Canasg Choral Music Publishing

Canasg Music

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  WT2023 

 
Tra bo dau
(while there are two)




words and tune traditional Welsh


arranged by Peter Hill

for SATB unaccompanied chorus



SATB  performance time approx  2m 15s 











Arranger's note


It was the runaway success of 'Tra bo dau' and its uptake by the large Caernarfon Choir that helped give impetus to the folk song revival in Wales and the formation of the Welsh Folk Song Society in 1906.  This version of the song was collected by Dr J Lloyd Williams, founder secretary of the WFSS, and was learnt from the singing of his wife and her sister, who came from Criccieth.  The original choral arrangement was by Williams himself, written for a small choir at University College, Bangor, but here's a new one.  Other words to the same tune are also known.













 Music

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Hear a  MIDI  file of the song 








 Words 



Tra bo dau



1.  Mae'r hon a gār fy nghalon i 

Ymhell oddi yma'n byw; 

A hiraeth am ei gweled hi 

A'm gwnaeth yn llwyd fy lliw.


Chorus:

Cyfoeth nid yw ond oferedd,

Glendid nid yw yn parhau;

Ond cariad pur sydd fel y dur

Yn para tra bo dau.


2.  O'r dewis hardd ddewisais i

Oedd dewis lodes lān;

A chyn bydd 'difar gennyf fi

O rhewi wnaiff y tān.


3.  Mae f'annwyl riain dros y lli,

Gobeithio'i bod hi'n iach!

'Rwy'n caru'r tir lle cerddo hi

Dan wraidd fy nghalon fach.


Source: Journal of the Welsh Folk Song Society: 'Caneuon traddodiadol y Cymry' selected and edited by W. S. Gwynn Williams, published 1961 by The Gwynn Publishing Co. Llangollen, N Wales (G.P.C. 8403)








Translation


It is she that my heart loves, living here far from her; and it is longing to see her that makes my colour pale.


Chorus: Wealth is nothing but vanity; beauty will not last; but faithful love endures like steel, so long as two remain.


The fairest choice I ever made was the choice of a beautiful girl; and fire will freeze before I regret it.


My love is across the sea - I hope that she is well.  In the depth of my heart I love the land where she walks.


Canasg editors






 Full pronunciation guide provided 










Price


The price of this piece depends on the number of singers in your group. This is a single payment for a licence to make as many copies as you need for your group to rehearse and perform the song as often as you wish.  Copies of the song must not be given, lent or sold to any other group.  








Number of singers in your group

up to 12 singers13 to 24 singers25 singers or more

£3 (approx US$5.00)



















£6 (approx US$10)



















£9 (approx US$15)



















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Companion pieces

Browse the 'World folk and traditional' section of the Canasg catalogue for more songs like this one.  To go there now, click on the 'catalogue' box to the right.
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Page updated by  Peter Hill January 2006