Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Music
According to a Welsh proverb, 'to be born Welsh is to be born with music in your blood
and poetry in your soul'. Hence, Wales is officially known as the land of song. But where
does this close association between Wales and music actually originate?
There are references to the Celts as a musical race as early as the 1st century BC when
ancient scholars wrote of bards (poets who sing songs of eulogy and satire) and Druids
(philosophers or theologians who are held in extreme honour). There are traditional Welsh
songs with harp accompaniment from the early 19th century and unaccompanied folks
songs that tell a story in the form of verse.
Today the diversity of music in Wales is huge, yet united by a common factor - music
remains at the heart of this nation. In just the last few years the Cory Band from the
Rhondda Valley has won the European Brass Band Championships twice. Child star Char-
lotte Church swapped her classical beginnings for perky pop before evolving into a more
mature experimental sound. And the Welsh National Opera has gone from strength to
strength since launching the career of opera singer Bryn Terfel, plucked from a North
Wales sheep farm to become a national champion for the Welsh voice.
Wales' biggest music festival, the Green Man Festival, features over 400 acts on 10 stages as well as a
fringe event featuring holistic therapies, talks, comedy, workshops and youth events.
Folk
Today it is traditional folk and the emerging nu-folk that is the keeper of the flame of tradi-
tional Welsh music. Catch a live session at local pubs, folk clubs or smaller festivals, and
look out for bands such as 9Bach and Calan, which blend traditional and contemporary
Welsh sounds with international influences. Welsh folk music even has a permanent home
at Tŷ Siamas (National Centre for Welsh Folk Music) in Dolgellau. Events at the centre are
an ideal way to keep abreast of new acts and influences.
Rock
The late 1990s marked the high tide of the Cool Cymru movement and it was rock music
that really put Wales on the map. A series of Welsh groups, including Manic Street Preach-
ers, Catatonia, Stereophonics and Super Furry Animals, made headlines with their innovat-
ive sounds, clever lyrics, rabble-rousing rock sound and poignant ballads packed with
