last Modified:	14 Jan 2025 17:00
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/174730

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