You Tube

BREAKING NEWS

It is hard to imagine our late and much lamented former President Mr Phylip Jones having much to do with modern technology. However, Eleri, Phylip's daughter has placed much of the choral events staged by the Resolven and District Chapel Choir on You Tube, after they were dutifully recorded by her husband Martin. The editor spent a very happy three hours last night having a nostalgic look at the concerts , which quite frankly are ageless and show a scene which could well have taken place in the 1940s.

It was also wonderful to hear Phylip's introductions to the songs, where he spent  a good deal of his time educating the audience as to the background of the item, much of which concerned his magnum opus, Resolfen's Three Doctors of Music: David Evans, Tom Hopkin Evans, and William Rhys Herbert. Members must surely remember our 25th Anniversary Concert in Jerusalen Chapel , when Phylip's Choir and Cantorion Bro Nedd gave a joint concert featuring the music of the Three Doctors who all came from the coal face to national, even international prominence. The joint rendition by both choirs and the audience of the famous hymn Penmachno, resonates even now.

The intention is to include other items recorded by Phylip on the history of Resolven, including work for S4C , on the You Tube platform . This will add to the collection of items available from this weblog and a collection of  books in the Community Resources Centre, including our own Resolfen Recalled.  Let's hope the dark clouds of "lockdown" will soon be lifted and we will be able to continue our valuable work of promoting the study of history, both local and in the round.

Update: Several new items have been placed on the you tube channel in the last few days. I can recommend listening to the Cymanfa Ganu from 1979, held in the old Tabernacle to celebrate the Three Doctors of Music. Phylip's talk on Tom Hopkin Evans is a real treat, and it inspired me to visit his grave in the cemetery of Melincwrt Chapel after being given instructions by Phylip in his talk on how to find it. The singing is glorious and the dialogue is an echo to any of us who went to such large Cymanfaoedd Canu when the chapels still held considerable sway. 

The items can be found on YouTube under : Eleri Nedd.