| For
many years, musicians and folk dancers have depended on
three booklets of traditional dance tunes collected and
compiled by Alex Hamilton. These booklets - Blodau'r
Grug - and the music contained in them are invaluable
to all musicians and we in Dawnsyr Nantgarw make considerable
use of them.
For
each dance it is usual to start and finish with the tune
that is traditionally associated with it. However to repeat
the same piece of music for the duration of the dance
wold not only be monotonous for the spectator but also
for the dancers and performers. Great care is taken to
ensure that there is a balance netween the instruments
to create a distinctive flavour to the music. Supplementary
tunes are chosen to meld, in tempo, duration and especially
character to create one complete entity with the dance
performance. Because of this we have carefully arranged
the music to be appealing and interesting for the audience,
dancers and musicians.
We
use many other traditional tunes as supplementary tunes
to several dances. There are times when a third or even
a fourth musical variation is required for some dances.
Unless there seems to be an obvious traditional alternative,
the band use arrangements of popular Welsh Folk songs
or even compose their own tunes. It is a living tradition
after all, and these new tunes are so melodious that they
will be part of our tradition in years to come..
As
varied as our music repertoire, is the musical background
of our instrumentalists. It is not surprising therefore,
that they find no difficulty in adapting to playing music
for the slow and stately Cowslip and Clover Flower; traditional
hymn tunes in the solo dance Salem; Cerdd Dant for the
clog dancing trio; fast jigs and reels for the faiground
dances and even jazz for another innovative clog dancing
performance.
Tunes
and traditions are intertwined so that our music is not
only pleasing to perform but also enjoyable to listen
to and completes the picture in exciting dance performances. |
