MovieChat Forums > How Green Was My Valley (1942) Discussion > Do Welsh people sing this much?

Do Welsh people sing this much?

posted 11 years ago by nielw
8 replies | jump to latest

I've been in choirs my whole life, and I am a member of a choir that was started in 1847 by Welsh immigrants to Utah...so Welsh music is a big part of my choir's history. I recognized almost all of the tunes (The Ash Grove, Cwm Rhondda - AKA Guide Us O Thou Great Jehovah, Swansea - AKA O Home Beloved) and have sung them all with different sets of words. In my choir we talk a lot about the musical history of our Welsh founders, and how they loved choirs.

So, when I saw this movie for the first time, I was pleasantly surprised by all the singing, all the Welsh music, and the choral heritage so obvious among the people. It seemed like the filmmakers were paying homage to the rich tradition of choral music in Wales.

Is (or was) it really like this in Wales? Did people sing as much as portrayed in the movie?

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[–] kslcutter 11 years ago

So, are you a member of The Mormon Tabernacle Choir? I know that their founder was originally from Wales and they are based in Utah. :)
Now, about how musical Wales is - I don't have a clue. Even though my Mom's ancestors were from Wales, neither she or any of her children were blessed with any singing talent at all.

[–] vinidici 10 years ago

I'm ignorant of much Welsh culture and history and there's no excuse for it since I have some Welsh ancestry. But I'm venturing the guess that people did a lot more singing in the days before sound recording, electronic media and pre-2Oth Century standards of living. You couldn't just slap a disk on the player or, if you couldn't afford it, buy tickets to live concerts. So I would imagine that the peoples of every nation, not just the Welsh, had their singing traditions in days gone by.

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[–] RyANO451 10 years ago

I'm Welsh I live in swansea just saying.

[–] bhoover247 9 years ago

I can't imagine singing in the morning when you know you have a day of back breaking work ahead. I do understand singing when your leaving work for the day. If your not too tired.

[–] vinidici 9 years ago

Well, a great many people bring their radios and players with them to work, nowadays, but in less modern times that wasn't an option. A lot of people like music while they're working to help the time pass by. Or to bolster their spirits. Much of the makeup of modern music has its precedents going back to the days of slavery in the Deep South parts of the United States, when singing among the the enslaved workers was a form of emotional release and a means of coping with the labors of the livelong day. So I don't see what's so quaint or unrealistic about the singing Welsh coal miners.

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[–] vanbus86 9 years ago

My great grandparents came to the U.S. from Wales, leaving from Swansea. I have always yearned to visit to know if Wales is as beautiful as the pictures make it look.

[–] RyANO451 9 years ago

It truly is

[–] thesnowleopard 9 years ago

Just tossing this out as a theory, but this was a period when the English were actively trying to suppress the Welsh language. Could it be there was an element of social protest and keeping the culture alive in all the singing in Welsh?

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