Stories come in many shapes and forms. For me, that’s part of their fascination. For example, last weekend I sang in a concert in Porthcawl where the first of the two pieces we sang retells a story that was first written down as far back as the 12th century. More than that, the person at the centre of the story was someone who’d lived yet longer ago, back in the 6th century A.D. (more…)
I was scratching my head about this week’s blog. A piece of synchronicity gave me the answer.
On one side of the synchronicity – synchronicities always have at least two sides! – is my native Pembrokeshire where I’m spending Easter. Once again, I’m reminded how the place is layered with stories like the geological strata of the land itself. One layer is the magical legends of the saints. There are memories of them everywhere especially in the names of places and the many little old churches. The stories of the saints themselves are an extraordinary combination of fact, medieval myth and spiritual inspiration.
On the other side of the synchronicity is the London Welsh Chorale which is the choir I sing with in London. We’re currently learning an oratorio by the great Welsh composer, William Mathias. It’s an infrequently sung piece called St Teilo which we’ll be singing in our summer concert in St Giles, Cripplegate, in the Barbican, on Saturday 10 July.
Its subject, Teilo, was reputedly one of the two holy monks who accompanied David (subsequently Patron Saint of Wales) on the journey he is described as having made to the Holy Land to Jerusalem.
Well, a couple of days ago, I was looking through a beautiful booklet about Pembrokeshire churches, published in 1989, in which the paintings were made by my friend, John Knapp-Fisher.
As I perused this booklet, I suddenly made the connection. Of course! There’s a little church in this northern part of the county that is actually dedicated to St Teilo.
It’s in a notoriously hard-to-find village by the name of Llandeloy.
So I went to look for the church again. (more…)
