Goleuni'r Dyffryn (The Light of the Valley) [Solo Harpsichord, 2025]

Details

Solo Harpsichord
2025
6'

About this work

‘Goleuni’r Dyffryn’ is inspired by the well-known Welsh folk song ‘Dafydd y Garreg Wen’ (‘David of the White Rock’).  Legend is that the song was composed by Welsh harpist David Owen (1711-1741) whilst on his deathbed.  The melody has since been passed through generations of musicians and composers, each interpreting it in their own way over the years, with accompanying words added more than a hundred years later by John Ceiriog Hughes (1832-1887).

In ‘Goleuni’r Dyffryn’, fragments of the original folk melody surface and vanish like echoes across a valley, while Baroque-influenced dance rhythms and contrapuntal textures are reflective of the harpsichord’s golden age.  The result is part neoclassical, part folk in spirit; a nod to the canon of existing harpsichord music, whilst offering something new.

The piece was shaped in close collaboration with Greek harpsichordist Despina Homatidou, whose artistry and valuable insight has been central to finding the instrument’s voice in this music.  Listening to her play the instrument revealed to me the depth of what the harpsichord can do… Not only its clarity in tone, but also its surprising subtlety and different colours.  Working with her over several months shaped how I wrote the music, incorporating a wide range of the instrument’s manuals and stops to create delicate shifts in colour and timbre in the work.

In bringing these strands together of folk song, a rich canon of harpsichord music, a modern Welsh composer’s voice, and a harpsichordist whose artistry lies in the Baroque tradition, ‘Goleuni’r Dyffryn’ hopes to show that an ancient and well-known song can still carry light and renewal; a reflection of how Welsh musical identity continues to resonate in new forms.

‘Goleuni’r Dyffryn’ (‘The Light of the Valley: After ‘Dafydd y Garreg Wen’’) was commissioned by the Inventions Project for Despina Homitadou, with funding from the Vale of Glamorgan’s Legacy Grant Fund.


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