‘Tua Bethlem Dref’ (downloadable PDF)

$1.00

A beautiful, lilting Welsh carol that was performed in the 1987 film adaptation of Dylan Thomas’ A Child’s Christmas in Wales. Please see further below for more information and an audio sample.

Description

‘Tua Bethlem Dref’, or ‘On to Bethlehem Town’, is a beautiful, lilting Welsh carol that was performed in the 1987 film adaptation of Dylan Thomas’ A Child’s Christmas in Wales. Set in the key of A-minor, with chord symbols, a harmony part, and first verse lyrics in both Welsh and English.

[NB: This melody requires the nontraditional notes of C- and F-natural. These can be played on conically-bored chanters —e.g. Highland and Border pipes— with ‘cross’ or ‘forked’ fingering patterns. On cylindrically-bored chanters without custom features —e.g. standard smallpipe chanters— you may need to apply pieces of tuning tape over the top 80% of the C and F soundholes.]

This is one of over 100 carols printed in the collection, On This Day Earth Shall Ring.

An audio sample, featuring Scottish smallpipes (D-chanter, with tape flattening the written F and with a custom C-natural hole for the lower thumb [tape will work for that, too]). The harmony part can be heard on the repeat, approximately halfway through the track: