Re Blaenwern - has anyone looked at my link which is at the bottom of the page before this one?
The link doesn’t appear to work outside the UK.
But assuming it’s similar to some other videos I’ve found on YouTube. And I’m afraid that while it can sound better to me in some contexts, I still find the tune itself dreary.
I wouldn't describe Blaenwern as dreary; a bit overused perhaps, but imho the Right Tune for Love Divine.
Re: We have heard a joyful sound - it's possibly even longer since I sang it than you did, BT (at least 50 years), but after looking up Limpsfield, it definitely wasn't it. On looking up Hymnary.org, the tune I remember is a jiggy wee number (which doesn't seem to have a name) from the old Sankey hymnal, written by W J Kirkpatrick, who is better known for the tune to Away in a manger.
I wouldn't describe Blaenwern as dreary; a bit overused perhaps, but imho the Right Tune for Love Divine.
I’ll readily admit that dreary might not be the right word for how the tune strikes me. To me (and quite possibly only to me), the tune doesn’t reflect, and even verges on undermining, the joyfulness of the text.
I’ll readily admit that may in part be because I have no cultural or emotional connection to BLAENWERN. As I said, it’s pretty much unknown in the States; I think the first time I was aware I was hearing it was at Prince William and Cate Middleton’s wedding, and I was in my 50s at that point. I suspect had I grown up on the tune, I might feel differently about it.
In the meantime, people are free to think I’m hopeless.
For me Blaenwern hits the exact spot in the last verse where the words "as we cast our crowns before thee" coincide with the climax and highest notes of the tune. That always gives me goosebumps and sometimes causes me to well up. There is something ecstatic about it.
I'm insulted you could think I'd use anything other than BLAENWERN.
And yes, LIMPSFIELD.
ATMF, go ahead & be insulted. I loathe & detest Blaenwern as much as I hate Crimond for a ceratin psalm. If I must ever sing that again it will be to Brother James’ Air ( learned at the gulag c 1966
Each to his own taste as the dig said when he licked his balls ( learned from a Croatian friend)
Er ... it can be sung to Stainer's tune (to my mind rather feeble) "Love Divine".
That’s what I was brought up on, as it was the default tune in Hymns Ancient and Modern, which was the book used by the church of my youth. I don’t think I encountered it sung to Blaenwern until my late teens.
I think everyone other than the Welsh should sing Blaenwern at double the standard speed. No one else puts enough energy into the singing to stop the tune flagging
I think everyone other than the Welsh should sing Blaenwern at double the standard speed. No one else puts enough energy into the singing to stop the tune flagging
I reckon I give it a decent bash, but then I do have some Welsh (Methodist, no less) ancestry. My grandpa's grandpa was a bard (and my eldest uncle has the chair to prove it).
Comments
Yes, good to see them all in fine voice. This is my version that we used on Sunday:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DKgOYsu69vJwNM4G0qcaGXtRFu0WOfYz/view?usp=sharing
But assuming it’s similar to some other videos I’ve found on YouTube. And I’m afraid that while it can sound better to me in some contexts, I still find the tune itself dreary.
As @Sojourner said, each to their own tastes.
Not available on Youtube, sadly.
Re: We have heard a joyful sound - it's possibly even longer since I sang it than you did, BT (at least 50 years), but after looking up Limpsfield, it definitely wasn't it. On looking up Hymnary.org, the tune I remember is a jiggy wee number (which doesn't seem to have a name) from the old Sankey hymnal, written by W J Kirkpatrick, who is better known for the tune to Away in a manger.
I’ll readily admit that may in part be because I have no cultural or emotional connection to BLAENWERN. As I said, it’s pretty much unknown in the States; I think the first time I was aware I was hearing it was at Prince William and Cate Middleton’s wedding, and I was in my 50s at that point. I suspect had I grown up on the tune, I might feel differently about it.
In the meantime, people are free to think I’m hopeless.
That’s what I was brought up on, as it was the default tune in Hymns Ancient and Modern, which was the book used by the church of my youth. I don’t think I encountered it sung to Blaenwern until my late teens.
Thats another damn fine tune I have never come across. Aberystwyth is another one that builds like a tidal wave to the penultimate line.
BTW I'd never come across Arwelfa until we moved to Wales. However Aberystwyth, Blaenwern, Hyfrydol and Cwm Rhondda are well known in England.
I reckon I give it a decent bash, but then I do have some Welsh (Methodist, no less) ancestry. My grandpa's grandpa was a bard (and my eldest uncle has the chair to prove it).
Or do I have a tendency to sing fast?
“Come, Ye Thankful People, Come”/ST. GEORGE’S, WINDSOR
“A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”/EIN’ FESTE BURG
“Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee”/ODE TO JOY
And “My Shepherd Will Supply My Need” (RESIGNATION), was sung as a solo.