Commission from Canolfan Gerdd William Mathias to write a short piece for soprano (Alys Roberts), violin (Sara Trickey), cello (Reinoud Ford) and piano (Iwan Llewelyn-Jones) based on indigenous Welsh folk song material. 

Cusan Aderyn, for soprano and piano trio, sets two short poems by the ‘Bard of Snowdon’, Richard Llywd (1752–1835): ‘Yr Aderyn’ (The Kiss) and ‘U Cusan’ (The Bird). Unusually, Morgan-Williams sets her text twice, first in Llywd’s original Welsh and then in Elizabeth Edwards’s English translation. The songs’ embrace is completed by two contemporary musical inspirations – reharmonised fragments from the second movement of Beethoven’s Septet for winds and strings, op.20 and the traditional folk tune ‘Y Bardd yn ei Awen’ (The Inspired Bard), transcribed by Edward Jones in 1810. Cusan Aderyn was commissioned by Canolfan Gerdd William Mathias.

Premiere: 7.45pm on 16 October 2021, Galeri Arts (Caernarfon).