PREN PLANEDIG

PREFACE:

I have always been fascinated by the contrast between the personal expression of a free spirit and the collective expression of a body such as the church: The pragmatism of a doctrine that formulates a moral code sometimes obscures the individual passion and insight that is its essence - the full picture is seen only when both elements are combined.

In this work, contrasts abound - the contrast between a single solo soprano voice and over a hundred male voices in chorus, the contrast between the visionary images of a young woman in her twenties and the yearning for a meaningful existence as expressed in the traditional psalms of David which parallels the juxtaposition of the Welsh of the Ann Griffiths hymns and the Latin of the psalms.
There also has to be an unifying factor: this is the function of another visionary poem, namely the Early Mediaeval Irish lyric, associated inextricably with its English translation, 'Be thou my vision' and the majestic Irish melody, Slane. It is heard first of all in the opening bars of the orchestral introduction and a full version is presented in the finale, but indeed fragments from the melody are present in almost every bar of the piece.

Another enriching association is seen in the `Surge Illuminare' section which foretells the birth of Christ and the `Magnum Mysterium' movement (a meditation on the birth of Christ) where an allusion is made to the chorale melody (in the D major tonality of the original) `Ah dearest Jesus, Holy Child' from Bach's Christmas Oratorio.

The opening-music for the soprano soloist, `Gwna fi fel pren planedig' returns in the last movement which, after some dramatic exchanges between the chorus and soloist, becomes gradually more sustained and tranquil until the final bars where the soloist and chorus, for the only time in the piece, share the same text and the same rhythm ...'Rhosyn Saron'... the vision is complete and yet on-going.

J.Brian Hughes
January 2002