Programmes
Contact Bragod to discuss programmes, bookings and appearances bragod@bragod.com The programmes available here are made up of Bragod’s incredible repertoire of modern poetry, ancient bardic verse, folk, seasonal songs, ballads and epics.
In Praise of Mid-Winter / In Praise of Spring /
In Praise of Summer / In Praise of Autumn
recital with crwth and voice
Bold, ritual songs from Wales, ballads, medieval Welsh poetry and a seasonal episode from the King Arthur legends.
‘What winter confines, spring releases, summer heats and autumn ripens.’ Boethius, 6th century.
Entering the minds of our ancestors
recital with crwth, lyre and voice concert
Experience the bardic and the epic in this archeological dig into Welsh music. The sound world of the past is presented ranging from popular ballads (15th – 18th century) in Welsh and English, to Bardic Welsh poetry (14th -16th century) reunited with music from the stunningly precious Robert ap Huw manuscript, and travel even further back in history to pre-epic poetry from the ancient book of Aneirin.
King Arthur
recital with crwth and voice
Enter the epic world of 12th century story telling through two comic dramas relating the adventures of Arthur, King of the Britons set to bardic music based on the manuscript of Robert ap Huw.
Lectures, Lecture-Recitals & Workshops
Music and The Medieval Universe
An exploration of how bardic music relates to medieval ideas of the cosmos, using beautiful models of the Ptolemaic universe, the monochord and bardic instruments.
Bardic Traditions, Binary Patterns and the Manuscript of Robert ap Huw
What is medieval Welsh bardic music? Who composed and performed it? Who paid for it and why? Who is Robert ap Huw?
Bardic Performance
How were classical Welsh poems performed for the patrons? What instruments were used? How were the poems delivered against the music? What spaces were used? Who was present? How does Bragod prepare bardic performances for a modern/present-day audience?
Crwth, Lyre and Voice – Welsh Bardic Instruments
Medieval Welsh bardic performance combined poetry with the music. of the lyre and later, the crwth and harp. Here is an opportunity to see the lyre and the crwth, discuss their construction, materials and tone. We will discuss the techniques of playing the North-European lyre and the crwth or bowed-lyre and their implications for the voice.