WELSH TUNES: A BRIEF BIBLIOGRAPHY

This list is intended only as an introductory guide and includes only publications that are, to the best of my knowledge, readily
available. It is strictly non-academic! Many of these tune-books may be available from your local music shop or from folk
specialists such as The Music Room or Hobgoblin . In case of difficulty, I know that many of them may be obtained (on-line
mail order service) from Cerdd Ystwyth. The Welsh Folk Dance Society publications can be ordered via its website and the
Clera publications from that Society. I have deliberately excluded books which are primarily of songs rather than of dance
tunes and non-dance airs, though of course many song tunes do get played without anyone singing.
(Note @ 11:2011 unfortunately most or all of Robin Huw Bowens Gwasg Teires publications are currently unavailable/OP,
as is Tro Llaw. Cass Meurigs Alawon John Thomas also OP @ 4:2013. One may with luck be able to acquire them second
hand from Amazon/eBay etc. or find old stock in some shops)

TITLE

PUBLISHER

Blodaur Grug 100 Popular Welsh Folk Dance Tunes

Selected by A. Hamilton, revised by Robin Huw Bowen, 1992

The Welsh Folk Dance Society

CadwTwmpath 100 More Welsh Folk Dance Tunes

Selected, edited and arranged by Robin Huw Bowen, 1993

The Welsh Folk Dance Society

Dawnsie Twmpath/Welsh Barn Dance 55 Dances (dance notation and tunes)

Selected by E. Jones, 1987/1991

Y Lolfa
ISBN 0862432421

Y Mn-dlysau Cymreig/The Cambrian trifles 20 Dances (dance notation and tunes)

W Burton Hart, 1812, ed. Robin Huw Bowen, 1994

The Welsh Folk Dance Society

Davidsons Musical Miracles: 250 Welsh Airs

Llanerch Publishers
ISBN 1861430841

Tannaur Draig (The Dragons Strings)

Edited and arranged by Robin Huw Bowen, 1991
Pocket Tune Books (Series):Llewelyn Alaw 1990
Mary Richards, Darowen 1991
All edited and arranged by Robin Huw Bowen

Gwasg Teires
Gwasg Teires
John Parry Ddall, Rhiwabon 1991

Tro Llaw: 200 Hornpipes

Edited and arranged by Robin Huw Bowen, 1987

National Library of Wales

ISBN 0907158250

Alawon John Thomas: A Fiddlers Tune Book From Eighteenth Century Wales
Edited by Cass Meurig, 2004

National Library of Wales

ISBN 1862250421

The Pibgorn Tunebook

Edited and arranged by Keith Lewis, 2010

self publication

Hobed The Tunes of Y Glerorfa

Edited by Cwmni Cyhoeddi Gwynn, 2010

Clera

Pwt ar y Bys Traditional Welsh Tunes for Beginners (includes 2 CDS demonstrating all the tunes)
Edited by Cwmni Cyhoeddi Gwynn, 2010
Alawon Gwerin Iolo Morgannwg
Edited by Leila Salisbury, 2012

Clera
ISMN 9790708091202

Cymdeithas Alawon Gwerin Cymru

ISBN 9780953255573

Old Welsh Airs 106 melodies from the Welsh tradition selected and arranged for Welsh pipes/pibgorn from Alawon Fy
Ngwlad Vol I (Bennett & Evans 1896)
Edited and arranged by John Tose 2012
self publication
Welsh Fiddle Tunes 97 Traditional Pieces for Violin (includes a CD demonstrating all the tunes)
Edited and arranged by Sin Phillips 2013
Schott Music Ltd. (Catalogue No. ED 13494)
ISMN M220133565, ISBN 9781847612809

There is also an excellent series of Dance Books published by the Welsh Folk Dance Society (not catalogued above), which
are primarily dance notation and historical background (Dancers take note!), but which do include a few tunes not already
found in the books listed above available direct from the WFDS, as are their other titles listed above. There are also various
collections/publications/sources of Welsh traditional songs which do not fall within my particular interests or my intent in
producing this resource. There are, of course, many early documentary sources and publications not currently available in
print, but which the persistent researcher may pursue. These are mostly in the National Library of Wales at Aberystwyth or the
St. Fagans National History Museum (near Cardiff).
John Thomas (Ieuan Ddu, Merthyr Tudful) The Cambrian Minstrel
Online/Downloadable free resources (facsimile/scanned pdfs etc.) for early/Antiquarian collections of Welsh Traditional
Music
Note: Unfortunately, to date I cannot find any/there are no downloads available of John Parry Ddall (Ruabon)s publications
nor of the Morris Edwards manuscript/collection.
Edward Jones (Bardd y Brenin): Musical & Poetical Relicks of the Welsh Bards (1784) (41 pages of text and 33 pages of
traditional Welsh music - 42.2 MB)
Edward Jones (Bardd y Brenin): The Bardic Museum: The Musical, Poetical and Historical Relicks of The Welsh Bards and
Druids (1802) (incl 50 pages of traditional Welsh and Bardic Tunes - 76.9 MB)
Edward Jones (Bardd y Brenin): Hen Ganiadau Cymru / Cambro British Melodies: National Songs and Airs of Wales (1820)
(57 pages of traditional Welsh music - 5.23 MB)
There are other online sources for free viewing or downloads of the first two above in various formats which I have not listed
exhaustively here, which may be found with appropriate web-searches, e.g.
Edward Jones: Musical & Poetical Relicks... Vol I (3rd edn of 1808) (includes some of his harp arrangements not in the earlier
editions 75.0 MB)
Richard Roberts: Cambrian Harmony (1829) (44 pages of music - 4.9 MB)
John Parry (Bardd Alaw): The Welsh Harper (1839) (152 pages, 144 pages of music - 15.5 MB)
John Thomas (Ieuan Ddu, Merthyr Tydfil): The Cambrian Minstrel (1845) (219 pages, maybe 40% music notation 12MB)
Nicholas Bennett: Alawon fy Ngwlad (Vol 1) (1896) (126 pages - 11.0 MB)
Nicholas Bennett: Alawon fy Ngwlad (Vol 2) (1896) (116 pages - 9.9 MB)
Online resources for Welsh tunes in ABC notation (and in some cases other formats) include:Alawon Bangor: Alawon traddodiadol o Lawysgrifau ym Mhrifysgol Bangor / Traditional Melodies from Manuscripts in
Bangor University (Blog with a growing list of facsimiles of tunes from manuscripts, with discussion and audio.)
Lesl Harker's Welsh ABC Collection: http://jodeejames.home.att.net/welshabc.htm (dormant/defunct, but still has accessible
resources via web archiving: http://web.archive.org/web/20080519092610/http://jodeejames.home.att.net/welshabc.htm.)
(Unfortunately the main transcriber of the notations included, although a brilliant traditional musician, is not very musicliterate and there are many technical errors in the transcriptions!)
www.welshtraditionalmusic.com (dormant/defunct, but still has some resources on it including tunes accessible in part via
web archiving: (http://web.archive.org/web/20070822223551/www.welshtraditionalmusic.com/node/5)
Corff y Gainc - Welsh Folk Melodies Digital Archives:
Ceri Rhys Matthews posts various resources to his Yscolan blog.
Pipes & Pibgorn maker John Tose has some (pipes-friendly, so limited tessitura and maybe mode-shifted arrangements of)
tunes available on his website: http://www.pibydd.fsnet.co.uk/music.htm (dormant/defunct, but still has accessible resources
via web archiving: http://web.archive.org/web/20080117005356/www.pibydd.fsnet.co.uk/music.htm)
These are now (Nov 2011) also available here: http://www.mochpryderi.com/Tose.html , some with staff notation and
apparently John is making more transcriptions/adaptations from Nicholas Bennetts Alawon fy Ngwlad (published 2012 see
above).
Meurig Williams Meu Cymru Website has selected tunes in staff notation :
See also the Sesiwn Dros Gymru Website
Of course, an increasing number of Welsh tunes may be found in the enormous general (but chiefly Irish orientated) ABC tune
sites such as www.thesession.org. ABC notation is explained and resources are linked here: http://abcnotation.com .
Information prepared by J Hammond, 02:2005, updated & expanded 08:2009, 11:2010, 11:2011, 10:2012, 4:2013, 9:2014, 1:2016.Further copies and periodic
updates may be downloaded here https://www.box.com/s/zvmrb3h823vn5khir4jx