Aberfan: A Concert to Remember


Aberfan: A Concert to Remember

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Welcome to the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff for what is

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both a unique event and an historic occasion,

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featuring the world premiere performance

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of a brand-new work by Sir Karl Jerkins and Mererid Hopwood.

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The work, entitled Cantata Memoria,

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is part of a commemorative event which marks

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the 50th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster,

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when 116 children and 28 adults lost their lives as a result

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of a massive coal waste tip sliding onto the school and village.

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There are world-famous performers on stage, including Bryn Terfel,

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and an astonishing young violinist, Joo Yeon Sir.

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# Every good gift... #

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To start the evening,

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a very emotional performance by the Aberfan children of today,

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together with the Ynysowen Male Choir,

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formed following the disaster.

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# We are his hands

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# Stewards of all his bounty

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# His is the earth and his the heavens above

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# Praise to thee, O Lord, for all creation

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# Give us thankful hearts that we may see

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# All the gifts we share and every blessing

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# All things

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# Come of thee. #

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APPLAUSE

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National Poet of Wales Ifor ap Glyn was commissioned to write

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a piece for the occasion.

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Dame Sian Phillips reads his imagined letter from a grandmother

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who lost one of her children in the tragedy while the other survived.

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My dearest granddaughter...

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Silence is a hard habit to break.

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Right from day one this wasn't something we talked about.

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It was a non-subject.

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So...how much should you know?

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It's part of your history, our family's history.

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But I can't share my guilt with you,

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for making the child I lost go to school that morning.

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I wish I'd never shared that with your bampi even,

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and that I felt guilty for having a child that lived.

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But I wouldn't have had you otherwise, would I?

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None of this makes sense.

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There are pictures

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that you ought to see,

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from afterwards -

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the first baby, the first wedding,

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the first smiles...

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..and how many hundreds have there been since then? Thank God.

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Those pictures show us carrying on, because we have to.

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But there are things that those photos can't show,

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like candles in pockets and...

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Your auntie was afraid of the dark.

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I would light a candle for her in the cemetery, lots did.

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These are things I will carry with me till I die...

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..but do you have a right to them?

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Because it was so terrible,

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should you feel, like so many before you,

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that it's your duty to comment, to sympathise,

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to identify?

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TRANSLATED FROM WELSH:

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But I don't want you to forget either.

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I can only give your auntie flowers.

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I'll give you all the memories that I can.

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APPLAUSE

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The new composition Cantata Memoria has been over two years

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in the making and marks the first collaboration between

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world-renowned Welsh composer Sir Karl Jenkins

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and poet and academic Mererid Hopwood.

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The work is music and a poem.

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It's not a documentary, but it's a genuine attempt to depict

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a tragedy and express some hope and celebrate childhood.

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From the onset to the choir

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naming all the children lost in the tragedy...

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I thought that particularly moving.

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In a musical sense, incredibly clever, typical Karl Jenkins,

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bringing through his immense knowledge of music.

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It's a very emotional piece, in a way it's a journey,

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cos it takes us from utter darkness and despair

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and then it progresses into light.

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# Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!

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# Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah! #

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The composer has also drawn on traditional Welsh folk music,

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hymns and children's songs, as well as quoting a Bach chorale.

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We start the work with Welsh words, "pitran" and "patran",

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which are onomatopoeic words for rainfall,

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but quite rapidly turn into something quite sinister,

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and there we use another pair of words from the Welsh language -

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"twrw", which is a word for noise or din or loud sound,

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and "bwrw", which is our word for hitting.

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Twrw and bwrw morph into buried

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and the playing between and through languages

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is a constant theme from the beginning to the end of the work.

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APPLAUSE

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# Pitran, patran, titrwm, tatrwm

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# Pitran, patran, titrwm, tatrwm

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# Pitran, patran, titrwm

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# Pi-pi-pi-pi-pi-pi-pi-pi-pi

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# Pi-pi-pi-pi-pi-pi-pi-pi-pi

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# Pitran, patran, titrwm, tatrwm

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# Dagrau agos, dagrau glaw

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# Pi-pi-pi-pi-pa-pa-pa-pa

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# Ti-ti-ti-it-ta-ta-ta-ta

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# Cysgu blantos bore ddaw

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# All things bright and beautiful

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# All creatures great and small

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# All things wise and wonderful

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# The Lord God made them all

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# The purple-headed mountain

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# The river running by

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# The sunset and the morning

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# That brightens up the sky

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# All things bright and beautiful

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# All creatures great and small

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# All things wise and wonderful

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# The Lord God made them all

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# The tall trees in the greenwood

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# The meadows where we play

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# The rushes by the water

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# To gather every day

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# All things bright and beautiful

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# All creatures great and small

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# All things wise and wonderful

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# The Lord God made them all

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# Titrwm, tatrwm, titrwm, tatrwm

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# Titrwm, tatrwm, titrwm

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# Titrwm, tatrwm, titrwm, tatrwm

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# Titrwm, tatrwm, titrwm

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# Twrw, twrw, twrw, twrw

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# Twrw, twrw

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# Twrw

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# Twrw, twrw

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# Twrw, twrw

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# Twrw

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# Twrw, twrw

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# Twrw, twrw

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# Twrw, twrw

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# Twrw, bwrw, twrw, bwrw

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# Twrw, bwrw, twrw, bwrw

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# Bwrw

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# Bore, bore, bore, bwrw

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# Bore, bore, bore, bore, bore, bore

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# Bwrw

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# Bore, bore, bore, bore, bore, bore

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# Bwrw-rw-rw! #

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# Bach

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# Nothing... #

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# Dim, dim

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# Nothing, nothing

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# Nothing, does dim swn

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# Yn y tywyllwch

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# Nothing, does dim swn

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# Paham, paham

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# Paham, paham

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# Paham, paham

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# Paham, paham

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# Paham, paham

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# Paham, paham

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# Paham, paham

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# Paham

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# Paham

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# Paham

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# Oh, why?

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# Oh, why-y-y?

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# Why? Why?

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# Anthony John Sullivan

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# John Islwyn Jones

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# Richard Philip Goldsworthy

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# Royston Barrett

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# Timothy Grey

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# Paul Jones

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# Anthony David Hill

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# Clive and Philip Mumford

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# Maralyn Carol Howells

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# Megan Robbins

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# Robert Breeze

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# Janette Lynne Brown

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# Jean Launchbury

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# Julie Jeannine Regan

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# Julie Pryce

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# Robert Garfield Jones

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# Christine George

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# Susan Jones

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# Yvonne Drage

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# Christine Prosser

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# Gillian Irene Jones

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# Terrence Davies

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# Stephen Vaughan

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# Angela Hopkins

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# Hosanna in excelsis

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# Benedictus

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# Qui venit in nomine Domini... #

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# Desmond Carpenter

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# Edwin Davies Evans

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# John Anthony King

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# Jennifer Haines

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# Jean Winifred

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# Maureen Mary Evans

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# Kay Bowns

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# Carol Ann Carpenter

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# Royston Hodkinson

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# Pat and Tommy Probert

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# Graham Williams

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# Jill and Vincent Parfitt

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# William Michael

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# Sheila Fitzpatrick

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# Benedictus

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# Benedictus

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# Qui venit in nomine Domini

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# Hosanna in excelsis

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# Hosanna in excelsis

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# Benedictus

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# Qui venit in nomine Domini

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# Richard Jones

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# Lewis and Glenys Gabriel Jones

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# Patricia Margaret Evans

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# Gwyneth Collins

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# Cassie Jones

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# Graham Edward

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# Sidney Russell

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# William Henry Rees

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# William Charles Thomas

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# Frederick Richard Hansen

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# Susannah Probert

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# Marjorie Christine Evans

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# Benedictus

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# Benedictus

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# Benedictus

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# Benedictus

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# Buried alive by the National Coal Board

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# Buried alive

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# Buried alive

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# Bwrw glaw man ac mae'r dagrau yn disgyn

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# Buried alive

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# Buried alive

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# Bwrw glaw man ac mae'r dagrau yn disgyn

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# Buried alive by the National Coal Board

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# Bwrw glaw man ac mae'r dagrau yn disgyn

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# Bwrw, bwrw, bwrw, bwrw

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# Buried alive by the National Coal Board

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# Buried, buried

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# Buried, buried

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# Buried, buried

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# Buried, buried

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# Buried. #

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IN LATIN:

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# Agnus

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# Dei

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# Agnus

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# Dei

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# Agnus Dei

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# Qui tollis peccata mundi

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# Dona nobis pacem

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# Agnus

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# Agnus

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# Agnus

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# Agnus

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# Agnus

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# Agnus

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# Dei

0:29:150:29:23

# Agnus

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# Dei

0:29:310:29:38

# Agnus

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# Dei

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# Agnus

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# Dei

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# Dei

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# Dei

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# Lacrimosa

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# Lacrimosa

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# Lacrimosa 'maban glan

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# Dona eis requiem

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# Dona eis requiem

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# Lacrimosa 'maban glan

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# Ah, ah

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# Ah, ah

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# Ah, ah, ah, ah

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# Aah

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# Aah

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# Did I hear a bird? Not a word

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# Did I hear a song? Perhaps long ago

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# But I don't think so

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# But I don't think so

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# Did I hear the flutter of wings?

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# The f-f-flutter of wings Like the sound of apron strings

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# Unravel-ravel-ravel-ravelling?

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# Unravel-ravel-ravel-ravel- ravelling?

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# Beating my heart

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# Just a little, little, little bird

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-# That keeps on calling, calling

-Ah, ah, ah, ah

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-# Calling, calling softly from the crowd

-Ah, ah, ah, ah

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-# That keeps on calling, calling

-Ah, ah, ah, ah

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-# Calling, calling, calling

-Ah, ah, ah, ah

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-# Calling for light A light so loud

-Ah, ah, ah, ah

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# Aah

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# Ah, ah, ah, ah

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# Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah

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# Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah!

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# Ah-ah, ah-ah

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# Ah-ah, ah-ah Ah-ah, ah-ah

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# Ah-ah, ah-ah

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# Ah-ah, ah-ah Ah-ah, ah-ah

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# Ah-ah, ah-ah

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# Ah-ah, ah-ah Ah-ah, ah-ah!

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# Ah, ah, aah. #

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SHE SINGS IN WELSH

0:37:470:37:51

TRANSLATION:

0:37:560:38:00

THEY SING IN WELSH

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LYRIC REPEATS

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# I'm bigger than you I'm seven years old

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# That's nothing I'm seven and a half

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# I'm stronger than you I'm eight years old

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# That's nothing I'm eight and a half

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# I'm prettier than you I'm nine years old

0:43:070:43:12

# That's nothing I'm nine and a half

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# I'm cleverer than you I'm ten and a quarter

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# That's nothing I'm ten and a half

0:43:280:43:32

# If you're so big Tell Billy he's slow

0:43:320:43:36

# I can't today I've got a bad toe

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# If you're so strong Go on, lift this stone

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# I can't today I've got a bad...bone

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# He can't today He's got a bad...bone

0:43:490:43:54

# If you're so pretty Give Johnny a kiss

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# But Johnny is ugly For shame, I'll tell Miss

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# If you're so clever

0:44:050:44:07

# What's three hundred million divided by nine over two?

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# That's easy-peasy lemon squeezy

0:44:130:44:17

# But I'm not telling you!

0:44:170:44:22

TRANSLATION FROM WELSH:

0:44:340:44:37

# We sang, we played

0:45:150:45:20

# We sought, we found

0:45:200:45:24

THEY REPEAT IN WELSH

0:45:240:45:27

LYRIC REPEATS

0:45:370:45:39

SHE KNOCKS ON WOOD

0:46:330:46:36

TRANSLATED FROM WELSH:

0:46:540:46:57

# And once upon a time

0:48:020:48:06

# When time was together

0:48:060:48:08

# When the worlds were nearer and the skies were clearer

0:48:080:48:13

# Once upon a time

0:48:130:48:16

# When time was forever and tomorrow never

0:48:160:48:22

# In that once upon a time that was yours and mine

0:48:220:48:28

TRANSLATED FROM WELSH:

0:48:280:48:31

THEY REPEAT LYRIC

0:48:550:48:58

# Yours and mine. #

0:48:580:49:08

# How should we weep when the shadow dies

0:49:440:49:49

# Fading, slipping till the sun dies

0:49:490:49:55

# Asleep?

0:49:550:49:59

# Asleep?

0:50:010:50:04

# Should we now leave? For the stars shed no light

0:50:070:50:13

# Or shall we mourn by the shallow moon

0:50:130:50:18

-# That has no day

-No day

0:50:180:50:23

# Say

0:50:230:50:25

# Shall we stay?

0:50:250:50:28

# And still shall we grieve by the shallow grave

0:50:300:50:35

# Of a flown-away life like a fallen leaf

0:50:350:50:43

# And if so

0:50:450:50:48

# How?

0:50:520:50:55

# And when winter blows Might we rest by the empty tree?

0:51:210:51:28

-# Shall we try?

-Should I?

0:51:280:51:32

# Nobody knows

0:51:320:51:37

# But if to be alive is to belong

0:51:450:51:51

# Then we must

0:51:510:51:54

# Keep

0:51:540:51:58

# Still

0:51:580:52:00

# This

0:52:000:52:04

# Song

0:52:040:52:07

TRANSLATED FROM WELSH:

0:52:100:52:13

# Sing it, sing it

0:52:340:52:40

# Till the end of the night Sing it

0:52:400:52:47

# Sing it, sing it

0:52:470:52:51

# Our children loved light

0:52:510:52:58

# Our children loved light

0:52:580:53:05

# My child

0:53:050:53:13

# Loved

0:53:140:53:19

# Light. #

0:53:210:53:27

TRANSLATED FROM LATIN:

0:53:530:53:59

TRANSLATION FROM WELSH:

0:55:100:55:13

THEY REPEAT FIRST VERSE IN LATIN

0:55:460:55:51

TRANSLATION FROM WELSH:

0:56:200:56:22

# Lux aeterna

0:56:330:56:36

# Luceat eis, Domine

0:56:360:56:42

# Cum sanctis tuis in aeternum

0:56:420:56:49

# Quia pius es

0:56:490:56:54

# Pius es

0:56:540:56:58

# Luce, lux

0:57:010:57:03

# Oh, luce

0:57:030:57:06

# Luce, luce

0:57:060:57:10

# Luce, luce

0:57:100:57:13

# Luce, light, light

0:57:130:57:15

# Luce, luce, lux

0:57:150:57:22

THEY VOCALISE

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# Lux

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# Aaaaah. #

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APPLAUSE

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The last note of Cantata Memoria shining bright

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in memory of Aberfan.

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With music by Sir Karl Jenkins,

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words by Mererid Hopwood,

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and commissioned by S4C.

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This special audience here at the Wales Millennium Centre

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showing their appreciation to all of the performers.

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It's been one of those rare occasions

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that we'll remember forever

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in tribute to a tragic event we must never forget.

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PROLONGED APPLAUSE

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