Rachel is a scholar and advocate of Welsh vocal music and diction. From her earliest days growing up in Cardiff, Wales, she sang Welsh folk song and art song, and has made the repertoire a central part of her professional career. Below you’ll find publications, videos, recordings, and resources for those interested in learning more about the repertoire.

Select Publications

Welsh Vocal Music: A Guide to Lyric Diction and Repertoire

Singing has long been an integral component of Wales’s culture, identity, and international reputation; alongside the deep traditions of Welsh folksong, the country’s composers have produced a rich body of art music. Welsh Vocal Music introduces readers to the vast vocal repertoire of Wales and provides them with the tools to accurately and confidently sing in the Welsh language.

The first section of the book offers an introduction to Welsh lyric diction, including sounds, spellings, pronunciation rules, and dialects, while the second section provides a guide to notable vocal composers of Wales and their works. A biographical and stylistic overview is provided for each composer, along with a catalogue of and commentary on their important works, including art songs, folk song arrangements, choral music, and opera. IPA transliterations and translations, along with online recordings, provide additional guidance on accurate diction.

Offering a comprehensive description of Welsh lyric diction and uniting author biographies and style guides, Welsh Vocal Music is an ideal resource for professional singers, vocal coaches, conductors, and advanced students looking to perform Welsh music. Providing key contextual information about Wales’s history, language, and traditions, the book invites musicians to explore and celebrate the beauty, variety, and power of the country’s repertoire.

Visit Rachel’s Amazon Author Page

Videos

Resources

Select Art Song IPA Transcriptions and Translations

Select Art Song Poem Recitations

Dictionaries

Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru: A Dictionary of the Welsh Language: This is the standard historical dictionary for the Welsh language, comparable to the Oxford English Dictionary. 

Geiriadur yr Academi: The foremost English to Welsh dictionary that provides parts of speech and gender.

 Geiriadur Bangor: Excellent online resource for Welsh learners. It also has an app: Ap Geiriaduron.

 Gweiadur: An excellent Welsh-English / English-Welsh dictionary that provides definitions, pronunciation, parts of speech, and multimedia resources. It also has a thesaurus and links to other specialized dictionaries.

Publishers & Distributers

Banks Music Publications: Music distributer, particularly of choral and vocal music. Distributes music published by the Mansel Thomas Trust as well as music from the OUP catalogue.

Cerdd Ystwyth Music: Brick and mortar music shop in Aberystwyth that specialises in distributing Welsh music. Has an excellent online catalogue and ships world-wide at reasonable rates.

Curiad: Hosts both a Welsh and English language site.

Cwmni Cyhoeddi Gwynn Publishing Company. Hosts both a Welsh and English language site. Many pieces available to download.

Mansel Thomas Trust: Publishes scores of Mansel Thomas’s music. Distributed by Banks (see below).

Cwmni Cyhoeddi Oriana Publications: Many pieces available to download.

Sain: Record label as well as publisher of scores.

Tŷ Cerdd: Record label as well as publisher of scores. Many pieces available to download.

Wise Music Classical: In addition to publishing foremost 20thand 21stcentury music, it owns the catalogue of several now-defunct publishers.

Libraries & Archives

Amgueddfa Cymru Folk Song Archive. An archive of folksongs with field recordings, scores, and translations, all available online.

Bangor University Library: Holds a collection of scores, recordings, and other resources on Welsh music.

British and Irish Sound Archive, Bangor University: An archive of traditional music.  

British Library. The national library of the UK holds many Welsh music scores.

Cardiff University Library. Holds a collection of scores, recordings, and other resources on Welsh music.

Cardiff University Special Collections and Archives: Morfydd Owen, Grace Williams.

National Library of Wales. The NLW is a legal deposit library, which means that they have the right to hold a copy of every publication put out in Britain and Ireland. In addition to its extensive collection of scores, they have an archive (see below) and a comprehensive collection of Welsh journals, many of which are digitised and available online.

National Library of Wales Archive: Mansel Thomas, Meirion Williams, Grace Williams, Dilys Elwyn-Edwards, Alun Hoddinott, and William Mathias.

WorldCat: A service in which you can search libraries world-wide. It may be possible to obtain a score or other resource from your local library or through document delivery/interlibrary services.

Music Societies

Arts Council of Wales. A public body that funds arts and artistic organisations in Wales.

Clera. Society for the preservation and promotion of Welsh instrumental folk music.

Cymdeithas Alawon Gwerin Cymru / Welsh Folk Song Society: Society for the preservation and study of Welsh folksongs. The Society’s journal Canu Gwerin is issued yearly.

Music Community Wales: A charity focused on community engagement with music in Wales. 

National Youth Arts Wales: A charity for young performers and creators in Wales. It organizes the National Youth Ensembles (Brass Band, Choir, Dance, Orchestra, and Theatre).

Trac Cymru: Folk Development for Wales. Offers excellent resources for learning about the folk music and dances of Wales.

Tŷ Cerdd. The society for the promotion of Welsh music. Located in the Millenium Centre, Cardiff, it has a library and archive, recording studio, publishing house, and offers programmes for composers, performers, and others. Its website hosts useful information about Welsh composers and their music.

Welsh Music Guild. Society for the promotion of Welsh composers and composers in Wales.

Language Learning Resources

Courses:

Learn Welsh: The foremost provider of Welsh language courses in Wales. Choose from a wealth of in-person courses around Wales, online zoom courses, or online self-study courses in either dialect. The website hosts many free supplementary resources including workbooks and listening materials. The organization also curates the ‘Siarad Scheme’ in which Welsh learners are paired with fluent speakers to practice their Welsh. They collaborate with other software companies including Memrise to offer additional resources.

SaySomethinginWelsh: An online listening-based course in either dialect. Available in a web-browser or app.

Duolingo: An online reading and writing-based course in either dialect. Available in a web-browser or app:

Cymdeithas Madog: The Welsh Institute in North America provides a myriad of resources for learning Welsh and about Wales. They also offer a course, Cwrs Cymraeg, designed for those in North America.

Supplementary Resources:

St. David’s Societies: Many Welsh societies around the world curate their own resources for learning the language. Look for one in your area.

S4C Clic: The Welsh language TV channel’s online player offers many different kinds of programmes in the Welsh language.

YouTube: Welsh Plus; Welsh With Us; Learn Welsh Podcast.

Parallel Cymru: A bilingual online magazine.

Lingo Newydd: An online magazine for Welsh learners.

Golwg 360: An online news website in Welsh.

Radio Cymru: Welsh language radio that can be streamed online.

Pigion: The BBC’s podcast for Welsh learners.

Y Pod: A site that collects and curates Welsh language podcasts.

BBC Learn Welsh: Hosts many supplementary resources, including guides for GCSE exams, as well as other links and resources.

GWales: A website selling Welsh language books.