Dafydd Ivan

Dafydd Ivan

Dafydd Iwan (born August 24, 1943 in Brynaman , Carmarthenshire ) is a Welsh singer, entrepreneur and politician . He was president of the nationalist party Plaid Cymru (Party of Wales) and has campaigned for decades in his songs and politics for a free Wales, independent of England.

Dafydd Iwan Jones spent most of his youth in Bala , Gwynedd , before attending the University of Wales at Cardiff . During this time he became known as a songwriter who wrote and played folk music in Welsh .

Musical career

Ivan's earliest pieces were Welsh translations of songs by American folk and protest singers, including Woody Guthrie , Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan . Dafydd Iwan soon began to write his own ballads. The best known of these were political. For example, for Prince Charles' investiture to the Prince of Wales , he wrote the satirical song Carlo ("Charlie") in 1969 .

Self-written love songs and variations of traditional Welsh folk songs were equally part of his repertoire.

At the end of the 1960s, the media took notice of him, both because of his music and because of his political activities, which brought him to prison in 1970 for the fight for equality of the Welsh language. He processed this experience in the song Pam fod eira'n wyn? (" Why is snow white? ")

During the 1970s Dafydd Iwan (and his songs) dealt with topics such as Chile under Pinochet , the autonomous self-government for Wales, the Vietnam War and the unrest in Northern Ireland . His internationalism continued in the following years, he dealt in his songs with topics such as the massacre at Tiananmen Square (1989), the Gulf War (1990) and the open pit mining in the valleys of South Wales (1995). His greatest success to date, " Yma O Hyd " (" Still here "), published in 1981, has become a kind of anthem in his homeland.

In 1982 and 1983 Dafydd Iwan undertook two tours with the folk group Ar Log , from which records were made. Ar Log's musical standard took Ivan's own stage presence to a new level. Success with Ar Log led him to continue performing publicly at clubs, meetinghouses, eisteddfod events, party nights and similar occasions across Wales.

Around the turn of the century, Dafydd Iwan announced that he would no longer perform regularly, but occasionally he continues to do so. The end of his musical career coincided with the establishment of the National Assembly for Wales and the arrival of a new generation in Welsh politics.

Public life

Dafydd Iwan was one of the founders of the main Welsh record label, Sain Recordiau Cyf , which he still runs today.

For his long service to the Welsh language, he was made an honorary member of the Welsh bard community Gorsedd Beirdd Ynys Prydain at the National Eisteddfod Bangor in 1971 .

Dafydd Iwan was the chairman of Plaid Cymru from 2003 to 2010 . He was seen as a unifying force in the party that had to endure some debilitating divisions in previous years.

Dafydd Iwan was a member of Plaid Cymru on Gwynedd County Council until 2008 .

Albums

• Yma Mae 'Nghân (1972)
• Mae'r Darnau yn Disgyn i'w Lle (1976)
• Carlo a Chaneuon Eraill (1977)
• 20 o Ganeuon Gorau
• I'r Gad (1977)
• Bod yn Rhydd (1979)
• Ar Dan (Live) (1981)
• Rhwng Hwyl a Thaith (with Ar Log) (1982)
• Yma o Hyd (with Ar Log) (1983)
• Gwinllan a Roddwyd (1986)
• Dal I Gredu (1991)
• Caneuon Gwerin (1994)
• Cân Celt (1995)
• Y Caneuon Cynnar (Early recordings) (1998)
• Yn Fyw Cyfrol 1 (Live album) (2001)
• Yn Fyw Cyfrol 2 (Live Album) (2002)
• Goreuon Dafydd Iwan (2006)

literature

• E. Wyn James, 'Painting the World Green: Dafydd Iwan and the Welsh Protest Ballad', Folk Music Journal , 8: 5 (2005), pp.594-618 [1]
• C. Fowler, 'Representations of nationalism in the music of Dafydd Iwan', 'Folklore and Identity' Celtic Folk Studies Conference, Cardiff University School of Welsh, 22 July 2005. (Eng.)
• Llion Iwan (ed.), 'Dafydd Iwan: bywyd mewn lluniau: a life in pictures'. Llandysul, Ceredigion, Cymru: Gomer Press, 2005. ISBN 1-84323-488-2 . (Welsh and English)

Web links

• Dafydd Ivan's homepage
• 100 Welsh Heroes
• Sain Biography (Engl.) ( Memento of 29 September 2007 at the Internet Archive )