A stirring celebration of St Fagans redevelopment project

Atgyfodi at St Fagans National Museum of History

VOICES from the past were revived in this haunting and life-affirming music performance and multi-media event at the home of Welsh history.

Called Atgyfodi, which means both to revive and resurrect in Welsh, the event, devised by composer John Rea and cinematographer Huw Talfryn Walters, brought the sound and image archive at the museum to life.

As darkness fell, the audience was summoned by bells to the Pen-rhiw Chapel where a sermon was being preached. Then they moved on to the Kennixton Farmhouse and Barns and the Bompren Corn Mill, before visiting Maestir School where the schoolmaster could be heard warning pupils not to “yawn in class,” and not to “speak Welsh in class.”

The event was part of celebrations to mark the completion of the St Fagans redevelopment project. At its heart was a performance by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales of a new 40-minute composition by Mr Rea. It was performed in the new atrium in the main building against the backdrop of a beautifully crafted film showcasing the museum’s archive and various Welsh landscapes and communities.

As the soul-stirring and emotional music washed over us, recorded voices from across the years spoke to us of their lives, with all their hopes and fears. As the music played, the voices were quietly insistent, demanding to be heard.

Meanwhile, images from the archive showed places and people from different historical periods. Here were ordinary workers, craftsmen, husbands, wives and children gazing out at us, their faces etched with a mixture of pain, happiness, regret and pride. All of Welsh life past and present was there. It was wonderfully expressed in the revelatory music, which was beautifully realised by the orchestra and traditional fiddle player, Cass Meurig, conducted by Patrick Rimes.

Gradually the music drifted away, the voices became quiet and the images faded. We had been given a fascinating glimpse into the past which had been revived and resurrected for an evening. It was an experience that will live long in the memory and ponder as we make us own history. Peter Collins

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