Whitland Male Voice Choir Logo

The origins of the choir logo are to be found in the tile that

was discovered on the Whitland Abbey site.Several tiles were discovered and come in various colours, some were found adjacent to the altar. The Cistercians were renowned for their sheep farming. This was integral to the Cistercian economy, for sheep not only provided wool –which in turn could be either used to make clothing and blankets for the community, or sold-but were important for their milk and the manufacture of cheese. Furthermore, parchment and blankets could be made of the sheepskins. The earliest tile found belongs to the first half of the 13th century and was found at the side of the altar. It is called the ‘Agnus Dei’ tile (Lamb of God).

Logo Côr Meibion Hendy-gwyn

Mae tarddiad logo'r côr i'w gweld yn y teils hynny wedi ei ddarganfod ar safle Abaty Hendy-gwyn. Darganfuwyd teils gwreiddiol ac fe ddaethon nhw mewn gwahanol liwiau, canfuwyd rhai ger yr allor. Roedd y Sistersiaid yn enwog am eu ffermio defaid. Roedd hyn yn rhan annatod o'r economi Sistersaidd, ar gyfer defaid nid yn unig yn darparu gwlân - y gellid naill ai ei ddefnyddio i wneud dillad a blancedi i'r gymuned, neu eu gwerthu, ond roeddent yn bwysig i'w llaeth a chynhyrchu caws. Ar ben hynny, gellid gwneud darnau a blancedi o'r gwlan. Mae'r teilsen cynharaf a ddarganfuwyd yn perthyn i hanner cyntaf y 13eg ganrif ac fe'i canfuwyd ar ochr yr allor. Fe'i gelwir yn deilsen 'Agnus Dei' (Oen Duw).

The Choral Tradition in Wales

The natural custom of Welsh congregations into the 1840’s was to sing in unison. By the middle of the century, however, a large number of singing teachers, instruments and music books had appeared all over Wales, and the common people demanded grandiose chapel buildings. Chapel galleries were excellent for separating the various choral voice parts; chapel ceilings with their flat ceilings often had superb acoustics and there appeared a widespread enthusiasm for elaborate choral singing. In the religious revival of 1859 much emphasis was placed on congregational singing. The evangelised congregations sang their hymns with passion and fervour, sometimes gathering together to sing non-stop for three days and nights.

Eleazar Roberts brought Curwen’s tonic sol-fa into Wales in 1860, and this simple and effective method of teaching people to read music quickly spread like wildfire in Wales more than in any other country.  The London Tonic Sol-Fa College was seen as a poor man’s university, and the various certificates of the college were displayed with pride, gilt-framed, on the wall’s of cottages the length and breadth of the land. By the end of the nineteenth century, most chapels had organs or harmoniums, some even small orchestras, and so important did the music became that people worshipped in the chapel not with their families but with other sopranos or tenors in the places assigned to them in the gallery.

The Welsh people in the second half of the nineteenth century began to hold innumerable Eisteddfod meetings, and those encouraged the performing of works secular as well as sacred. The Eisteddfod adjudicator and the Gymanfa conductor became the demi-gods of Welsh society, and by 1870 Wales became the land of the great choirs. The seal was set by the victories of the great choir of the conductor Caradog of Aberdare (Côr Mawr Caradog) at the Crystal Palace music festivals in 1872 and 1873. The whole period from 1860 to 1914 forms a distinct period of  Welsh chapel and eisteddfod music. The aesthetic cultural revival of the 1890’s had its effect on Welsh music with a fresh revival of interest in folk songs, and a Welsh Folk Song Society was founded in 1906.

In the 1841 census of the Llanboidy district, Whitland was described as a small village. Things changed with the arrival of the railway in 1854 and the junction with the Cardi Bach in 1869. The population in the Llanboidy district grew from 1,789 in 1841 to 2,095 in 1851. Chapel and Eisteddfodau were the key institutions in the Welsh musical renaissance in the 1860’s.The first musical journal appeared at this time, “Y Cerddor Cymreig” in 1861. There was only one choir competing in the Aberystwyth Eisteddfod in 1865– but in 1873 there were six. Carmarthen had seven choirs competing in 1867—but in 1911 there were sixty.

The above information was researched by a former choir member

Mr Steve Stephenson, we are indebted to your hard work.

Y Traddodiad Gorawl yng Nghymru

Yr arfer naturiol o gynulleidfaoedd Cymreig yn y 1840au oedd canu mewn undeb. Erbyn canol y ganrif, fodd bynnag, roedd nifer fawr o athrawon canu, offerynnau a llyfrau cerddoriaeth wedi ymddangos ledled Cymru, ac roedd y bobl gyffredin yn mynnu bod adeiladau capel gwych. Roedd orielau capel yn ardderchog ar gyfer gwahanu'r gwahanol rannau llais corawl; roedd nenfydau capeli gyda'u nenfydau gwastad yn aml yn acwsteg ardderchog ac roedd yna frwdfrydedd helaeth am ganu corawl ymestynnol. Yn adfywiad crefyddol 1859 rhoddwyd llawer o bwyslais ar ganu cynulleidfaol. Roedd y cynulleidfaoedd efengylu yn canu eu emynau gyda angerdd a ffwd, ac weithiau'n casglu at ei gilydd i ganu heb fod yn stop am dri diwrnod a noson.

Daeth Eleazar Roberts â sol-ffa Tonic Curwen i Gymru yn 1860, ac mae'r ddull syml ac effeithiol hwn o addysgu pobl i ddarllen cerddoriaeth yn gyflym fel llusgoedd gwyllt yng Nghymru yn fwy nag mewn unrhyw wlad arall. Gwelwyd Coleg Tonic Sol-Ffa yn Llundain fel prifysgol dyn gwael, ac arddangoswyd gwahanol dystysgrifau'r coleg gyda balchder, fframiau gilt, ar furiau bythynnod ar hyd a lled y tir. Erbyn diwedd y bedwaredd ganrif ar bymtheg, roedd gan y rhan fwyaf o gapeli organau neu harmoniwm, rhai cerddorfeydd bach hyd yn oed, ac mor bwysig daeth y gerddoriaeth bod pobl yn addoli yn y capel nid gyda'u teuluoedd, ond gyda sopranos neu ddeiliaid eraill yn y mannau a neilltuwyd iddynt yr oriel.

Dechreuodd y Cymry yn ail hanner y bedwaredd ganrif ar bymtheg gynnal nifer fawr o gyfarfodydd yr Eisteddfod, a chafodd y rhai hynny eu hannog i berfformio gwaith seciwlar yn ogystal â sanctaidd. Daeth y beirniad Eisteddfod a'r arweinydd Gymanfa yn ddiamliau cymdeithas Gymreig, ac erbyn 1870 daeth Cymru yn wlad y corau gwych. Gosodwyd y sêl gan fuddugoliaeth côr mawr arweinydd Caradog o Aberdâr yng ngwyliau cerdd y PalasGrisial yn 1872 a 1873. Mae'r cyfnod cyfan o 1860 i 1914 yn ffurfio cyfnod neilltuol o gerddoriaeth capel ac eisteddfod Gymreig . Cafodd adfywiad diwylliannol esthetig y 1890au effaith ar gerddoriaeth Gymreig gydag adfywiad newydd o ddiddordeb mewn caneuon gwerin, a sefydlwyd Cymdeithas Alawon Gwerin Cymru ym 1906.

Yn y cyfrifiad 1841 o ardal Llanboidy, disgrifiwyd Hendy-gwyn fel pentref bach. Newidiwyd pethau pan gyrhaeddodd y rheilffordd ym 1854 a'r gyffordd â'r Cardi Bach ym 1869. Tyfodd y boblogaeth yn ardal Llanboidy o 1,789 yn 1841 i 2,095 ym 1851. Roedd y Capel a'r Eisteddfodau yn sefydliadau allweddol yn ddatblygiad cerddorol Cymru yn 1860. Roedd y cylchgrawn cerddorol cyntaf yn ymddangos ar hyn o bryd, "Y Cerddor Cymreig" yn 1861. Dim ond un côr oedd yn cystadlu yn Eisteddfod Aberystwyth yn 1865- ond ym 1873 roedd chwech. Caerfyrddin oedd saith côr yn cystadlu yn 1867 - ond yn 1911 roedd chwe deg.