Datganiad i'r Wasg / Press Release

Gwenan Gibbard - y gwenith gwynnaf
SAIN SCD2504 - £12.98
www.sainwales.com

Dyma albwm cyntaf y gantores a’r delynores o Bwllheli. Daeth Gwenan yn amlwg fel perfformwraig ers rhai blynyddoedd ac mae ganddi ddiddordeb arbennig mewn canu a cherddoriaeth draddodiadol a cherdd dant. Wedi graddio mewn cerddoriaeth ym Mhrifysgol Cymru Bangor a chwblhau gradd feistr mewn perfformio ac ymchwil ym maes cerddoriaeth Cymru, aeth ymlaen i astudio’r delyn yn yr Academi Gerdd Frenhinol yn Llundain, ac yna dychwelodd i’w hardal enedigol.

Bu’n enillydd ym mhrif gystadlaethau telyn a chanu'r Eisteddfod Genedlaethol, Yr Ŵyl Gerdd Dant a’r Ŵyl Ban Geltaidd yn Iwerddon, a bu’n cynrychioli Cymru mewn gwyliau megis Y Gyngres Geltaidd, Gŵyl Gyd-Geltaidd Lorient yn Llydaw ac, yn fwyaf diweddar, Cyngres Delynau’r Byd yn Nulyn.

Mae ‘Y Gwenith Gwynnaf’ yn dwyn ynghyd fywiogrwydd byrlymog a phrydferthwch naturiol cerddoriaeth draddodiadol Gymreig, gydag arddull y canu a’r chwarae wedi ei wreiddio’n ddwfn yng nghalon y traddodiad ond hefyd yn ffres a blaengar. Ceir yma drefniannau newydd a chyffrous ar y delyn fach Geltaidd o rai o’n halawon telyn mwyaf poblogaidd, fel Cainc y Datgeiniad a Llwyn Onn a threfniannau llawn egni a newydd-deb o sawl alaw ddawns draddodiadol. Daw'r tair polca o gasgliad y telynor Cymreig Llewelyn Alaw o’r ddeunawfed ganrif tra bod pib ddawns Abertawe yn ffefryn gan deuluoedd y Romani Cymreig a gan Nansi Richards. Caiff y delyn deires hefyd ei lle yma, yn yr alaw fywiog Tŷ a Gardd. Mae naws fywiog i sawl un o’r caneuon gwerin yn ogystal, yn arbennig felly'r fersiwn o Gwenni aeth i ffair Pwllheli, y trac agoriadol.

Yn cyferbynnu â’r alawon bywiog, afieithus, ceir hefyd alawon araf, llawn hiraeth a theimlad. Un o’r rhain yw Paid â’m Twyllo, alaw hynafol o gasgliad Nicholas Bennett, ‘Alawon fy Ngwlad’. Ceir caneuon serch traddodiadol yma hefyd, fel Adar Mân y Mynydd a Dod dy Law - un o ganeuon serch hyfrytaf y traddodiad Cymreig, yn ogystal â’r hwiangerdd brydferth Cysga di fy mhlentyn tlws. Ceir un gân werin lai cyfarwydd, sef Y Deryn Du, cân llatai swynol, ac o eiriau hon y daw teitl y gryno ddisg. Ynghyd â’r caneuon gwerin clywir darn ysgafn o gerdd dant, a’r geiriau, yn addas iawn, er clod i’r delyn!

Cynhyrchwyd yr albwm gan Maartin Allcock, offerynnwr medrus a chyn aelod o’r grwpiau ‘Fairport Convention’ a ‘Jethro Tull’, ac mae’n ymuno â Gwenan ar sawl un o’r traciau, ar y gitâr, y gitâr fâs a’r bouzar. Y cerddorion eraill yw Huw Roberts (ffidil), Stephen Rees (ffidil), Dafydd Roberts (ffliwt a phib) a Deian Elfryn (offer taro).

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Gwenan is one of Welsh music’s most exciting young talents. Hailing from the Llŷn peninsula in north-west Wales, she was brought up in a Welsh speaking family in which singing and Welsh culture in general played an integral part. She has won many harp and singing competitions at The National Eisteddfod, the Cerdd Dant Festival and The Pan Celtic festival, and has represented Wales, both as a harpist and singer, at many festivals, including The Celtic Congress, the Lorient Interceltic Festival and, most recently, the Ninth World Harp Congress, held in Dublin. Having graduated in Music from the University of Wales, Bangor, and then gaining a masters degree there in performance and research in the field of Welsh music, she went on to further her harp studies at the Royal Academy of Music London before returning to her roots in her home town of Pwllheli.

‘Y Gwenith Gwynnaf’ (literally – ‘the whitest wheat’), Gwenan’s debut album on the ‘Sain’ label, is a collection of her own arrangements of Welsh traditional folk-songs and Welsh traditional music, played on the small Celtic harp and the Welsh triple harp, with guest appearances from Maartin Allcock (ex ‘Fairport Convention’ and ‘Jethro Tull’, who also produced the CD) on guitar, bass and bouzar, Huw Roberts and Stephen Rees (Crasdant, Ar Log) on fiddle, Dafydd Roberts (Ar Log) on flute and whistle and Deian Elfryn on percussion.

This album brings together the characteristic vigour and natural beauty of Welsh traditional music at its best, and, whilst being firmly rooted in the tradition, displays a fresh and innovative approach. Refreshingly energetic arrangements of dance tunes and haunting renditions of traditional Welsh folk songs feature alongside old melodies of the Welsh harpers of the 18th and 19th centuries and music from some of the most notable manuscript collections. Also included is Cerdd Dant or Penillion singing – the unique, ancient Welsh tradition of poetry singing to the accompaniment of the harp.

Truly Welsh in style, this album confirms Gwenan as one of the emerging new talents on the Welsh traditional music scene.