The Red Lady of Paviland - The Music
Y Dyn Unig (2010)
The genesis of the Red Lady project is the 2010 cantata 'Y Dyn Unig - The Lonely Man'. A major work by Andrew Powell and Menna Elfyn, 'Y Dyn Unig' was commissioned by Craig Roberts and the Burry Port Town Band. The commission was supported by a Steps to New Music award from the Arts Council of Wales.
The work takes the form of a cantata for solo tenor, children's choir, mixed choir, harp, and brass band, forces which all have relevance to, and resonance in, Welsh cultural life over the centuries: community choirs and a solo singer; the national instrument of Wales, the harp - all of which date back to the time of Dafydd ap Gwilym and earlier of course - and a brass band, the instrumental ensemble which has been of considerable importance in the musical life of Welsh communities from the 19th century onwards.
In the composer's own words...
"The work begins in the middle of the Dyn Unig's funeral ceremony: the children's choir sings, wordlessly keening: an old ritual which pre-dates their newly-developed language, accompanied by harp, crotales (finger-cymbals) and funeral drums. As the ritual nears its end we hear the sound of the wind picking up - the service is cut short by a dramatic storm. The children's choir, who represent the tribe of the Dyn Unig, reacts to the storm - slowly moving away from the wordlessness of the ritual and back to their new language.
They speak rhythmically throughout this section - a kind of pre-Ice Age rap, accompanied by a "walking" bass in the harp and low brass - explaining how the Dyn Unig led them to their understanding of the importance of song.
The Dyn Unig makes his first entry - at first with wordless cantilenas - and is interrupted by the mixed choir, who function as a sort of "Greek Chorus" (commenting on the action and characters) - discussing his "cry in the wilderness" - the Dyn Unig re-enters and philosophises about the bond between his tribe and the four elements, utilising Mongolian/Tibetan "overtone" chanting. The tribe (children's choir) repeats his words of wisdom: the Dyn Unig reminds them of the song which he taught them, which describes his great skills as a hunter. They sing the Hwiangerdd "Pais Dinogad" accompanied by the harp. The harp begins to rhapsodise at the end of the song, but is interrupted by a brief, strange hunting fanfare from the band, which leads back to the Dyn Unig, musing lyrically on their history and how they found their present "Promised Land."
The tribe, speaking again rather than singing, begins to question who this strange leader is/was - while the mixed choir sings about his wisdom and kindness.
There follows an aria from the Dyn Unig, in which he ruminates on the nature of "home" and belonging to your environment/homeland and begins to warn his followers of the impending doom - the coming Ice Age - against a shimmering background of muted brass and percussion. The tribe wonders where its familiar fauna has gone, and from where the unfamiliar (mammoths!) have come - a long crescendo from whispered questions to a climax, accompanied by the percussion section. The Dyn Unig silences them, and, now acting as "seer", tells them to leave their homeland in the Gower, to escape the meteorological disaster to come.
He explains that he is happy to die here, but that they must go and seek a new life, and follow his teachings. The tribe leave the stage, singing the "Hwiangerdd" as they march off into the unknown: the adult choir ends the work with a hymn of praise to the Dyn Unig."
© Andrew Powell 2010
The work takes the form of a cantata for solo tenor, children's choir, mixed choir, harp, and brass band, forces which all have relevance to, and resonance in, Welsh cultural life over the centuries: community choirs and a solo singer; the national instrument of Wales, the harp - all of which date back to the time of Dafydd ap Gwilym and earlier of course - and a brass band, the instrumental ensemble which has been of considerable importance in the musical life of Welsh communities from the 19th century onwards.
In the composer's own words...
"The work begins in the middle of the Dyn Unig's funeral ceremony: the children's choir sings, wordlessly keening: an old ritual which pre-dates their newly-developed language, accompanied by harp, crotales (finger-cymbals) and funeral drums. As the ritual nears its end we hear the sound of the wind picking up - the service is cut short by a dramatic storm. The children's choir, who represent the tribe of the Dyn Unig, reacts to the storm - slowly moving away from the wordlessness of the ritual and back to their new language.
They speak rhythmically throughout this section - a kind of pre-Ice Age rap, accompanied by a "walking" bass in the harp and low brass - explaining how the Dyn Unig led them to their understanding of the importance of song.
The Dyn Unig makes his first entry - at first with wordless cantilenas - and is interrupted by the mixed choir, who function as a sort of "Greek Chorus" (commenting on the action and characters) - discussing his "cry in the wilderness" - the Dyn Unig re-enters and philosophises about the bond between his tribe and the four elements, utilising Mongolian/Tibetan "overtone" chanting. The tribe (children's choir) repeats his words of wisdom: the Dyn Unig reminds them of the song which he taught them, which describes his great skills as a hunter. They sing the Hwiangerdd "Pais Dinogad" accompanied by the harp. The harp begins to rhapsodise at the end of the song, but is interrupted by a brief, strange hunting fanfare from the band, which leads back to the Dyn Unig, musing lyrically on their history and how they found their present "Promised Land."
The tribe, speaking again rather than singing, begins to question who this strange leader is/was - while the mixed choir sings about his wisdom and kindness.
There follows an aria from the Dyn Unig, in which he ruminates on the nature of "home" and belonging to your environment/homeland and begins to warn his followers of the impending doom - the coming Ice Age - against a shimmering background of muted brass and percussion. The tribe wonders where its familiar fauna has gone, and from where the unfamiliar (mammoths!) have come - a long crescendo from whispered questions to a climax, accompanied by the percussion section. The Dyn Unig silences them, and, now acting as "seer", tells them to leave their homeland in the Gower, to escape the meteorological disaster to come.
He explains that he is happy to die here, but that they must go and seek a new life, and follow his teachings. The tribe leave the stage, singing the "Hwiangerdd" as they march off into the unknown: the adult choir ends the work with a hymn of praise to the Dyn Unig."
© Andrew Powell 2010
The Education Project (2014/15)
As part of the In These Bones project, Ty Cerdd now proposes to commission an additional new work about the Red Lady of Paviland from Andrew Powell, to partner with his existing cantata, "Y Dyn Unig - The Lonely Man".
This new work would be scored for the same forces - tenor, harp, mixed choir, children's chorus and brass band - and take the form of six short movements (c.2 to 3 minutes each), each featuring an element of the musical forces involved.
The concept is that this new work can then partner together with "Y Dyn Unig" in performance, as an introductory feature for each of the musical forces; and also further expand on the story of the Red Lady's discovery, rather than the characterisation (as in Y Dyn Unig) of the Red Lady itself.
It is further proposed that each short movement will be linked with a series of 5 compositional "episodes" which will be unique to each performance, these being individually composed (to the composer's specifications / guidance) by five schools involved in the project (one element by each) every time the work is performed in this capacity. The five schools involved will then also combine together to form the children's chorus for both Red Lady works.
As a basis of the five compositional episodes outlined above, five stages of the Red Lady's discovery and "physical story" have been identified - those of 1) Death, 2) The Ice, 3) Discovery, 4) Investigation, 5) The Red Lady Today. These elements will be explored and expressed musically by the children via a series of workshops with the composer, which will tie in well with the "CSI Paviland" workshops that the children will also undertake, together with the University of South Wales - The Science
This new work would be scored for the same forces - tenor, harp, mixed choir, children's chorus and brass band - and take the form of six short movements (c.2 to 3 minutes each), each featuring an element of the musical forces involved.
The concept is that this new work can then partner together with "Y Dyn Unig" in performance, as an introductory feature for each of the musical forces; and also further expand on the story of the Red Lady's discovery, rather than the characterisation (as in Y Dyn Unig) of the Red Lady itself.
It is further proposed that each short movement will be linked with a series of 5 compositional "episodes" which will be unique to each performance, these being individually composed (to the composer's specifications / guidance) by five schools involved in the project (one element by each) every time the work is performed in this capacity. The five schools involved will then also combine together to form the children's chorus for both Red Lady works.
As a basis of the five compositional episodes outlined above, five stages of the Red Lady's discovery and "physical story" have been identified - those of 1) Death, 2) The Ice, 3) Discovery, 4) Investigation, 5) The Red Lady Today. These elements will be explored and expressed musically by the children via a series of workshops with the composer, which will tie in well with the "CSI Paviland" workshops that the children will also undertake, together with the University of South Wales - The Science