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Welsh bardic music

Welsh bardic music is a form of Welsh folk music that was most widespread during Wales in the Middle Ages, pre-Edwardian conquest. Originally, bardic music was performed by a bard, who would compose

General features of musical style#

Hallmarks of Welsh bardic music included the use of cerdd dant (“the craft of the string”), which is vocalization over a melody played on a harp or crwth alongside a datgeiniad, the narrator or specialized singer of the bardic verse. These performances pulled from social frameworks and were primarily oral in nature.

Examples of Welsh bardic works#

  • Y Gododdin
  • Book of Aneirin
  • Book of Taliesin
  • Canu Llywarch Hen
  • Y Llafurwr
  • Music of the Robert ap Huw Manuscript
  • 1 and 0 a compositional basis on Bragod website
  • Medieval Welsh Bardic Music, Interpreting the Robert ap Huw MS. by William Taylor
Genre family
Welsh folk music