Penillion and Solfege
These are
two forms of music and notation which are used very rarely in America,
and which
I have been transcribing from original manuscripts.
Penillion singing.
Penillion
is
a form of Welsh poetry employed by bards in Wales. It has been
documented only
since the 18th century.
A harpist, playing
and singing at the same time is traditional, but two musicians
can be employed,
singing the two parts.
Not only
are the melodies but even the meter or rhythm
can be different between
the vocalist and
musician.
It is quite
usual for the vocalist to sing in triple meter
(for example, 3/4 time) while the harper plays a tune in duple meter
(for
example, 2/4 or 4/4 time).
The singer
follows the harper, who may change the tune, or perform variations,
whilst the
singer must keep time, and end precisely with the
melody.
The singer takes the strain up at
the second, third or fourth measure.
The most popular tunes for this art in the last 200 years have been the
traditional Welsh harp airs.
Here
is an original piece of Penillion music and transcription for harp
and voice.
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