Relayed from the National Museum of Wales

National Orchestra of Wales
(Cerddorfa Genedlaethol Cymru)

(to 12.45)

Relayed from the Coney Beach Dance Restaurant, Porthcawl

A short history of the Gloucesters.

National Orchestra of Wales
(Cerddorfa Genedlaethol Cymru)
Conducted by Warwick Braithwaite

The England which this Opera sets before us is indeed merry, a land and an age when the sun shone and summer was truly summer. And the music is no less eloquent than the tale of the fresh open air and smiling countryside. When it appeared, in 1902, it was hailed with joy as a worthy successor to the long line of Gilbert and Sullivan Comic Operas; it is in every way worthy to take its place beside them. The plot is a good one; Basil Hood, the author, knew very well how to make that judicious blend of romance, intrigue and broad comedy, which is essentially the right basis for such a work; and German is richly endowed with the gift of writing good melodies which at once capture the public affection, and keep it. Apart from the merry dance numbers, all with a wholesome English flavour about them, the best-known numbers are Queen Elizabeth's song, 'O peaceful England,' 'The English Rose' - which Sir Walter Raleigh, the tenor of the opera, sings-and the number for baritone, 'The Yeomen of England.'

George Butterworth had just passed his thirtieth year when he was killed in action in the Great War, but he had already left enough music to show how strongly he was imbued with the national spirit. English folk songs and the freshness of English countryside are reflected in most of the pieces he left, and this English Idyll is a typical example of the way in which he could set before us the charm, and something of the wistfulness, of Nature.

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