Success in the Cerdd Dant Festival of Wales

The Derbyshire Harp Ensemble once again had a taste of success last saturday when a trio made up of Harpz director Helen-Elizabeth Naylor, with students Rebecca McIlroy of Ashbourne and Siwan Doyle of Nottingham came 3rd in the competition for a group of harps in the Gwyl Cerdd Dant Cymru - the Cerdd Dant Festival of Wales, A musical form unique to Wales is the Cerdd Dant "Cerdd Dant" literally means "the music of string", the "string" refering to the national instrument of Wales, the harp. This traditional form of singing derives from the way Welsh travelling poets or bards, use to perform their own work to their own harp accompaniment. The harp they would use would be the smaller "Celtic" harp, so much easier to carry around than the pedal concert harp used these days for most Cerdd Dant singing. But the essential point is that this tradition is one of presenting poetry to music; in Cerdd Dant, everything starts and ends with the words. And very often, the words are written "Cynghanedd", the strict code of alliteration and rhyme which is also unique to the Welsh tradition.


From left to right: Rebecca, Helen, Siwan 

As for the music, what makes Cerdd Dant (or "penillion" singing as it is sometimes called, which means "the singing of verses") unique is that the harp plays a melody, either a traditional air or a tune composed for the purpose, and the singer sings a counter melody with it. The harp melody is chosen to reflect the nature of the poetry, and the counter melody is composed as a perfect vehicle for the words; indeed the Welsh word for the process of composing the counter-melody is "gosod", which means "setting" the words to music, again emphasising the central importance of the poetry. '

The Gwyl Cerdd Dant is an annual festival held in different parts of Wales each year, with compeitions in all kinds of traditional music such as playing the harp, folk dancing singing etc and this year HARPZ the Derbyshire Harp Ensemble went to along to try their luck playing a medly of 3 tradtional Welsh Airs, they had the honour of coming 3rd and were featured on the S4C broadcast.