0:00:02 > 0:00:03Connie!
0:00:03 > 0:00:05You may remember me
0:00:05 > 0:00:08from a place that was Alive With The Sound of Music?
0:00:08 > 0:00:12Well, I've been set free to explore a much more beautiful place
0:00:12 > 0:00:17where the hills truly are alive with the sound of music.
0:00:17 > 0:00:23I'm taking a magical mystery tour to draw my very own musical map of Wales.
0:00:23 > 0:00:30I'll be travelling the length and breadth of the country meeting some fabulous people.
0:00:30 > 0:00:31I used to be where you are.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34All with wonderful talents.
0:00:34 > 0:00:36# Which brings us back to doh. #
0:00:36 > 0:00:38And amazing tales to share.
0:00:38 > 0:00:40Swept off my feet!
0:00:41 > 0:00:43Hold on for a bumpy ride.
0:00:43 > 0:00:47I haven't driven a car in ten years, it's fine, honestly.
0:00:47 > 0:00:49Famous last words.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51# High on a hill was a lonely goatherd. #
0:00:51 > 0:00:54# Lay ee odl lay ee odl lay hee hoo
0:00:54 > 0:00:58# Loud was the voice of the lonely goatherd... #
0:00:58 > 0:01:03My journey today is taking me round two contrasting parts of Wales.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06From the former mining valleys of South Wales,
0:01:06 > 0:01:10then across and over the heads of the valleys to the very different
0:01:10 > 0:01:14but equally beautiful rural areas of the Brecon Beacons and the Black Mountains.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23My travelling companion is one of the last remaining Welsh-built cars,
0:01:23 > 0:01:26the Gilbin, or Gilbert as I call him.
0:01:26 > 0:01:33Gilbert's great age and my dodgy driving are proving quite a cheeky combination.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36Oh dear! He'll never make it up the valleys.
0:01:37 > 0:01:42Let's hope we do, as my journey starts in Merthyr with a question.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46What do you think is Wales's most enduring and most recorded love song?
0:01:46 > 0:01:49I bet you're saying a Tom or Shirley hit, but I think it's a song
0:01:49 > 0:01:55that was created over 100 years ago and has its roots here in Merthyr.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57I'm going to test if the people here now can sing
0:01:57 > 0:02:00or even remember their great export.
0:02:00 > 0:02:02D-D-D, I wish I knew the words.
0:02:04 > 0:02:06Do you know Myfanwy, you know anything?
0:02:08 > 0:02:11Do you know what the most famous Welsh love song is?
0:02:11 > 0:02:13Myfanwy?
0:02:13 > 0:02:15Yes! Somebody knows.
0:02:15 > 0:02:19# Pa ham mae dicter, O Myfanwy... #
0:02:19 > 0:02:20SHE HUMS
0:02:22 > 0:02:23HE HUMS
0:02:25 > 0:02:28No, I can't sing it!
0:02:28 > 0:02:33Many famous names have performed and recorded it.
0:02:33 > 0:02:39CERYS MATTHEWS SINGS: # Pa ham mae dicter, O Myfanwy... #
0:02:39 > 0:02:42I'm travelling to the birthplace of Joseph Parry,
0:02:42 > 0:02:46the man who wrote Myfanwy, to find out more about the song,
0:02:46 > 0:02:49why it's lasted so long and been sung by so many stars.
0:02:50 > 0:02:52Even little old me!
0:02:52 > 0:02:54# O Myfanwy... #
0:02:54 > 0:02:57At Joseph Parry's house, exciting!
0:02:57 > 0:02:59Joseph Parry was born in 1841
0:02:59 > 0:03:02and started working in the mines at the age of nine.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06His family house is now a museum in honour of the great man.
0:03:06 > 0:03:12When he was 13, his family left Merthyr and emigrated to America in a search for a better life.
0:03:12 > 0:03:17He soon showed his musical genius and people raised money to send him to the Royal Academy in London.
0:03:17 > 0:03:23He became one of Wales's most famous composers, writing Myfanwy in 1875.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27Alwyn Humphreys is one of Wales's former conductors and musicians
0:03:27 > 0:03:28and knows the secrets of Myfanwy.
0:03:28 > 0:03:32The young man is saying to the girl, Myfanwy,
0:03:32 > 0:03:35look I realise you don't love me any more.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39Your cheeks don't blush any more, you don't rush towards me.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43She hasn't got the guts to tell him that her emotions have cooled.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45But he says the crucial line,
0:03:45 > 0:03:50"I don't want your hand, Myfanwy, unless I can have your heart as well."
0:03:50 > 0:03:53And he says to her in the end,
0:03:53 > 0:03:57"Give me your hand just once more to say farewell."
0:03:59 > 0:04:03He came from nothing, absolutely nothing, here in Merthyr,
0:04:03 > 0:04:08and rose to become the most powerful musical figure in Wales.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11What's it about Myfanwy, the song that makes it so popular?
0:04:11 > 0:04:17Myfanwy is that piece of music that gets to the parts of the human condition
0:04:17 > 0:04:19that no other music can.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23I've conducted it all over the world and it's amazing how people
0:04:23 > 0:04:27who know nothing about the words, because it's always sung in Welsh.
0:04:27 > 0:04:31It's because it's got something in it that appeals directly
0:04:31 > 0:04:35into the human condition, it reaches the parts no other music can.
0:04:35 > 0:04:40# Myfanwy boed yr holl... #
0:04:40 > 0:04:42Perhaps someone will write such a beautiful song for me.
0:04:42 > 0:04:44# 0h Connie! #
0:04:44 > 0:04:47Doesn't sound quite as romantic, but a girl can dream.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52I'm travelling out of the industrial valleys
0:04:52 > 0:04:55and 20 miles north towards the cathedral town of Brecon.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59You may think talent shows and auditions are a very modern invention,
0:04:59 > 0:05:06but I'm going to a place that's been selecting people to appear in the limelight for centuries.
0:05:09 > 0:05:14What an entrance! I've always fancied being in Phantom Of the Opera.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21Choirs have sung in Brecon Cathedral for centuries
0:05:21 > 0:05:26and currently there are 20 children and over a dozen adults singing regularly.
0:05:26 > 0:05:31Choir Master Mark Duffy auditions young people each year for a place in the choir.
0:05:31 > 0:05:33No pressure then!
0:05:33 > 0:05:37We offer places to two or three boys and two or three girls every year,
0:05:37 > 0:05:41and they audition at seven to start when they're eight.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44Usually we get about 20 people applying.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46You're the Simon Cowell of Brecon?
0:05:46 > 0:05:50It's a bit different from that really and what we hope is everyone who comes
0:05:50 > 0:05:53for the voice trials has enjoyed and benefited from it.
0:05:53 > 0:05:59We've chosen the ones who are most suited to it and will enjoy being in the choir.
0:05:59 > 0:06:05THEY SING
0:06:09 > 0:06:1210-year-old George Stafford Smith has been singing
0:06:12 > 0:06:16with the choir for nearly two years after getting through the tough audition.
0:06:16 > 0:06:18They chose five of us, one of them was me.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21You start your probation and you sing well
0:06:21 > 0:06:26and you work your way up to chorister, then you get the blue medal.
0:06:26 > 0:06:31Then when you're head chorister, the oldest, you get a dark medal.
0:06:31 > 0:06:37You have to give up most of your time, because we're on Wednesdays and Thursdays for practice.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40Friday until 7pm for practice and services, and then double on Sunday.
0:06:40 > 0:06:46It's always singing around friends and when you're in the choir you make new friends.
0:06:46 > 0:06:54THEY SING
0:06:56 > 0:07:02So Erin, teach me a little arpeggio or something that would get me into the cathedral choir.
0:07:02 > 0:07:04SHE SINGS HIGH NOTES
0:07:05 > 0:07:06Again, again.
0:07:06 > 0:07:11SHE SINGS EVEN HIGHER NOTES
0:07:11 > 0:07:13Watch the windows, watch the windows.
0:07:18 > 0:07:22Little Shakira Price-Davies on the left of the three angels,
0:07:22 > 0:07:26is just nine years old and has been in the choir for under a year.
0:07:26 > 0:07:30When you're singing, what are your favourite pieces to sing?
0:07:30 > 0:07:33I like all the bouncy songs.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35In this choir you sing in English.
0:07:35 > 0:07:40What other languages can you sing in? Cos you're only nine.
0:07:40 > 0:07:41Latin.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45Wow! Can you give us a line in Latin from any song that you know?
0:07:46 > 0:07:48SHE SPEAKS LATIN
0:07:48 > 0:07:51What does that mean?
0:07:52 > 0:07:55- I don't know. - It's OK, I don't know either!
0:07:55 > 0:07:57Do you sing in Welsh?
0:07:57 > 0:07:59Yes.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02And you compete in competitions like the Eisteddfods?
0:08:02 > 0:08:04Yes, we had it today.
0:08:04 > 0:08:05No, what did you sing?
0:08:07 > 0:08:10SHE SINGS IN WELSH
0:08:18 > 0:08:21That was awesome, that was awesome,
0:08:21 > 0:08:24a round of applause that was brilliant.
0:08:34 > 0:08:38I'm now off to meet someone who was once a member of the choir himself,
0:08:38 > 0:08:43but now he's better known for his very successful solo career.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47# Figaro, Figaro, Figaro, Figaro, Figaro, Figaro, Figaro
0:08:47 > 0:08:52# Figaro...#
0:08:52 > 0:08:56Rhydian shot to fame when he was runner up in the X Factor.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58I often competed against him
0:08:58 > 0:09:01in Eisteddfods around the country when I was growing up.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04Rhydian went to Llandovery College and was also in a choir.
0:09:04 > 0:09:06Well, briefly.
0:09:06 > 0:09:11If truth be told, I'm more of a soloist and I was a soloist from about the age of three.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14I kind of wanted to be centre of attention and I always felt,
0:09:14 > 0:09:17do I have to sing with everybody?
0:09:17 > 0:09:19# Figaro.... #
0:09:19 > 0:09:21Did you find that your musical background,
0:09:21 > 0:09:27your musical map prepared you for later in life competing on the X Factor?
0:09:27 > 0:09:29The Eisteddfods certainly prepared me,
0:09:29 > 0:09:34because it's the original X Factor in a way isn't it?
0:09:34 > 0:09:36You're performing in front of an audience,
0:09:36 > 0:09:40you're on TV and you've a panel judging you.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44- When we competed against each other you were very competitive. - You were vicious!
0:09:44 > 0:09:46But I think you matched me.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48I certainly did, I'm so competitive.
0:09:48 > 0:09:50You were much better than me.
0:09:50 > 0:09:52I absolutely wasn't.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54And actually I'm going to embarrass you now,
0:09:54 > 0:09:57but you inspired me to do the X Factor.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59Oh, no.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03That's the truth, having seen you do well in Maria,
0:10:03 > 0:10:07I was like, OK, I know Connie, we kind of have the same musical background.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11Why not have a go at...? I did Joseph, I did the BBC.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13You didn't?
0:10:13 > 0:10:15I was in Joseph, true story.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19So you went in for the Joseph competition with Lee Mead?
0:10:19 > 0:10:24And do you know what I said in my audition? "Tell us something interesting about yourself, Rhydian."
0:10:24 > 0:10:26I said "I know Connie Fisher."
0:10:26 > 0:10:28Absolutely true.
0:10:28 > 0:10:29That's really interesting.
0:10:29 > 0:10:30"He's cut."
0:10:30 > 0:10:37# Ci-i-i-i-itta! #
0:10:37 > 0:10:42We've been tracing the history of the song, Myfanwy. Is that one you know?
0:10:42 > 0:10:45Myfanwy is my favourite song of all time.
0:10:45 > 0:10:49Because it's so simple, the melody, but so beautiful.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52Can you give us a couple of lines from it?
0:10:52 > 0:10:53Yes, um...
0:10:55 > 0:11:00# Pa ham mae dicter, O Myfanwy
0:11:00 > 0:11:07# Yn llenwi'th lygaid duon ddi?
0:11:07 > 0:11:16# Pa le mae sain dy eiriau melys
0:11:16 > 0:11:24# Fu'n denu'n nghalon ar dy ol? #
0:11:24 > 0:11:29I feel like-being wooed by Rhydian. I'm a bit moved.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33Beautiful, that was... I'm a bit speechless.
0:11:33 > 0:11:35I've been serenaded by Rhydian.
0:11:35 > 0:11:39And who would have thought Myfanwy would sound so beautiful? Thank you.
0:11:41 > 0:11:47Ah! Wiping the tears from my eyes, it's time to hit the road again.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51I'm heading out to the heads of the valleys.
0:11:51 > 0:11:56I'm travelling just over 20 miles and going back 60 years to dig up
0:11:56 > 0:12:00an amazing story that links this part of the world with pre-war America.
0:12:00 > 0:12:05I'm rolling down to Blaenavon to find out more about Paul Robeson,
0:12:05 > 0:12:10his astonishing voice and his very moving connection with the South Wales miners.
0:12:10 > 0:12:16# Old man river, that old man river
0:12:16 > 0:12:22# He must know something, But don't say nothing. #
0:12:22 > 0:12:26Paul Robeson was born in New Jersey in 1898.
0:12:26 > 0:12:30He was a man of prodigious talents and a huge deep voice
0:12:30 > 0:12:32and a massive stage and screen presence.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36Which made him a star on both sides of the Atlantic.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39I'm going to the Big Pit Mining Museum in Blaenavon
0:12:39 > 0:12:42to meet historian Sian Williams to trace
0:12:42 > 0:12:45the link between Paul Robeson and the Welsh miners, which really began
0:12:45 > 0:12:50when he was performing in a musical in London's West End in the 1920s.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54He was in Showboat and at that time
0:12:54 > 0:12:59that's when he came across the South Wales miners for the very first time.
0:12:59 > 0:13:05A group had marched from South Wales to London as one of the hunger marches.
0:13:05 > 0:13:10They were fighting for better wages, better working conditions.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13Bearing in mind many of them were unemployed.
0:13:13 > 0:13:18He could understand immediately what they were fighting for.
0:13:18 > 0:13:22The shared experience of hardship and a tradition of singing helped
0:13:22 > 0:13:25develop the growing bond. It was strengthened
0:13:25 > 0:13:29when Paul Robeson starred in the Hollywood film, Proud Valley,
0:13:29 > 0:13:30shot in South Wales.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33This fellow brought a black man to work down the pit.
0:13:33 > 0:13:34Well?
0:13:34 > 0:13:37What about it?
0:13:37 > 0:13:40Damn and blast it, man, aren't we all black down the pit?
0:13:40 > 0:13:42LAUGHTER
0:13:42 > 0:13:44He'd appear in concerts, not only to raise money for the miners,
0:13:44 > 0:13:49but for lots of different struggles.
0:13:49 > 0:13:56One concert he attended in 1938 in Mountain Ash was a memorial
0:13:56 > 0:13:59to those who had died in the Spanish Civil War.
0:13:59 > 0:14:03Paul Robeson's support for civil rights and radical causes in America
0:14:03 > 0:14:08led him to be blacklisted for un-American behaviour.
0:14:08 > 0:14:12His passport was withdrawn in 1950,
0:14:12 > 0:14:15but that didn't stop his friendship with people across South Wales.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19New technology allowed a unique transatlantic radio link in 1957.
0:14:19 > 0:14:23My warmest greetings to the people of my beloved Wales,
0:14:23 > 0:14:27and a special hello to the miners of South Wales
0:14:27 > 0:14:30at this great festival.
0:14:30 > 0:14:32# Did my Lord deliver?
0:14:32 > 0:14:37# Daniel delivered Daniel delivered, Daniel
0:14:37 > 0:14:39# Did my Lord deliver...? #
0:14:39 > 0:14:41Paul sang five songs
0:14:41 > 0:14:46and then the Treorchy male voice choir sang to him
0:14:46 > 0:14:50and the Eisteddfod recording finishes
0:14:50 > 0:14:55with the whole audience singing We'll Keep A Welcome In The Hillside.
0:14:55 > 0:15:01# We'll keep a welcome in the hillside... #
0:15:01 > 0:15:06Paul Robeson died on 23rd January, 1976
0:15:06 > 0:15:08and in many valleys across Wales
0:15:08 > 0:15:13there was a moment's silence to mark the end of a very special friendship.
0:15:13 > 0:15:18# When you come home, sweet home, again... #
0:15:18 > 0:15:20Wow, what an amazing story.
0:15:20 > 0:15:24From stars of the past, we're off to meet stars of the future.
0:15:28 > 0:15:30I'm travelling across the valleys
0:15:30 > 0:15:32to a little village close to the border.
0:15:32 > 0:15:38In 1962, a small music festival was set up in Llantilio Crossenny.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42Over the years it's developed from a local amateur affair
0:15:42 > 0:15:45into a professional event.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47I'm here in Monmouthshire.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50OK, I'm seriously close to the English border,
0:15:50 > 0:15:55but in this school there are children who are rising up the musical scale.
0:15:55 > 0:15:56Let's go and meet them.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59# Who's playing those bells? #
0:15:59 > 0:16:02When Eleanor Francombe became musical director in 2006,
0:16:02 > 0:16:07she decided more youngsters should be involved and be even more ambitious.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11This year, they're putting on a major opera project. Serious stuff.
0:16:11 > 0:16:16Today Cross Ash, tomorrow Welsh National Opera.
0:16:16 > 0:16:18Hi, guys.
0:16:18 > 0:16:21- Just one sec, Connie. - Hello, everybody.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24- Hello.- Great singing.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27Tell me a bit more about what you're preparing for.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31The children are rehearsing four performances
0:16:31 > 0:16:33of The Magic Flute by Mozart.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37They'll be singing, dancing, making their own costumes and scenery.
0:16:37 > 0:16:41# Oh, Papageno, just you wait and see
0:16:41 > 0:16:44# Oh, Papageno, just you wait and see. #
0:16:44 > 0:16:47You could be singing "spaghetti".
0:16:47 > 0:16:50We really need to hear that.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53"0h, Papageno, wait and see."
0:16:53 > 0:16:55Tell me a bit about the piece.
0:16:55 > 0:16:59We're the three ladies and they're sharing the part of Papagena.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02It's kind of high.
0:17:02 > 0:17:06- It's really high, isn't it?- Yes.
0:17:06 > 0:17:12- # The world stops - Stops, stops, stops
0:17:12 > 0:17:15# Oh, Papageno, wait and see
0:17:15 > 0:17:19# You've only one life, just you let it be... #
0:17:19 > 0:17:23There's an awful lot of musical talent in Wales,
0:17:23 > 0:17:26more so than when I've worked with children in England.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29There seems to be a bit more singing quality in Wales.
0:17:29 > 0:17:34I think really it's wonderful to have these children available
0:17:34 > 0:17:37who really can sing and to be able to put on an opera
0:17:37 > 0:17:40where they're not only singing in the chorus,
0:17:40 > 0:17:43but they're doing solos as well.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46# Oh, I have no key... #
0:17:46 > 0:17:48Toby Lane is playing Tamino
0:17:48 > 0:17:52explaining to Papageno that he can't help him speak.
0:17:52 > 0:17:57# Hmmm, hmmm... #
0:17:54 > 0:17:57- # I have no key...- #
0:17:57 > 0:18:03How do you get 10 and 11-year-olds, younger even, singing opera?
0:18:03 > 0:18:06You have to find a story they're going to love.
0:18:06 > 0:18:10Any fairy-tale is always going to go down well.
0:18:10 > 0:18:15And then you've got to show them that opera isn't as stuffy as some people might think.
0:18:15 > 0:18:18Some of the stories are such fun.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21# This wonderful house
0:18:21 > 0:18:25# La, la, la, la, la... #
0:18:25 > 0:18:30- The only opera I've ever seen is The Magic Flute.- Excellent.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34- I think you did a better version. - Thank you.
0:18:34 > 0:18:39I couldn't come all this way without giving a masterclass.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42# Have you ever had a penguin pat for tea?
0:18:42 > 0:18:45# Take a look at me A penguin you could be
0:18:45 > 0:18:48Penguins, pay attention. Penguins, begin.
0:18:48 > 0:18:53Right arm, left arm, right leg, left leg.
0:18:53 > 0:18:55Stick out your bum, stick out your tongue.
0:18:55 > 0:19:00# La, la, la la-la, la, la, la, la, la-la.
0:19:00 > 0:19:02# La, la, la, la-la, la, la, la, la, la-la. #
0:19:02 > 0:19:05SHE SIGHS
0:19:05 > 0:19:090h, it's so good to give something back to the next generation.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12I'm exhausted.
0:19:17 > 0:19:19And now for something completely different.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22I'm off to sample the rock-star lifestyle.
0:19:22 > 0:19:24Ohhh.
0:19:24 > 0:19:28Uh-oh. Has it got a fourth? Yep.
0:19:28 > 0:19:32I'm going east to one of Wales's most legendary venues.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36North of Monmouth is Rockfield, a studio that has recorded
0:19:36 > 0:19:41the hits of virtually all the great rock bands over the last 45 years.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44It's the who's who of rock history.
0:19:44 > 0:19:50Queen, Oasis, Ozzy Osbourne, the Rolling Stones. Who hasn't recorded here?
0:19:50 > 0:19:52Well, I haven't.
0:19:52 > 0:19:56But, moving quickly on to meet co-owner and founder Kingsley Ward
0:19:56 > 0:20:00who gave me a tour of a place where there's musical memorabilia everywhere you look.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04On top of there is a horse as a weather vane.
0:20:04 > 0:20:08My brother thinks that when Freddie Mercury wrote Bohemian Rhapsody
0:20:08 > 0:20:12perhaps he got "any way the wind blows" from that horse.
0:20:12 > 0:20:18- From that very weather vane? - He might be right. Freddie isn't here to tell us, is he?
0:20:18 > 0:20:20# Any way the wind blows
0:20:20 > 0:20:27# Doesn't really matter to me... #
0:20:27 > 0:20:31- A little birdie tells me around here Oasis recorded.- Yes, they did.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34When they did What's the story, Morning Glory?
0:20:34 > 0:20:37Nigel Kennedy was over there in that studio.
0:20:37 > 0:20:41And I could hear Nigel Kennedy doing his classical, every morning.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44And I could hear Oasis in this studio.
0:20:44 > 0:20:48So I had Oasis on the one side and Nigel Kennedy on the other.
0:20:48 > 0:20:50That's a culture shock, isn't it?
0:20:53 > 0:20:58When Ozzy turned up in 1966, he used to play bows and arrows here,
0:20:58 > 0:20:59against that wall.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01No! How old was he?
0:21:01 > 0:21:0316.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06And this wall here, Noel or Liam sat on top
0:21:06 > 0:21:09and sang some words to What's The Story Morning Glory?
0:21:09 > 0:21:13We call it "Wonderwall", tongue in cheek.
0:21:13 > 0:21:15- How did they get up there? - They jumped up there.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18I'm going to get up there if it kills me.
0:21:18 > 0:21:20Oh! OK.
0:21:20 > 0:21:22I'm not really going to make it.
0:21:22 > 0:21:27# You're my wonderwall... #
0:21:27 > 0:21:32Have you got a "get in" list? You can't get in because you're not good enough.
0:21:32 > 0:21:36No, we're grateful for anybody now, cos the music business has collapsed.
0:21:36 > 0:21:42- If they've got the money, we'll take it off them.- OK, that's a good ethic.
0:21:42 > 0:21:47# Mamma, ooh, ooh, ooh... #
0:21:47 > 0:21:52Were you ever there when somebody was inspired to write a song?
0:21:52 > 0:21:58When Freddie Mercury sat in the office in the corner I remember him partly writing Bohemian Rhapsody.
0:21:58 > 0:22:02I remember him sat over there going through the little things.
0:22:02 > 0:22:06We made the greatest records in the world and some of the worst.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09Hang on, I haven't been here yet!
0:22:09 > 0:22:15We have a lot of tourists from around the world who come for the most strange reasons.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18Some come because of a band called Rush.
0:22:18 > 0:22:20Some come because of Iggy Pop.
0:22:20 > 0:22:25Two people from Texas came a month ago because of Adam and the Ants.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28# Stand and deliver... #
0:22:28 > 0:22:31You never know who's going to turn up.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34It's hallowed ground to many people in the world.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37What's kept you going?
0:22:37 > 0:22:41With the internet, unfortunately 90% of all music is no longer paid for.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44People don't expect to pay any more.
0:22:44 > 0:22:46Because we've got a lot of accommodation here,
0:22:46 > 0:22:49we've diversified into holiday lets.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52So you can stay where Queen have rocked?
0:22:52 > 0:22:55You can stay in accommodation where famous rock stars,
0:22:55 > 0:22:59Robert Plant and Oasis and all these people, have all been.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02- Like Robbie Williams. - Robbie's been here?- Yeah.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06# So when I'm lying in my bed
0:23:06 > 0:23:10# Thoughts running through my head... #
0:23:10 > 0:23:15Connie Fisher sleeps in the same bed as Robbie Williams at Rockfield. Don't tell the papers!
0:23:15 > 0:23:19# I'm loving angels instead... #
0:23:23 > 0:23:27My final destination is the former mining town of Blackwood
0:23:27 > 0:23:30to find out about a musical link with all our pasts.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33This is the birthplace of the Manic Street Preachers
0:23:33 > 0:23:36and this year they returned to play a concert
0:23:36 > 0:23:41in the Blackwood Miners' Institute, where they performed over 20 years ago.
0:23:41 > 0:23:47The Manics have always valued that link with their past.
0:23:47 > 0:23:51Going back to Blackwood after the States seems like a challenge.
0:23:51 > 0:23:55There's an element of seeing if you can reconnect to the past.
0:23:55 > 0:23:59There's definitely an emotional resonance there.
0:23:59 > 0:24:01There's definitely lots of nostalgia.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05Tonight, here in Blackwood, The Manic Street Preachers.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07CHEERING
0:24:21 > 0:24:25And today the link with the past is even stronger
0:24:25 > 0:24:29as the Tredegar male-voice choir are rehearsing at the "S'tute".
0:24:29 > 0:24:35Built by miners' pennies, Blackwood is now one of the very few surviving miners' institutes in Wales
0:24:35 > 0:24:39and still resounds to a sound that's also under threat.
0:24:39 > 0:24:45# Mi lynan dawel wrth dy draed
0:24:45 > 0:24:53# Mi ganaf am rinweddaur gwaed... #
0:24:53 > 0:24:59Historian Gareth Williams has researched the history of the miners' institutes and the choirs.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01In these institutes,
0:25:01 > 0:25:07and there are about 100 institutes by the First World War, which have various facilities.
0:25:07 > 0:25:13They have great libraries, lecture halls, games rooms for chess, dominoes or table tennis.
0:25:13 > 0:25:18And they have halls in which they can rehearse and practise,
0:25:18 > 0:25:20and all the time they're learning,
0:25:20 > 0:25:24they're improving, they're being sociable.
0:25:24 > 0:25:27They're enhancing their own citizenship.
0:25:27 > 0:25:31So, the men down the mines would sing
0:25:31 > 0:25:34and was there a sense of camaraderie there?
0:25:34 > 0:25:39Certainly camaraderie and the repertoire of the male choir
0:25:39 > 0:25:44is to a great extent about comradeship and struggle and sacrifice.
0:25:44 > 0:25:49The male-voice choirs today are still singing Comrades In Arms and Martyrs Of The Arena.
0:25:49 > 0:25:54The tradition of male-voice choirs has changed as much as Wales has.
0:25:54 > 0:25:58With the loss of mining there's been a dramatic reduction in their number.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01I'm going to take my chance while I can.
0:26:01 > 0:26:03I'm amongst the boys from Tredegar.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06Ooh, oh, there we are.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10- I've done this job before. - I can tell!
0:26:10 > 0:26:15- Were you yourself a miner?- I worked in the colliery for 49 years.
0:26:15 > 0:26:21We went underground aged 14 and we just accepted it had to be done.
0:26:21 > 0:26:25- Did you all have that sense of camaraderie? Musically as well? - Always.
0:26:25 > 0:26:30You will always find that underground. There's a wonderful bonding.
0:26:30 > 0:26:35- In the pits, it was virtually in the baths that we sang.- Right.
0:26:35 > 0:26:37When we were showering.
0:26:37 > 0:26:42After I finished working in the mines I missed the companionship.
0:26:42 > 0:26:46I joined the choir and found it again there.
0:26:46 > 0:26:51We're privileged enough to have a song from you now, so take it away.
0:26:51 > 0:26:56# Gogoniant byth am drefn
0:26:56 > 0:27:00# Canna fenaid yn y gwaed... #
0:27:00 > 0:27:05It is crucial, that link between mining and male-voice choirs.
0:27:05 > 0:27:10The miracle is that the male-voice tradition has now survived the decline of the mines.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14# Canna fenaid yn y gwaed... #
0:27:14 > 0:27:19Let's hope that tradition keeps on going for years to come. Keep on singing, boys.
0:27:19 > 0:27:24# Ah-ah-amen
0:27:24 > 0:27:28# Ah-ah-amen
0:27:28 > 0:27:36# Ah-ah-amen. #
0:27:36 > 0:27:40Next week, I'm heading home to Pembrokeshire
0:27:40 > 0:27:43as I learn all about the story of this sea shanty.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47- Oh, yes.- Swept away at sea.
0:27:47 > 0:27:51In St David's, the gloves are off as I pull out all the stops.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54MUSIC: "Baa Baa Black Sheep"
0:27:54 > 0:27:58And there's a surprise in store as I enter another talent contest.
0:27:58 > 0:28:02# So he may come. #
0:28:07 > 0:28:13# Small and white, clean and bright
0:28:13 > 0:28:18# You look happy to meet me. #