Welsh Folk-Songs

In 1945, Meredydd Evans formed the Welsh-language close harmony trio Triawd y Coleg. The group were soon noticed by the BBC and their subsequent appearances on the light entertainment radio programme Noson Lawen brought Evans' playful Welsh-language compositions to audiences across Wales.[1] In 1948, Evans married Phyllis Kinney, an American-born opera singer who shared his interest in Welsh folk music, and the couple began performing together.[2] In 1952, Evans, Kinney and their daughter Eluned moved to America where Evans enrolled at Princeton University, undertaking on a PhD in Philosophy.[3][4][5] He was awarded his doctorate in 1955.[5][6]

During his second year of Princeton, Evans received a letter from Moe Asch, founder of Folkways Records, who was curious to hear Welsh folk songs.[5] Evans was not previously aware of Asch, but accepted the invitation to record for him.[8] Evans would later speak of his admiration for Asch's work collecting folk music from around the world.[7]

In a studio in New Hope, Pennsylvania, Evans recorded an unaccompanied selection of secular songs that had survived the Welsh Methodist revival, many of which are among those preserved by the Welsh Folksong Society.[7][9][10] Though he had thought "very roughly" about which songs to sing prior to the session, the selection was improvised.[7] Evans believed the session was a test and was surprised when Asch issued the recordings as an album.[11]

The album was released in the United States by Folkways Records in 1954, with packaging containing supplementary notes, lyrics (with English translation), cultural history and photographs by Frederic Ramsey, Jr.[9][12][13] It was released on CD by Smithsonian Folkways in 2008.[14]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[15]

Welsh Folk-Songs received acclaim upon release. New York Folklore Quarterly commented "the rippling melodies with the abundance of vowel sounds are ably performed."[16] High Fidelity considered the album "a treasure house of melody", opining "Meredydd Evans shares all the musical talent of his people."[17] An anonymous reviewer for DownBeat wrote "the darkly moving language of Wales is sung beautifully by Meredydd Evans."[18] At the end of 1954, The New York Times named it one of the twelve best popular light music records of the year.[3][5] In the April 1955 issue of High Fidelity, Frederic Ramsey, Jr. included Welsh Folk-Songs in his list of "Ten Basic Folk Music Recordings", commenting that the album "knows no competition on any list".[19]

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Steve Winick praised Welsh Folk-Songs, opining "Evans' beautiful voice floats."[15] Some later albums of traditional Welsh music have been judged against the album; in a 1956 review of Thomas L. Thomas's Welsh Traditional Songs, Howard LaFay of High Fidelity noted that the album "seriously threatens, but does not eclipse, Meredydd Evans' superlative and probably definitive recording of Welsh folk songs for Folkways".[20] LaFay made a similar remark in his review of Delysé's Songs of Wales (1956), stating that the release doesn't threaten "the pre-eminence of Meredydd Evans' incomparable singing of Welsh folk songs on Folkways."[21] Reflecting on the album's success in 2008, Evans commented "I hate to say this, but it's become a little bit of an icon. As if I were some sort of dim figure in the past, somehow."[7]

All tracks performed solo by Meredydd Evans