A Short History of Choral Singing in the Diocese of Llandaff

Music and local talent are an integral part to celebrating the heritage of our churches and their communities.

During the Churches Unlocked Festival 2023, over 50 events are dedicated to making joyful noise including a concert by the Aber Valley Male Voice Choir.

With such a rich history of choral singing in Wales, we take a brief look at its origins.

With the onset of the industrial revolution from the middle of the 19th century, choirs became prominent in Welsh society as Wales became recognised widely as 'gwlad y gân' – the land of song. Valley towns like Aberdare, Merthyr, and those of Caerphilly County were magnets attracting workers from all over Wales and further afield.

Male choral singing was an important distraction and binding agent for those engaged with the monotonous and sheer toil of heavy industries in coal mines and iron foundries.

Fuelled by numerous revivals, religion played a fundamental part in the growth of choral singing in Wales.

Audiences were wowed with singing from pure congregational singing in four-part harmony through to lengthy and complex sacred anthems.

The burgeoning churches and chapels also proved to be ideal spaces for choirs to rehearse and perform.

Even today, the Aber Valley Male Voice Choir rehearses in a chapel, and the majority of its concerts are in churches where the acoustics are second to none.

The very first competition between Wales and England did not take place on the rugby field – it was held in 1873 at London's Crystal Palace where Côr Mawr from Wales defeated London's mightiest choir.

The conductor of the choir was the celebrated Griffith Rhys Jones commonly known as Caradog – he remains the only musician immortalised by a statute in Wales – in the middle of Aberdare in his case.

The popularity of our choirs cannot be overstated. In 1893, 15,000 attended the Arms Park to watch Wales defeat England. Yet in the same year, 20,000 flocked to the pavillion to watch the main choral competition at the National Eisteddfod held in Pontypridd.