The repository has been created by Zoe Smith, pianist and Head of Postgraduate Programmes (Music) at RWCMD. Through her concerts and recordings, she has been promoting the neglected Welsh piano repertoire for some time and hopes that this new resource will further the aim of bringing the rich yet neglected body of Welsh instrumental music into concert halls across Wales and beyond. This repository is the first stage in the development of a "National Welsh instrumental music resource".
As the National Conservatoire of Wales, our ambition for this project is to bring together information held in several archives and libraries into one place to create a substantial resource that serves to raise the visibility of Welsh instrumental music. It will provide a vital reference point for performers, teachers and researchers, and facilitate explorations into new areas of Welsh repertoire that can enrich concert programmes for audiences across Wales and beyond. Through creating this resource, we can raise the visibility of Wales as a musical nation and gain greater understanding of Welsh music history.
On this page you will find a searchable database showing you the keyboard music collated from libraries and archives, as well as links through to their records in the relevant catalogues. In addition, this website signposts sources of information about many of the Welsh composers in the keyboard database, as well as highlighting key further resources: books, journals and recordings.
The online locations that have been investigated in bringing this information together include:
- National Library of Wales and the Welsh Music Archive
- Ty Cerdd's archive catalogue
- Archives Hub
- RWCMD Library catalogue
- Bangor University Library and Archive
- Cardiff University Library and Archive
- Catalogues of Welsh publishing houses
- International Music Score Publishing Library
This resource does not currently cover living composers' works, but gives an insight into the rich, hidden repertoire of the past, much of which remains unknown and un-played. By bringing together these records and making them accessible to the public, we hope to share our aspiration to integrate these works more regularly into instrumental and song recital programmes.
Across 2021 and 2022, this resource will be developed further to include instrumental music: solo, accompanied and chamber music.
If you would like to contribute information or comment, please contact us via welshmusic@rwcmd.ac.uk .