The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1910-09-11


music for the successful efforts in Sc
curing the services Of this world Ia
nous male voice choir for a concert IN
salt Lake. The full strength OF the
choir viii not be present owing to the
prOhibitive cost, but T. GlyndWr Rich-
ards has selected twenty-five. the pick
OF the ninety voice. that generally con
stitute the competitive strength OF the
choir.
one Of the Eisteddfodic mottos OF the
Welsh is that Wales is a sea Of song.
and should the Tabernacle choir final
~ decide to compete in next years CHIEF
choral contest. national Eisteddfod.
latter end Of June. 1911, during their So
jOurn in picturesque and romantic
Wales, they will find that there are
just grounds for the assertion in the
Eisteddfodic motto. Welsh choirs. both
mixed and male. in the past have set
standard that is hard to equal. let alone
excel, as in the art of vocal music, and
choral singing she leads all the nations
I'm the average ability Of her citizens in
that art.
There are several reasons to account
for this. namely: The holding OF scores
upon scores OF local Eisteddfodau dur
ing the course of year I'm which prizes
are offered not only for chOirs OF mixed
but for male. ladies. and children's
chOirs and competent critics declare
that local festivals do more TO pro-
mote the art Of vocal music than do the
huge national Eisteddfodau which are
held annually. alternately in the north
and south.
Again. another factor in fostering the
love Of choral singing is the "Cyman-
faOedd Canu. congregational musical
festival. a festival peculiar TO Wales.
and held nowhere else, the aim and OBJ
ject OF these festivals being the i'm
provement OF the congregational sing
ing in the churches. Each OF the four
great nonconformist congregations in
Wales. the COngregationalist. Baptist
MethOdists and Wesleyans, and here,
kindly allow a disgression.
As to Term Methodist.
In reference to Wales. when you use
the term Methodist without any prefix.
YOU mean an entirely different body 90
what is meant by the same term in
England or America When referred to
Wales. the body referred to invaria bly,
is the Calvinistic Methodist. being the
strongest body Of the Welsh noncon-
formists.
What are termed the NJ. F. in Ameri-
ca and Methodist in England are sim
ply termed Wesleyans in Wales. They
are the weakest OF the four strong
NOncOnformist churches in Wales. Each
one OF these religious denominations
| holds annually scores and scores OF
these congreg atiOnal musical festivals.
the united choruses varying in size
from under 500 to above 5000 voices.
according to locality and number OF
churches represented in the festival.
! Last year the -GlamOryan assoc
| la tion OF the Baptist. Congre gational
! and CalvinistiC Methodist churches.
| each one held a huge musical festival
In the pavilion which was built for the
| national EisteddfOd. on which several
/ pugilistiC encounters have been staged
| and in some cases. notably the Con
/ gregationalists. the united chorus was
| close on to 10000 voices with an or
| Chestra of three hundred performers
| These festivals are held in little Wales
| on a mammoth scale not dreamed OF
| elsewhere. No prices are charged foi
| admission. 1t is all a labor OF love
| costs are betrayed by the sale OF pro-
| grams. containing lists OF hymns and
| tunes and by a general collection be
! fore the termination Of the proceedings
| while in addition the Welsh have adapt
| ed the tonic Sol 70 method Of notation
| which is more simple, more easily mas
| tered. and in fact is superior to the
| staff for vocal and choral purposes.
! SO. IL the Welsh excel In the average
ability OF her people in the realm OF
vocal and choral music. IL is not en-
tirely due TO Providence in Citing the
nation with voices above the average
but has also been brought about by
| consistent hard work. As most readers
are aware Welsh male voice ChOirs
/ the Worlds fair. Chicago. carried al
/ before them. The two societies. Goa
I miners from the south and the slat'
quarrymen from the north, secured frs
| and second prizes. being far ahead o.
| all other contestants in the male voice
competition. The present Mountain Asl
| choir is the equal If not the superior q
either Of the above chOirs. They alS'
| hail from the Rhondda valley. a region
that raises the finest choral materia
( in the world. that has dozens OF musica
and male choirs. each OF which u
worthy to uphold Welsh choral pres
tige. but without doubt the best OF al
the RhOndda chOirs is the Mountain Asl
under Gresdon Richards.
E-su-., Male NoIces