London Welsh Male Voice Choir
Côr Meibion Cymry Llundain
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London Welsh Male Voice Choir Côr Meibion Cymry Llundain |
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1. Beautiful Dreamer : Stephen Foster Born: 4 July 1826 Pittsburgh ( USA ) American song composer; one of the most gifted and inspired song composers, whose songs include some of the most imperishable the world has known, such as "Oh, Susanna!", "Old Folks at Home", "My Old Kentucky Home", "Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair", "Beautiful Dreamer", "Old Black Joe", "My Old Kentucky Home", and "Ring De Banjo". January 13 1864 : Stephen Foster dies at New York 's Bellevue Hospital . He dies in poverty, with 38 cents in his pocket and a scrap of paper on which is written "dear friends and gentle hearts." March 10 1864 : William A. Pond & Co. (formerly Firth, Pond) publishes "Beautiful Dreamer", the last song ever written by Stephen C. Foster, composed but a few days before his death. Check out these excellent links to learn more about Stephen Foster http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/foster/ http://www.bobjanuary.com/foster/sfhome.htm
2. Yma O Hyd : Dafydd Iwan Yma o Hyd' 'We're still here' was composed by Dafydd Iwan for the 1983 tour with Ar Log http://www.dafyddiwan.com/ more information about Dafydd Iwan Dafydd Iwan is the president of Plaid Cymru. Born in Brynaman, Wales in 1943, he spent most of his youth in Bala before studying Architecture at the the University of Wales Cardiff. He rose to fame as a singer-songwriter, writing and playing folk music in the Welsh language. By the late 1960s he was receiving television coverage both for his music and for his political activities, including being imprisoned in 1970 as part of the fight for Welsh language rights, an event commemorated in his song "Pam fod eira'n wyn?" ("Why is snow white...?") His satirical song, "Carlo", was written on the occasion of the investiture of the Prince of Wales in 1969.
Dafydd Iwan was one of the founders of Sain Recordiau Cyf, one of the main Welsh music labels, and a business he still manages today. He is a county councillor, school governor, lay preacher, board member of several companies and societies, and president of Plaid Cymru, Dafydd Iwan still writes and performs music, including a long standing partnership with Ar Log ("for hire"). His musical repertoire includes everything from political satires that have been banned by the BBC through to songs such as "Yma o hyd" which have attained near-anthem status throughout Welsh-speaking Wales. Dafydd Iwan's long service to the Welsh language led to him being made an honorary member of the Gorsedd of Bards. 3. Mansions of the Lord Nick Glennie-Smith will be remembered as the composer who wrote the music for The Mansions of the Lord sung at the end of "We Were Soldiers." This humble hymn, with words by Randall Wallace, is incredibly moving and in only two years has already become an "anthem" of sorts. It is reported that they sat down and wrote this song in 15 minutes. Such a simple tune -- but emotionally powerful. It was used for the Retiring Procession at the funeral for Ronald Reagan at the National Cathedral, and, I suspect, this song's exposure to the world for that event will have touched far more people than the film. The film is based on the book We Were Soldiers Once...And Young a book by Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore (Ret.) and Joseph L. Galloway. The book is about the Vietnam War and it mainly deals with the role of 1st Cavalry Division, 7th Battalion in the Battle of Ia Drang. This battle was the first large-unit battle of the Vietnam War.
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