Gwalia Male Voice Choir’s programme included the big hitters: - Myfanwy, Calon Lan, Gwahoddiad and some Elvis..….. throw in some Dylan Thomas, Gillian Clarke and Louis MacNeice too.
I read Bells of Rhymney -Idris Davies , about the General Strike of 1926, and
Great Slump of the 1930s, in the very room where Karl Marx researched his Das Kapital.
The domed ceiling pours in light from its centre point -
well worth a visit .
'All will be well if, if , if ..’
… echoed beautifully around this belly potted ceiling,
a realm where Beatrix Potter , Sylvia Pankhurst and Mahatma Gandhi once
riffled papers and stoked their minds.
By the by- new members are always welcome for this male voice choir .
They rehearse every Wednesday in the Welsh Centre , Grays Inn Rd, London.
You dont need to be Welsh , and they dont audition .
And I’m Gwalia’s President .
But don’t let this put you off.
More info here:
https://www.gwaliachoirlondon.org
POEM : Bells of Rhymney ( sounds like RUM as in coke and rum)
Idris Davies was born in South Wales in 1905.
A Welsh speaker, he learned to speak English at school as a second language.
He was a coal miner by the age of 14.
BELLS OF RHYMNEY
Oh what will you give me
Say the sad bells of Rhymney
Is there hope for the future,
Cry the bells of Merthyr
Who made the mine owner
Say the black bells of Rhondda
And robbed the miner
Cry the grim bells of Blaina
They will plunder willy-nilly
Cry the bells of Caerphilly
They have fangs , they have teeth
Say the loud bells of Neathe
Even God is uneasy
Say the moist bells of Swansea
And what will you give me
Say the sad bells of Rhymney
Put the vandals in court
Say the bells of Newport
All would be well if, if, if
Cry the green bells of Cardiff
Why so worried, sisters, why
Sang the silver bells of Wye
And what will you give me
Say the sad bells of Rhymney
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