Last Tuesday evening (25th April), this lovely Newquay-based choir sang their hearts out for Croeso Teifi. Their rousing programme of folk, traditional, pop songs and hymns was only marred by the small turnout at Pontgarreg's attractive village hall. Still, the choir (which includes a couple of guitar players as well as their regular keyboard accompanist and several great soloists) say they perform for the love of it, no matter who's listening, and that certainly showed.
Their leader, Matthew Baynham (who himself has a lovely singing voice), had devised a fascinating sequence of tunes on the theme of 'All the seasons round', with the first half dedicated to 'the changing year' and the second, more poignantly - considering Croeso Teifi's
aims - concentrating on 'The drift from the land'. The music tripped from such gems as 'Tis the gift to be simple' and the Shaker tune from Copeland's 'Appalachian spring' to 'Linden Lea', 'Dyma gariad fel y moroedd' and a French folk tune called 'Noel Nouvelet'. Here was cultural homogeneity in diversity, or simply the power of music from across the world to unite people from across the world (well, eight members of the public anyhow!) no matter where they come from. The second half of the programme brought us melodies with challenging messages about the need for social and economic equality - who we are and want to be. They included deeply lyrical and romantic heart-lifters and jokey melodies such as 'The jovial collier', 'The net hauling song', 'Sosban Fach' and 'The Jute Mill Song'.
Half way through, Croeso Teifi made a short presentation about its resettlement scheme for Syrian refugee families, and donations flooded in. A huge thanks to Cor Cei and the Pontgarreg hall committee for making this happen.
Their leader, Matthew Baynham (who himself has a lovely singing voice), had devised a fascinating sequence of tunes on the theme of 'All the seasons round', with the first half dedicated to 'the changing year' and the second, more poignantly - considering Croeso Teifi's
Half way through, Croeso Teifi made a short presentation about its resettlement scheme for Syrian refugee families, and donations flooded in. A huge thanks to Cor Cei and the Pontgarreg hall committee for making this happen.
Nos Fawrth
diwethaf (25ain Ebrill), bu’r côr hyfryd o Gei Newydd yn morio canu dros Croeso
Teifi. Trueni nad oedd rhagor wedi dod i neuadd bentref ddeniadol Pontgarreg i
glywed eu rhaglen fywiog o ganeuon gwerin, caneuon traddodiadol, emynau a
chaneuon pop. Ond mae’r Côr, (sy'n cynnwys un neu ddau o chwaraewyr gitâr yn
ogystal â'u cyfeilydd bysellfwrdd rheolaidd a nifer o unawdwyr gwych) yn dweud
eu bod yn perfformio oherwydd eu cariad at ganu, heb boeni am bwy sy'n gwrando,
a bu hynny'n sicr yn amlwg.
Roedd eu
harweinydd, Matthew Baynham (sydd â llais canu hyfryd ei hun), wedi dyfeisio
dilyniant diddorol o alawon ar y thema 'Yr holl dymhorau', gyda'r hanner cyntaf
yn ymwneud â’r newidiadau trwy’r flwyddyn, a'r ail hanner, yn fwy ingol - o
ystyried amcanion Croeso Teifi - yn canolbwyntio ar adael y tir. Bu'r
gerddoriaeth yn symud yn ysgafn o emau megis 'Tis the gift to be
simple' a'r alaw Shaker
o 'Wanwyn Appalachian' Copeland i 'Linden Lea', 'Dyma gariad fel y moroedd' ac
alaw werin Ffrengig o'r enw 'Noel Nouvelet'. Felly cawsom gydrywiaeth
ddiwylliannol trwy amrywiaeth, neu yn syml pŵer cerddoriaeth o bob cwr o'r byd
i uno pobl o bob cwr o'r byd (wel, yr ychydig o'r cyhoedd oedd yno, ta beth!).
Cyflwynodd ail hanner y rhaglen alawon gyda negeseuon heriol am yr angen am
gydraddoldeb cymdeithasol ac economaidd - pwy ydym ni a phwy hoffen ni fod.
Roeddent yn cynnwys darnau telynegol a rhamantus i godi’r galon ac alawon
chwareus megis 'Y glöwr llawen', 'Cân tynnu’r rhwydi', 'Sosban Fach' a 'Cân y
Felin Jiwt'.
Hanner ffordd
drwy'r noson, gwnaeth Croeso Teifi gyflwyniad byr am ei gynllun i adsefydlu
teuluoedd o ffoaduriaid o Syria, a llifodd y rhoddion i mewn. Diolch enfawr i
Gôr Cei a phwyllgor Neuadd Pontgarreg am greu noson arbennig.
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