Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Fiddle by Michael Burnyeat, flutes by Fraser Fifield, original melody synthesised from pre-existing melodic formulae found in the British Isles, vocals & lyrics by Maëlle Cadieux & Farya Faraji. The Epic Celtic series is a project where the sounds of the current, living traditions of the Celtic peoples are used as a framing device to explore themes relating to the mythology, folklore and history of the Celts. These are not historical recreations nor "epic music" in the cinematic soundtrack sense, but a project of ethnomusicological research and performance that showcases the epic narrative repertoire of the Celts through their living musical traditions.
This piece of music is written in the post-folk revival style of contemporary Welsh music, which uses its older sounds, namely the harp and more pronounced usage of heptatonic modes, with more recent introductions from neighbouring cultures such as rhythmic patterns more pronounced in Ireland, or the usage of the fiddle, which was not as common historically in Wales but is now a main instrument of most folk ensembles. I believed this pan-Celtic sonority of the British Isles that now defines Welsh music was notably suited to the theme of this piece.
The lyrics are by Maelle Cadieux and based on the Great Prophecy of Britain, an early 10th century Welsh poem from the Book of Taliesin, the central compendium of Medieval Welsh poetry mythically attributed to the legendary bard Taliesin from the 6th century. The poem envisions a future where the Brythonic peoples, united with the Scots, the Irish, and the Vikings of Dublin under Welsh command, rise together to cast the Anglo-Saxons out of Britain once and for all. The poem allows us a fascinating insight into the collective imagination of the Celts of the early Middle-Ages, who still had a strong memory of their now waning dominion of these isles, and still saw the Anglo-Saxons as foreign invaders to be cast out.
Welsh lyrics:
Gwydyr gwen, gwanwyn gwen,
gwirionedd gwirion, gwenwyn fren,
ni bu’r lleuad erioed mor goch,
na’r haul erioed mor llwm o loch.
Cyfod, Brydain, beiddia’th felltith,
gwna ryfel, gwrthwyneba’r estron;
bydded Cymru’n un o un galon,
ac Eryr Prydain a’i hadenydd yn llawn.
Llefain wledydd, gwaed ar afonydd,
ni chlywir cân, ond gwaedd y cleddyf;
bydded y môr yn frith o longau,
a’r tir yn frith o gyrff marw.
English translation:
Shining glass, springtime bright,
truth is venom, poison for a king;
never was the moon so red,
nor the sun so burdened with smoke!
Arise, Britain, defy thy curse!
Make war, stand against the stranger;
let Wales be one in single heart,
and the Eagle of Britain spread her wings full wide!
The lands shall weep, blood upon the rivers,
no song shall be heard but the cry of the sword;
let the sea be speckled with ships,
and the land with fallen men!
Fiddle by Michael Burnyeat, flutes by Fraser Fifield, original melody synthesised from pre-existing melodic formulae found in the British Isles, vocals & lyrics by Maëlle Cadieux & Farya Faraji. The Epic Celtic series is a project where the sounds of the current, living traditions of the Celtic peoples are used as a framing device to explore themes relating to the mythology, folklore and history of the Celts. These are not historical recreations nor "epic music" in the cinematic soundtrack sense, but a project of ethnomusicological research and performance that showcases the epic narrative repertoire of the Celts through their living musical traditions.
This piece of music is written in the post-folk revival style of contemporary Welsh music, which uses its older sounds, namely the harp and more pronounced usage of heptatonic modes, with more recent introductions from neighbouring cultures such as rhythmic patterns more pronounced in Ireland, or the usage of the fiddle, which was not as common historically in Wales but is now a main instrument of most folk ensembles. I believed this pan-Celtic sonority of the British Isles that now defines Welsh music was notably suited to the theme of this piece.
The lyrics are by Maelle Cadieux and based on the Great Prophecy of Britain, an early 10th century Welsh poem from the Book of Taliesin, the central compendium of Medieval Welsh poetry mythically attributed to the legendary bard Taliesin from the 6th century. The poem envisions a future where the Brythonic peoples, united with the Scots, the Irish, and the Vikings of Dublin under Welsh command, rise together to cast the Anglo-Saxons out of Britain once and for all. The poem allows us a fascinating insight into the collective imagination of the Celts of the early Middle-Ages, who still had a strong memory of their now waning dominion of these isles, and still saw the Anglo-Saxons as foreign invaders to be cast out.
Welsh lyrics:
Gwydyr gwen, gwanwyn gwen,
gwirionedd gwirion, gwenwyn fren,
ni bu’r lleuad erioed mor goch,
na’r haul erioed mor llwm o loch.
Cyfod, Brydain, beiddia’th felltith,
gwna ryfel, gwrthwyneba’r estron;
bydded Cymru’n un o un galon,
ac Eryr Prydain a’i hadenydd yn llawn.
Llefain wledydd, gwaed ar afonydd,
ni chlywir cân, ond gwaedd y cleddyf;
bydded y môr yn frith o longau,
a’r tir yn frith o gyrff marw.
English translation:
Shining glass, springtime bright,
truth is venom, poison for a king;
never was the moon so red,
nor the sun so burdened with smoke!
Arise, Britain, defy thy curse!
Make war, stand against the stranger;
let Wales be one in single heart,
and the Eagle of Britain spread her wings full wide!
The lands shall weep, blood upon the rivers,
no song shall be heard but the cry of the sword;
let the sea be speckled with ships,
and the land with fallen men!
