Scan 316
The American history and encyclopedia of music .., 1908
8 lines. Read by computer on 11 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1Welsh folk-song is distinguished for its simplicity, traceable to the character of the people themselves and to the attributes of the harp. It is more artistic in form than either the Scotch or the Irish music and more than any other resembles the original British music. It is for the most part dignified rather than lively, although witty, jovial songs are not unknown, as, for instance, the penillion singing, which resembles the buffo song of the Italian opera, or as it sounds in some ears, like "an old English madrigal done into Welsh."
3The Welsh early cultivated harmony, and Giraldus Cambrensis in the Twelfth Century wrote of them: "They do not sing in unison like the inhabitants of other countries, but in many different parts. So that in a company of singers which are frequently met with in Wales, as many different parts and voices are heard as there are performers, who at length all unite with organic melody in one consonance."
5The harp has had the most to do with the development of Welsh music, its tone being especially appropriate for the accompaniment of Welsh voices. From the time the first harp was mentioned, early in the Sixth Century, the ability to play it entitled one to the distinction of gentleman, and the most accomplished harpers were regarded quite as highly as the doughty champions whose deeds they celebrated. The crwth, a primitive violin, and the pipcorn, a sort of oboe or flageolet, were also used in the early days.
7That this fervent love of music has given rise to composers whose work has been only of ephemeral note is a condition over which logicians have much concerned themselves. Folk-music, so long as it remains such, can never go beyond a certain point. If a country does not produce musicians with the genius to use their native folk-tunes or melodies of like character as themes for larger compositions, that country is at a standstill so far as national music is concerned. Furtherance of a national art depends on the use of the material at hand, and unfortunately at the present time, in common with England, Ireland and Scotland, the cause of Welsh music must rest on the glories of past years.
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