Stori'r Cantata Memoria Aberfan


Stori'r Cantata Memoria

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-Today, Aberfan is an

-unremarkable village near the A470.

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-But 50 years ago...

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-..crossing the path where the busy

-dual carriageway is today...

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-..a coal slag heap flowed like

-a black river into the village...

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-..and straight at

-Pantglas Junior School.

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-A register of children

-lost their lives.

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-# Antony John Sullivan

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-# John Islwyn Jones #

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-The news spread like wildfire.

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-The terrible loss struck a chord

-with families across the world.

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-To commemorate the tragedy,

-S4C has commissioned a work...

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-..by chief bard Mererid Hopwood...

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-..and the most popular contemporary

-composer in the world...

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-..Sir Karl Jenkins -

-Cantata Memoria, For the Children.

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-The commission is a recognition

-that there's a close relationship...

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-..between a nation's language

-and its memory.

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-Our joint memories are crucial.

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-They shape us as people.

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-Despite how incredibly sad

-the story of Aberfan is...

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-..it's a very big part of our story

-as Welsh people.

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-As part of the preparations for the

-premiere at the Millennium Centre...

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-..the work was recorded

-with Sinfonia Cymru...

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-..at the Beatles' home,

-Abbey Road Studios...

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-..and Welsh choirs

-at Acapela studio, Pentyrch.

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-# Twrw, twrw #

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-The soloists

-went to Karl's own studio in Soho.

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-Sorry I'm a bit late, Karl.

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-Sorry I'm a bit late, Karl.

-

-The baritone, Bryn Terfel.

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-Good beard.

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-The soprano, Elin Manahan Thomas.

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-The soprano, Elin Manahan Thomas.

-

-Take me off it later!

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-Euphonium player, David Childs.

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-Harpist, Catrin Finch.

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-And the young violinist

-from South Korea...

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-..winner of the Classic FM

-Karl Jenkins Music Award...

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-..for instrumentalists,

-Joo Yeon Sir.

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-Can I hear the 49 on that take?

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-Karl sent me the disk.

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-I was on the way to London.

-I put it on in the car.

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-I had to stop at service stations.

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-You know the story

-and why the music was written.

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-I saw the score some months back

-and I cried for an hour.

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-It's a very powerful piece.

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-The work is music and a poem.

-It's not a documentary.

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-It's a journey

-from darkness to light.

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-We've written a work from two hearts

-that speaks to many.

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-# Agnus dei #

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-In the 20 years

-we've known each other...

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-..I think this is the most important

-work of his that I've recorded...

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-..and the one where I've most wanted

-to find out the ideas in his work.

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-But where do you start doing justice

-to such a tragic event?

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-Here's how Mererid and Karl

-went about creating the work.

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-It starts with raindrops

-in the orchestration.

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-"Pitran patran, titrwm tatrwm"...

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-..conveys the raindrops.

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-It wasn't heavy rain at the start

-but the menace increases.

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-# Pitran, patran, titrwm, tatrwm

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-# Dagrau agos, dagrau glaw #

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-Local historian Dr Elin Jones

-remembers the time clearly.

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-# Cysgu blantos bore ddaw #

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-At 9.15am on 21 October 1966...

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-..a man called Robbie

-who was driving past in a lorry...

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-..saw a mountain moving.

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-It was heading straight for

-the village of Aberfan...

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-..to a school where the children

-had assembled for the daily service.

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-The story is that they were singing

-All Things Bright And Beautiful.

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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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-I don't know if that was the hymn

-they were singing...

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-..but they did sing

-All Things Bright And Beautiful....

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-..like children do today.

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-It's a lovely hymn.

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-The words by Mrs Alexander

-were written in Wales.

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-That makes it even more ironic...

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-..considering it's about rejoicing

-in the beauty of nature...

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-..and the world around you,

-which has been created by God.

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-# All things wise and wonderful

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-# The Lord God made them all #

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-The tip was created by men.

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-There was a stream

-under the slag heap...

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-..so it shouldn't have been there

-in the first place.

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-It had been shifted.

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-It had been shifted.

-

-# Twrw #

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-Words like "twrw" - rumbling

-and "bwrw" - hitting...

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-..and "bwrw glaw" - rain...

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-..are important

-in creating the sounds.

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-It helped in the intensity

-of the music.

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-# Twrw, bwrw #

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-The water and the slag heap

-formed a kind of slurry...

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-..which slid down the mountain.

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-It went through a farm,

-which was wiped off the map.

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-# Bore, bore, bore #

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-It came down on that village,

-like Armageddon.

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-# Nothing

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-# Dim

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-# In that black silence

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-# Not a sound #

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-The word "dim" - nothing.

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-"Dim byd" sounds strong in Welsh.

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-"Dim byd."

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-Then, taking that from the nursery

-rhyme Heno, Heno, Hen Blant Bach.

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-# Heno, heno, hen blant bach

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-# Gwely, gwely, hen blant bach #

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-I remember talking to a nurse.

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-She had just finished her shift

-in the hospital.

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-She went straight to Aberfan in

-her uniform to help the injured...

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-..but ended up

-washing the bodies of the children.

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-# Pa, pa, pa, pa, pa, pa

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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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-Then the word "paham" - why,

-leads us on to Myfanwy.

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-# Paham mae dicter, O Myfanwy

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-# Yn llenwi'th lygaid duon di #

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-Myfanwy is a famous Welsh song

-written by Joseph Parry.

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-He was from Merthyr,

-within a stone's throw of Aberfan.

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-Some soldiers were heard

-to be singing this...

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-..as they were recovering bodies.

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-It also had another resonance.

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-After the disaster, the men decided

-to form Ynysowen Male Choir...

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-..and that was the first song

-they sang.

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-# Fu'n cynnau

-'nghariad ffyddlon ffol?

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-# A dyro'th law, Myfanwy dirion

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-# I ddim ond dweud

-y gair "Ffarwel" #

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-The sound that he has created

-with the euphonium is astonishing.

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-I used to play the cello...

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-..and that was the instrument

-I heard in my head...

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-..playing these

-plaintive melodies...

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-..but the euphonium makes the work

-so much more powerful.

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-The next step is to respect

-the memory of each individual.

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-It's very difficult to listen

-to the funereal list of names.

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-# Antony John Sullivan

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-# John Islwyn Jones

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-# Marilyn Carol Howells

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-# Clive and Philip Mumford

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-# Benedictus #

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-There is absolutely no doubt.

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-Those children's lives were lost

-because of men's negligence.

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-The children had done nothing

-to deserve this.

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-They were

-just innocent little children...

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-..just little children.

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-Thinking about them

-and the way they died is terrible.

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-And to think it happened because of

-apathy, because of negligence...

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-..because life is cheap.

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-It made people so angry.

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-The last thing I wanted to do

-was lay the blame on anyone...

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-..but there was a need

-for some acknowledgement...

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-..of the unique circumstances

-of this tragedy.

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-One phrase that resonates...

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-..is a father saying

-that the children had been...

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-.."buried alive

-by the National Coal Board".

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-Those words are there

-but they blend with...

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-.."bwrw glaw man

-ac mae'r dagrau yn disgyn"...

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-..drizzling rain and

-the tears are falling.

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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, buried, buried

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-# Buried #

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-.

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-Subtitles

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-Subtitles

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-Cantata Memoria's fourth movement

-is called Lament for the Valley.

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-The composer has combined

-the Latin words of Agnus Dei...

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-..with a striking violin solo.

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-Without doubt, the lament

-has had an impact on the performers.

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-# Agnus #

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-On a journey

-back home from Cardiff...

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-..my parents decided to detour

-from the A470 to Aberfan.

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-I can't have been much more

-than 10 years old.

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-I'd done work on the disaster

-at school.

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-To start, what was the school

-called? Pantglas primary school.

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-I was born in a village

-called Pant Glas.

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-What's the cemetery called?

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-Bryn Taf.

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-# Peccata mundi #

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-Without a doubt, it left me

-with a very strong, sad memory.

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-# Lacrimosa dies illa

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-# Lacrimosa sky #

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-Lacrimosa is like a day of tears

-and reflects mourning.

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-It was Bryn's idea, in fact.

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-# Lacrimosa lullaby #

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-That song puts Latin

-and Welsh together.

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-It turns from the mass

-to the empty crib...

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-..the empty bed,

-the empty arms and a parent singing.

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-# Parce Deus

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-# Lacrimosa lullaby #

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-As Karl now knows my voice,

-the movement stays perfect...

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-..for the use of voice

-and the colour...

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-..the notes, the key.

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-That is the gift of composers.

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-Writing a movement that will

-move you to total sadness...

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-..or put a smile on your face.

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-What's wonderful about this piece

-which is a new commission...

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-..is that Karl wrote it

-with my voice in mind.

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-That makes a world of difference.

-It suits my voice.

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-It suits the sound of my voice.

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-Particularly Did I Hear A Bird?

-which is high, wonderful and light.

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-# Hear a beating,

-beating, beating wing

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-# Hear a bea-bea-bea-bea,

-bea-bea-bea-bea-bea-beating wing #

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-The story is that no bird sang

-on the morning of the disaster.

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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,

-calling softly from the crowd #

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-We grab hold of this theme

-of the bird.

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-Elin Manahan makes these

-incredible sounds with her voice.

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-You imagine hearing the children

-and a bird.

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-And then the disappointment

-that nobody's there.

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-There's a song based on the

-Welsh folk song Y Deryn Du.

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-It's called Satin Feathers.

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-It yearns for music

-to come back to the valley.

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-# Bring the music to my valley

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-# Bring it back again, and hurry #

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-You take Y Deryn Du, not as a

-messenger of romantic love...

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-..but a messenger of love

-to fetch the children back...

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-..but they don't return.

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-The two instruments,

-the euphonium and the harp...

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-..are symbolic within Welsh culture.

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-I would say that the euphonium

-is quite a strong symbol...

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-..of the story behind Aberfan.

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-There's a period of revelling

-in childhood...

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-..and remembering

-the happy times that had been.

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-# I'm bigger than you

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-# I'm seven years old

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-# That's nothing

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-# 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

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-# That's nothing

-- I'm nine and a half #

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-One of the hardest things

-about visiting the graveyard...

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-..is that some of the ages are noted

-as eight and a half on gravestones.

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-# I'm ten and a quarter

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-# That's nothing

-- I'm ten and a half #

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-For a child, that "and a half"

-is incredibly important.

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-I remember being there myself

-and we liked to stretch what we had.

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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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-That song is a chance

-to bring some fun.

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-You can always do

-one better than other people!

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-# If you're so pretty,

-give Jonny a kiss

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-# But Jonny is ugly

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-# But Jonny is ugly

-

-# For shame, I'll tell miss

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-# If you're so clever

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-# What's three hundred million

-divided by nine over two?

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-# That's easy peasy lemon squeezy,

-but I'm not telling you #

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-The parents enjoy listening

-to the children.

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-They remember

-it was a long time ago, not now.

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-# Ac amser maith yn ol,

-ti yn fy nghol

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-# Cyn dyfod y glaw,

-cyn gollwng dy law

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-# A chyn yr eiliad heb ddim golau

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-# A chyn y diwedd i bob dechrau

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-# Amser maith yn ol #

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-There's then a duet

-between the parents...

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-..asking how on earth

-we'll move on from here.

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-How do we come to terms with this?

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-We have to because there are other

-children who are still here.

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-We need courage from somewhere.

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-# How should we weep

-when the shadow dies?

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-# Fading, slipping till the sun lies

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-# Asleep? #

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-When The Shadow Dies

-was a poem about how we...

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-..those left behind,

-are going to live for the future.

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-It's about a determination

-to keep singing this song.

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-A song of hope to combat the

-emptiness and sense of loneliness.

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-# Sing it until the end of the night

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-# Sing it, sing it,

-for our children loved light

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-# Our children loved light

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-# My child #

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-Hope springs from that light.

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-Sometimes it's a strong hope,

-sometimes it's weaker.

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-But it's the knowledge

-that there is light somewhere.

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-# Lux aeterna luceat eis

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-# Domine #

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-It finishes with Lux aeterna,

-eternal light from the requiem.

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-Then it moves on

-to a school assembly hymn...

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-..If I Were A Beautiful

-Twinkling Star.

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-# If I were a beautiful

-twinkling star

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-# I'd shine on the darkest night #

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-Nantlais has adapted the hymn

-which contains the line...

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-.."I'd find some little cheerless

-spot and shine with all my might."

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-There's hope there and it gives

-purpose to a child's life.

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-# I'd find a little cheerless spot

-and shine with all my might #

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-It's a work

-for a particular occasion.

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-It has a universal message

-and appeal as well.

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-# Lux aeterna

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-# Quia pius es #

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-That's the emotion.

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-We'll be singing the song

-to families...

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-..who are connected

-to losing children and family.

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-# Ser y goleuni, seren dan #

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-I hope people will see

-depth, power, hope and light...

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-..in the Cantata and enjoy it

-more than being saddened by it.

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-# Ser y goleuni, seren dan

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-# Goleuni, seren dan #

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-It would be wonderful to think

-that the work could bring some...

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-..comfort possibly...

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-..when there's turmoil

-and when the time is right...

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-..they can turn to music

-like this...

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-..and feel that they can share

-their troubles with someone.

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-You probably can't hope

-for much more than that.

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-# Es pius sanctus #

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-Out of the darkness of loss,

-we can create something better.

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-The coal board learned

-to clear the mines.

0:23:150:23:17

-They wanted to make the work safer.

0:23:170:23:20

-I feel that losing every soul

-in Aberfan...

0:23:200:23:24

-..has given us an opportunity

-as a society...

0:23:240:23:28

-..to make things better

-for the children of the future...

0:23:280:23:31

-..and to make things better

-in these valleys.

0:23:320:23:35

-Some light from the darkness.

0:23:350:23:38

-Some hope from the loss.

0:23:380:23:41

-S4C Subtitles by Testun Cyf.

0:23:560:23:58

-.

0:23:580:23:59

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