Atgyfodi
A clip of the work Atgyfodi, that features an interview with Tyrone O'Sullivan of the iconic Tower Colliery. He speaks very personally about recognizing men underground by the sound of their voices.
Archives are where we deposit and gather our stories, both on a personal and National level; whether on paper, Edison cylinder, shellac, vinyl, tape, film, hard drive, these are all the textures of memory, of history, culture, of belonging and identity.
Atgyfodi introduces the lost voices and recordings from the sound archives of The National Museum of History: St Fagans in the form of an immersive surround-sound installation with found and specially filmed images. These are interwoven complemented by a contemporary musical composition, returning them, and what they represent, into our collective memory. The songs and stories are ‘collaged’ with original field recordings made in the original locations of the historic buildings of the Museum, also places and people of iconic or symbolic importance such as Tower Colliery’s Tyrone O’Sullivan, andfarmer Arthur Morris Roberts who witnessed the drowning of Capel Celyn as a young boy. Atgyfodi brings to light a rich, partly hidden Welsh musical tradition: songs and stories sung and told by real people. The compositional approach was influenced by the textures and sounds of these lives; the traditional melodies, the poetry and musicality of the spoken word guiding the process.
In the composed response, or musical ‘frame’, these original songs are developed melodically and harmonically allowing space within the composition for re-interpretation and improvisation by contemporary musicians performing on traditional Welsh instruments. A ‘circle’ of sorts is thus completed, and old traditions re-imagined. Atgyfodi features the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, with traditional Crwth, Pibgorn, and fiddle, and whistle performed by Cass Meurig, and Patrick Rimes, and specially filmed and still images by Huw Talfryn Walters.
Project History:
October 2018: Original site-specific installation and performance in St Fagans National Museum of History.
November 2018: Broadcast on BBC Radio Cymru, and BBC Sounds.
May-June, 2019: Re-imagined for Ffotogallery's Diffusion Festival on the theme of Sight & Sound.
August 2019: Screened in Green Man Festival.
February 2020: Screened as part of the National Library of Wales' Archives cinema screenings.
August 2020: Shown as part of the National Eisteddfod of Wales' 'Amgen' Festival.
November 2023: BBC Radio Cymru broadcast, and screening in Chapter Arts Centre to celebrate the Museum’s 75th Anniversary.
“There are good things being created and are happening in Wales these days. This is one of them”
Kennixton Barn: Interior installation image.
John conducts a performance of Atgyfodi in the atrium of St Fagans Museum of History, October 2018.
Kennixton House: Exterior projection.
Onsite rehearsal with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
Bompren Mill: A back projected image of the last miller Hettie Jones, returned to the place where the photographs was taken in 1953. This was accompanied by the interior sound installation 'Blawd Barlys'.
John with farmer Arthur Morris Roberts, who talked of seeing Capel Celyn being drowned as a young boy.