World Heritage status musical celebration to take place tonight

Tonight (Wednesday, 5 April) a new piece of music to celebrate the slate quarries of Gwynedd being granted World Heritage Status will be given its global premiere.

The composition, Llechi (Slate), will be performed at the opening concert of the Wales International Harp Festival at Galeri in Caernarfon, with a slate xylophone used as one of the instruments playing it.

The music has been written by Math Roberts, a talented young composer who hails from Cwm y Glo, Gwynedd.

The words are by former National Poet of Wales, Ifor ap Glyn, from Caernarfon.

The concert also features the North Wales Harp Ensemble under its director Tudur Eames and Côr Godre’r Aran, the Llanuwchllyn-based choir under conductor Eirian Owen.

The commission was poignant for Ifor ap Glyn. He said: “The slate quarry workers are close to my heart.

“My great grandfather lived in Tanygrisiau near Blaenau Ffestiniog and both he and his son, my grandfather, worked in the slate quarry.

“And I played a small part in the bid for UNESCO World Heritage status for the North-west Wales Slate Landscape by working on a television programme which was broadcast when the decision to award the status was made in July 2021.”

Math, 22, said: “The music makes use of folk melodies, hymns and brass bands which were closely linked to the quarrying industry which Ifor ap Glyn’s words reflect.

“The score also evokes memories of the sounds made in the slate quarry such as striking an anvil and the hooter sounding.”

The festival’s artistic director, harpist Elinor Bennett, said: “The Wales International Harp Festival has commissioned many new works for the harp and in this one we wanted to mark the award of World Heritage status to Gwynedd by UNESCO. It was a very important decision for the area and it has to be recognised as such.”