Cantata Memoria

Mererid Hopwood (Welsh-E-L)

Cantata Memoria commemorates the Aberfan tragedy of 21 October 1966. It was on this day that 116 children and 28 adults perished when a coal spoil tip enveloped Pantglas Junior School together with some houses in Aberfan, South Wales. Aged 22, I was in my first term at the Royal Academy of Music, London, at the time. Inevitably the disaster had a massive impact on me and millions of others.

I was approached by Ian Jones, CEO of S4C (Sianel Pedwar Cymru – Channel Four Wales), and Hefin Owen of Rondo Media and offered a commission to compose a work commemorating the 50th anniversary of the tragedy. Feeling privileged, humbled and honoured to have been chosen, I immediately accepted, whilst also being mindful of the responsibility the commission carried in writing something with integrity and accessibility that would connect and move everyone – the bereaved who are still with us, those who remember and those who come to this catastrophe anew. Paradoxically, dealing with a subject that lies so deep in the soul of the Welsh was both a harrowing and uplifting experience, but the journey was made easier and more rewarding by my travelling companion, Mererid Hopwood, the brilliant Welsh poet, academic and linguist who has written a remarkable libretto.

And while the work starts in Aberfan, alas we must be mindful of how it might encompass other heartbreaking tragedies involving children. Think of Dunblane (1996), the Beslan school siege (2004), the Korean ferry disaster and the Peshawar School massacre (both 2014) – each one a disaster too many. We have all been children, and many of us are parents and grandparents, and my hope is that Cantata Memoria is symbolic, concerning childhood and the cherishing of the precious young as well as offering a memorial in music for the disaster in Wales. As Mererid says, “we sincerely hope the work speaks from two hearts to many hearts”.

This work is music and a poem. It is not a documentary, nor even a dramatisation, but it does include a conflation of ideas and facts that were relevant and by now part of the legacy. There wasn’t just the one cortège, for example. Some events remain open to debate but we do know that All Things Bright and Beautiful was sung at Pantglas School from time to time and also Myfanwy (by Joseph Parry from nearby Merthyr Tydfil) on one occasion by soldiers who dug for victims. Myfanwy was also the first piece sung by the Ynysowen Male Choir, formed after the tragedy with the intention of raising money for charity while providing a social activity for the local men. It was said also that birdsong was not heard in the hours before or after the tragedy.

The text is multilingual, in English, Welsh and Latin (four texts from the Requiem Mass), while also incorporating various other languages for specific words (for example ‘why’ and ‘light’ are sung in Welsh, English, Swedish, Latin, Spanish, German, French, Dutch and Italian). It is hoped these many languages symbolise how the memorial is at once both specific and universal.
The work is in two distinct sections but performed continuously. The first (c20 minutes) deals with the tragedy and the immediate aftermath, and the second (c35 minutes) moves from darkness to light, reliving memories and celebrating childhood, ending with the Requiem’s Lux æterna (everlasting light).

Cantata (from the Italian cantare, meaning ‘to sing’) has come to mean a work for soloist(s), choir and orchestra, and memoria is both Latin and Italian for memory or remembrance.

Karl Jenkins - May 2016