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FROM A VALLEY CALLED ‘THE RHONDDA’
CELEBRATING 125 YEARSOF MUSIC-MAKING HISTORY
LIVE IN AUSTRALIALIVE IN AUSTRALIA
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1 With a Voice of Singing 2’19Music by Martin Shaw. Words from the Bible.
2 Welcome 1’10Dean Powell
3 Llef 2’32Music by Griffith Hugh Jones arr. Mansel Thomas. Words by David Charles.
4 Y Darlun 4’16Music by Davey Davies arr. Jeffrey Howard. Words by T. Rowland Hughes.
5 Speed Your Journey (Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves) 3’04Music by Giuseppe Verdi. English words by Norman Tucker and Tom Hammond.
6 Dylan Thomas and rugby 2’08Dean Powell
7 Hymn from Finlandia 5’04Music by Jean Sibelius. Words by Lewis Edward Valentine.Iona Jones soprano
8 Cwm Rhondda (Guide me, O thou great Jehovah) 2’56Music by John Hughes arr. Arwel Hughes. Words by William Williams.
9 Nessun dorma 2’35Music by Giacomo Puccini. Words by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni.
THE TREORCHY MALE CHOIRLIVE IN AUSTRALIA
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) Senzenina 2’36Traditional Zulu melody arr. A. Humphreys.Ray Daniels baritone
¡ Men of Harlech 1’56Traditional Welsh melody arr. Mansel Thomas. Words by William Duthie.
™ My Way 4’24Music by Claude François and Jacques Revaux arr. Mike Sammes. Words by Paul Anka.
# Homage to the Treorchy Male Choir 1’09Dean Powell
¢ We’ll Keep a Welcome in the Hillside 2’22Music by Mai Jones. Words by Lyn Joshua.Iona Jones soprano
∞ Advance Australia Fair 0’53Music and words by Peter Dodds McCormick.
§ Mae Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau (Land of Our Fathers) 2’21Music by James James. Words by Evan James.Iona Jones soprano
Total Playing Time 77’40
Treorchy Male Choir
Janice Ball musical director
Iona Jones soprano
Dean Powell tenor & compere
Ray Daniels baritone
Helen Roberts piano
David Thomas organ
0 Ysbryd Y Nos 3’44Music by Hefin Elis arr. Jeffrey Howard. Words by Clive Harpwood.
! Introducing Ivor Novello 0’33Iona Jones
@ Waltz of My Heart 2’31Music by Ivor Novello. Words by Christopher Hassall.Iona Jones soprano
£ A brief history of the Treorchy Male Choir 2’12Dean Powell
$ ABBA Medley 6’41Music and words by Benny Anderson and Björn Ulvaeus arr. Jeffrey HowardIona Jones soprano, Dean Powell tenor, Ray Daniels baritone
% Welshmen make great lovers 1’47Dean Powell
^ Hywel a Blodwen 3’06Music by Joseph Parry. Words by Richard Davies.Iona Jones soprano, Ray Daniels baritone
& My Little Welsh Home 2’38Music and words by W.S. Gwynn Williams.Dean Powell tenor
* Les Misérables Medley 11’59Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg. English words by Herbert Kretzmer after the original French libretto by Alain Boublil.Iona Jones soprano, Dean Powell tenor
( Time to say farewell 0’40Dean Powell
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Choirs have flourished in the Rhondda Valley formore than 150 years and nowhere has this beenbetter represented than in Treorchy. One of itsfirst male choirs was formed in the inauspicioussurroundings of the Red Cow Hotel in thesummer of 1883 and developed into a nationaleisteddfod winner, culminating in a RoyalCommand Performance for Queen Victoria atWindsor Castle. Sadly, the choir later disbandedafter suffering massive economic depressionand two World Wars, but from those ashes rosea male voice choir that would become ahousehold name.
The present Treorchy Male Choir was reformedon 16 October 1946 under the baton of JohnHaydn Davies. They scaled the peaks of musicaldistinction in the eisteddfod field by gaining arecord eight national wins, making a total of 22first prizes out of 27 entries. The unique TreorchySound was heard worldwide as they maderegular radio broadcasts, television appearances,commercial recordings, two feature films and anoverseas tour to Switzerland.
Treorchy was to become the first male choir toventure into the uncharted territory of popularmusic and subsequently has made more than 50commercial recordings, making it probably themost recorded in the world. In more recentyears their radical attitude to music makingincluded a ground-breaking album of music byFreddie Mercury and Queen, two recordings of
music by Bob Marley and, in complete contrast,they became the first British choir to performSibelius’ Kullervo symphony in Finnish.
The Choir has also shared the stage with someof the world’s greatest entertainers during itslong and illustrious history. Television programswith Sir Tom Jones, Ella Fitzgerald, JulieAndrews, Sir Harry Secombe and BurtBacharach were only the beginning of theChoir’s long association with major celebritiesand now their list of performances reads morelike a ‘who’s who’ of international stars. Thisgroup of amateur Welsh singers has sinceappeared either on stage, screen or in therecording studio with the likes of Dame ShirleyBassey, Dame Gwyneth Jones, Michael Ball,Katherine Jenkins, Iris Williams, Max Boyce,Bryn Terfel, Aled Jones, Charlotte Church, OzzieOsbourne, Jon Bon Jovi, Sir Cliff Richard, AndreaBocelli, McFly, Russell Watson and Il Divo.
Overseas tours have also played an importantrole in the ongoing success story of Treorchy.Since the early 1980s, the Choir has undertakenan enviable number of overseas tours, beginningwith two visits to Canada and a performance inStrasbourg Cathedral for its congregation ofalmost 6,000 people. A series of four successfultours of the USA followed, with visits to theWhite House and performances in SanFrancisco, Denver, Seattle and the Midwest.Treorchy has also enjoyed an enduring love affair
with Australia, becoming the first Welsh choir toappear at the Sydney Opera House, in 1986.Three further visits ‘down under’ have seen theChoir appearing in Canberra, Geelong,Melbourne, Newcastle, Perth, Mandurah,Adelaide, Brisbane, Toowoomba and the GoldCoast, as well as returning triumphantly to theOpera House in Sydney.
Closer to home, the Choir has appeared on theRoyal Variety Performance and has become aregular entertainer on the hallowed turf of theMillennium Stadium for various rugbyinternational games.
The Treorchy Male Choir, a registered charitydevoted to raising tens of thousands of poundsper year for worthwhile causes, remains boundtogether and united in the common purpose ofthe enjoyment of music making and of givingpleasure to others. Long may this continue.
Diolch o galon!
Dean Powell
Publicity Officer & Hon. Archivist
Executive Producers Martin Buzacott, Robert Patterson
Recording Producers Virginia Read (Sydney), Haig Burnell (Melbourne)
Recording Engineers Tony David Cray (Sydney), Jim Atkins (Melbourne)
Assistant Engineer Tim Symons (Melbourne)
Editing and Mastering Virginia Read
Editorial and Production Manager Hilary Shrubb
Publications Editor Natalie Shea
Booklet Design Imagecorp Pty Ltd
Photo p8 Wendy Gaudie
Recorded 31 May 2009 in the Arts Centre, Hamer Hall, Melbourne and 10 June 2009 in
the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House.
ABC Classics thanks Alexandra Alewood and Katherine Kemp.
� 2009 Australian Broadcasting Corporation. � 2009 Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Distributed in Australia and New Zealand by Universal Music Group, under exclusive licence. Made in Australia. All rights of the owner of copyright reserved. Any copying, renting, lending, diffusion, public performance or broadcast of this record without the authority of the copyright owner is prohibited.
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Treorchy Male Choir
David Bebb
Thomas Belmont
David Birch
Alan Bowen
John Bowen
Ernald Brooks
Andrew Costin
Graham Cox
Norman Cox
Raymond Daniels
Anthony Davies
Wayne Dury
David Evans
Gareth Evans
John Fletcher
Len Gale
Terence George
Joe Harris
Stuart Hill
Robert Hopkins
John Jones
Selwyn Jones
Derek Langley
Gareth Lawrence
Dennis Lethbridge
Alan Lewis
Alwyn Lewis
Ivor Lock
Ernest Miles
Mark Milsom
Keith Newman
Frederick O’Brien
Adrian Owen
Keith Owens
Rennie Phillips
Dean Powell
Jeffrey Powell
Jeffrey Priday
John Radford
Ian Reynolds
Michael Russ
Daryl Stacey
Gareth Thomas
William Thomas
Philip Tucker
Tony Vaughan
Roger Watkins
William Watkins
David Williams
Ivor Williams
Dennis Young
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