30 May 2017

Tŷ Cerdd and S4C are joining forces to provide access to the valuable Hughes & Son sheet-music catalogue.

The Hughes and Sons sheet music catalogue contains many favourite tunes of the Welsh repertoire, among them are ‘Gwahoddiad’ (in its classic TTBB arrangement by John Tudor Davies); ‘Cân yr Arad Goch’ (Idris Lewis); ‘Aderyn Crist’ (Dilys Elwyn-Edwards); ‘Cwm Pennant’, ‘Gwynfyd’, ‘Y Llyn’ (Meirion Williams), as well as hundreds more, including pieces by significant composers such as Joseph Parry, R. S. Hughes, and W. S. Gwynn Williams.

S4C has held the catalogue since 1982 and has now given permission for the musical works to be re-set in new editions by Tŷ Cerdd Publishing, with the aim of preserving the beauty and clarity of the original scores, as well as bringing the visual style of the music on the page up to date.

Tŷ Cerdd is the promotion agency for Welsh classical music. Deborah Keyser, the organisation’s director, said: “We’re very proud of this collaboration with S4C: Tŷ Cerdd is dedicated to bringing Welsh music to the widest possible audience, and the Hughes & Son catalogue is a precious piece of our national heritage. We aim to ensure that these important works are made available to a broader public.” Ethan Davies, Tŷ Cerdd’s Publishing Officer, said: “I’m looking forward very much to delving in to this trove of musical gems from Wales and to being a small part of enabling the continued performance of music from our cultural history.”

Elin Morris, Corporate and Commercial Director of S4C, says that the channel is pleased to work with Tŷ Cerdd to provide an outlet for the archive which is much treasured by the channel. "We're very glad to form this collaboration with Tŷ Cerdd in order to ease access for the public to the Hughes & Son catalogue. With their expertise and knowledge, the treasures of this unique collection will be brought out of the archive and protected for public use for years to come."

A copy of the full catalogue to be re-printed will be made available at www.tycerdd.org (or a PDF can be sent on request from enquiries@tycerdd.org) and the scores will be sold on www.tycerddshop.com, while digital versions will be available at www.discoverwelshmusic.com

Some titles will be available immediately on www.tycerddshop.com, and will, soon after, be available through www.discoverwelshmusic.com with more titles to be added regularly. Requests for scores from the catalogue can be sent to ethan.davies@tycerdd.org to be prioritised for printing.

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