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Album | Songs of Freedom | A
Cappella Choir
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Artist | Côr Cochion Caerdydd | Political
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Sleeve Notes (also in Welsh in CD booklet) | |||||||||||
Wales and the Spanish Civil War | |||||||||||
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1.
Peat Bog Soldiers is the first and most famous song to be
composed in the concentration camps of the Third Reich. It was’a protest on
the part of the resistance fighters against the oppressors! Written in
1933 by prisoners — the poet Esser, with music by Goguel — it
was performed by a men’s choir in the camp, until the Nazis realised
its subversive power and banned it.‘Wherever the eye wanders, heath
and moor sormund us; no hirdsong greets us... Up and down the guards
are pacing, no one can go through, flight would mean sure death, guns
and barbed wire greet our view... Winter will in time be gone. One day
we will cry rejoicing, homeland dear, you’re wine again: 2. United Front: music by Hans Eisler, lyrics by Bertolt Brecht, sung in four languages by Ernst Busch. 3. Los Cuatros Generales refers to the four insurgent generals, Franco and his rebels, who swore they would capture Madrid in the first months of the war, but failed. 4. Workers unite for the battle: based on a Russian none. In the spirit of internationalism, miners and workers challenged fascism wherever it appeared, from disrupting Mosleylte rallies in Pontypridd and Tonypandy, to the Battle of Cable Street. 5. Bandiera Rossa: the ltalian 'Red Flag.' 6. Maruxina: this Spanish song which commemorate a mining disaster, became popular during the Asnurian miners’ uprising in 1934. ‘Four miners died in the Maria Luisa pitwith broken heads and shirts red with the blood of a companion.’ 7. Solidarity song: another collaboration of Brecht and Fisler which embodies the spirit of the Internation. Brigades. 8. Freiheit: (Freedom): the song of the Thaelmann Batallion which saved Madrid in 1936. ‘Spanish heaven spread their brilliant starlight... Our homeland is far away, while we fight for you — freedom! (Soloist: Jame Stewart) 9. Werin Daear TE Nicholas, ‘Niclas y Glais' was one of the outstanding progressive voices of Wales. He wrote the poems which were used as the lyrics of ’Buddugoliaeth’ and ‘Werin Daear’ and translated the’lnternational into Welsh, inspired by the impulse to build a world of socialism and equality. ‘People of the earth, with bean) chains, walk up out of the dark valleys into the light, break the shackles, come the day when the workers of Wales will be free: 10. Buddugoliaeth: the tune is Cwm Rhondda, the lyrics byTE Nicholas, anticipating the victory of the working classes over their oppression. 11. Niclas: words by Lyn Mererid, to the tune 'Rolling Home’ by John Tams. This celebrates the life of TE Nicholas, from his pacifism during WWI to hin support forthe Spanish Republic and his internationalism. 12. The Whole Wide World Around: Tom Glazer, the American Trade Unionist, set new words to Bach’s chorale. In 1940 he recorded songs of the Spanish Civil War with Pete Seeger and members of the Lincoln Battalion. 13. Si Me Quieres Escribir: Member of the chorus heard this on the ferry at Gandesa, on the 65th anniversary of the battle of the Ebro. There are many variants of this song, and our shortened version commemorates the Ebro crossing in 1938. 'If you want to write to me, you know where you can always find me, on the front line at Gandesa, in the heat of every battle.' 14. Viva La Quince Brigada: by Christy Moore. Christy Moore wrote this tribute to the Irish brigaders who died in Spain. Their comrades who returned were active in supporting liberation struggles around the world, and tirelessly worked to keep alive the memory of their fight against fascism in Spain. 15. Jamie Foyars: a lament by Ewan MacCull for a young Scottish life lost in Spain, who represents all those young men and women of promise who believed in the cause of democracy. (Soloist: Wendy Lewis) 16. Ay Carmela famously celebrates the 15th International Brigade, which sustained terrible losses in Jarama. ‘Long live the 15th brigade, who are covered in glory... Our only desire is to overcome fascism; in the Jarama front, we had no planes, no tanks, no cannon. Now we leave Spain to fight on other fronts.' 17. Valley of Jarama: the song was a favourite amongst the English speaking volunteers. We sing the British version. 18. Miners Lifeguard: The Welsh Miners Federation made the largest trade union contribution to the British support for Spain. Two thirds of the Welsh volunteers were miners, and many coalfield communities, despite their own desperate poverty, formed Spanish Aid committees to send financial and medical help. The warning in the chorus to ‘keep your eyes upon the scale’ refers to the coal owners’practice of underweighing the miners’ coal cars before the onions succeeded in appointing a union checkweighman. (Soloist: Lyn Mererid) 19. Sbaen 1936: Tudor Huws Jones wrote this in the 80s after meeting Jack ‘Russia’ Roberts and Tom Jones, and hearing of their experiences in Spain. It chronicles the remarkable contribution made to the fight for democracy by the mining communities of South Wales. Men from Wales sailed across the seas, far from the comfort of their villages, to join the great army of the world in Spain. ‘Their message was: smash the fascists) They came from LIanelli, Neath, Swansea... from west and north, because they must.' 20. Hen wlad fy nhadau: the Welsh anthem written by Evan and James James in 1856. '..as long as the sea is a wall to the dear loved land, so long may the language endure: 21. The Intemationale: the international revolutionary anthem by Eugene Pottier in 1871; Welsh translation byTE Nicholas. |
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Credits | |||||||||||
The conductors of Côr Cochion on
these recordings are John Abraham and
Wendy Lewis. Produced by: PMC Studios info@pmc.uk.net Profits to: The International Brigade Memorial Trust, which aims to keep alive the memory of those who went to Spain through its educational work. For more information contact: MCPS: CC/CD2 |
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This
page was last updated on
1 August, 2006
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