Welsh Journals

THE WELSH OUTLOOK NOTES OF THE MONTH 227 THE MUSICAL OUTLOOK 231 A "PAGAN" LOOKS AT "PURITANISM" 233 THE PHILOSOPHY AND FALLACY OF "CA' CANNY" 236 THE SIBYLLINE ULTIM- ATUM 239 SEPTEMBER, 1925. rpHE Pwllheli National Eisteddfod is now a thing of the past. In many respects it was a triumphant success. The huge pavilion was excellent. The arrangements for the comfort of the crowds were, for the most part, excellent also. Almost every meeting was full to overflowing, and the money received showed a most gratifying excess over the money spent. But all these things, however desirable or necessary, are but the outward trappings of the Eisteddfod, and have really very little to do with determining whether it was a success or a failure. There are, we venture to think, two tests by which the real success of an Eisteddfod may be measured. The first of these tests is the quality of the work prepared or performed. The second is the response of the audience to this work. As to the first, the committee must share rather more than half the responsibility with the competitors; for if the subject, or the song, be in itself a poor one, no amount of genius or of application in the competitor can give value and worth to the resulting performance. As to the second, it is folly to take pride in the magnitude of the crowds which assemble at the Eisteddfod if, when they have come together, they applaud in- ferior things, and either walk out, or gossip Where there is no vision the people perish." CONTENTS: PAGE ARCHITECTURAL EDUCA- TION IN WALES 241 THE FINANCIAL AND ECO- NOMIC SITUATION 243 THE EXILE'S CORNER 244 A SURVEY OF INTER- NATIONAL AFFAIRS IN 1925 245 Annual Subscription. 7/6 NOTES OF THE MONTH PAGB PAGE THE COMTE DE SAINT- SIMON AND THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 249 CORRESPONDENCE 261 REVIEWS 261 POETRY 280 Half Year, 3/9 (post free). with one another, when a classic is being performed. Now judged by these two tests it is difficult to pronounce the Pwllheli Eisteddfod any- thing but a failure. There were concerts every evening, and there was an excellent orchestra present; and yet, incredible as it would seem, not a single symphony, not a single concerto, was performed. Some of the finest solo singers that Wales can pro- duce were there, and they gave us, for the most part, sentimental Welsh ditties, as de- void of musical value as of poetry or even common sense. To this trash the vast audiences listened, we suppose with appreciation, at least with vociferous applause. THE MUSIC selected for competition was slightly more satisfactory. Here at least we had part of a classical symphony performed by an efficient orchestra; but there was only one com- petitor, and that one was put to perform at the opening of a morning session, when the pavilion contained only a sprinkling of people. As for the majority of vocal solos chosen for competition, the less said the better. And this when we have at hand all