Robin Huw Bowen
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Robin Huw Bowen

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"'Bowen and his instrument seem to become one when he plays.'"

The existence of many variations on old melodies is characteristic of Welsh Harp music and Robin Huw Bowen has mastered the art to perfection. His performance conveys the joy it brings him to play every song and dance as well as the depth of feeling with which he invests the melodies. Whether melancholy love-songs or jolly dances, such as jigs and hornpipes, Bowen and his instrument seem to become one when he plays. His unbelievably nimble fingers can both magically fill the room with resounding melodies and conjure up the bells of a sunken Welsh village so quietly one could hear a needle drop on the floor. ... Bowen’s repertoire of songs and dances is astonishingly wide and varied. ... His concerts thrive on his sympathetic humerous persona. ... The audience was electrified and demanded several encores.”
- Main Post, 30 October 2000


"'Bowen and his instrument seem to become one when he plays.'"

The existence of many variations on old melodies is characteristic of Welsh Harp music and Robin Huw Bowen has mastered the art to perfection. His performance conveys the joy it brings him to play every song and dance as well as the depth of feeling with which he invests the melodies. Whether melancholy love-songs or jolly dances, such as jigs and hornpipes, Bowen and his instrument seem to become one when he plays. His unbelievably nimble fingers can both magically fill the room with resounding melodies and conjure up the bells of a sunken Welsh village so quietly one could hear a needle drop on the floor. ... Bowen’s repertoire of songs and dances is astonishingly wide and varied. ... His concerts thrive on his sympathetic humerous persona. ... The audience was electrified and demanded several encores.”
- Main Post, 30 October 2000


"'A Mysterious Majesty'"

Weaving traditional stories, plucky social commentary and robust humor with virtuosic harping, Robin delighted the crowd with two regal sets of music. His last encore, ‘Clychau Aberdyfi’, a song about a sunken Welsh city and its lost church bells, signed his concert with a mysterious majesty … a perfect performance.”
- The Folk Harp Journal, No. 81, Fall 1993


"'A Mysterious Majesty'"

Weaving traditional stories, plucky social commentary and robust humor with virtuosic harping, Robin delighted the crowd with two regal sets of music. His last encore, ‘Clychau Aberdyfi’, a song about a sunken Welsh city and its lost church bells, signed his concert with a mysterious majesty … a perfect performance.”
- The Folk Harp Journal, No. 81, Fall 1993


"'Unerringly precise articulation tempered by a meltingly tender touch'"

[Robin Huw Bowen] delved across several centuries of his rich native repertoire. Much of the music followed a traditional theme-and-variations sequence, highlighting the instrument's unique facility for ringing harmonic and metrical changes, with Bowen's unerringly precise articulation tempered by a meltingly tender touch. Lush, rippling cascades of grace notes, together with a panolpy of other ornamentation, conjured moods as diverse as the softly radiant reverie of The Day, and a stately yet desolate lament, The Departure of the King. - The Scotsman, 13 April 2011


"'Unerringly precise articulation tempered by a meltingly tender touch'"

[Robin Huw Bowen] delved across several centuries of his rich native repertoire. Much of the music followed a traditional theme-and-variations sequence, highlighting the instrument's unique facility for ringing harmonic and metrical changes, with Bowen's unerringly precise articulation tempered by a meltingly tender touch. Lush, rippling cascades of grace notes, together with a panolpy of other ornamentation, conjured moods as diverse as the softly radiant reverie of The Day, and a stately yet desolate lament, The Departure of the King. - The Scotsman, 13 April 2011


"Meistr wrth ei Waith ('A Master at Work')"

He’s a musician-and-a-half, and one who is obviously always keen to push and stretch himself musically. There’s enough proof of that on this album, and it’s a wonder that his fingers are not all knotted-up together after playing some of his complex variations. ... A master at work. – (Album review, Y Ffordd i Aberystwyth SAIN SCD-2526)
- Yr Herald Cymraeg, 15 August 2007


"Meistr wrth ei Waith ('A Master at Work')"

He’s a musician-and-a-half, and one who is obviously always keen to push and stretch himself musically. There’s enough proof of that on this album, and it’s a wonder that his fingers are not all knotted-up together after playing some of his complex variations. ... A master at work. – (Album review, Y Ffordd i Aberystwyth SAIN SCD-2526)
- Yr Herald Cymraeg, 15 August 2007


"Gefangen von der Triple Harp ('Enthralled by the Triple Harp')"

During every piece, one could hear a pin drop, the audience was so enthralled; tapping feet and nodding heads were evidence of how they were taken along by the music. The old pieces reflected every aspect of folk life, from happy festivals to sad events. The vibrations of the harp strings, under Robin’s blurred, phantom-like scurrying hands, vivdly imparted these feelings there in the little concert room. The frenetic applause at the end called for two encores, and so a concert with particular flair came to an end. - Franz Müller (Nürnberg) Oktober 2012


"Gefangen von der Triple Harp ('Enthralled by the Triple Harp')"

During every piece, one could hear a pin drop, the audience was so enthralled; tapping feet and nodding heads were evidence of how they were taken along by the music. The old pieces reflected every aspect of folk life, from happy festivals to sad events. The vibrations of the harp strings, under Robin’s blurred, phantom-like scurrying hands, vivdly imparted these feelings there in the little concert room. The frenetic applause at the end called for two encores, and so a concert with particular flair came to an end. - Franz Müller (Nürnberg) Oktober 2012


Discography

Solo recordings

Y Ffordd i Aberystwyth – The Road to Aberystwyth : SAIN – SCD2526 (2007)

Hen Aelwyd – Old Hearth : SAIN – SCD2232 (1999)/Marquis Classics 81247 (CAN 2000)

The Harp Music of Wales – Cerddoriaeth Telyn Cymru : Saydisc – SDL412 (1995)

Hela’r Draenog: Telyn Sipsi Cymru – Hunting the Hedgehog: The Gypsy Harp of Wales : Teires – CDRHB002 (1994) / Firebird – FAM-15003-2 (USA 1994)

Telyn Berseiniol fy Ngwlad – The Sweet Harp of my Land : Teires – CDRHB001 (1992) / Flying Fish – FF70610 (USA 1993)

Cyfarch y Delyn – Honour the Harp : SAIN – LP & cassette (1987)

Group recordings

Crasdant
Dwndwr – The Great Noise : SAIN – SCD2487 (2005)
Nos Sadwrn Bach – Not Yet Saturday : SAIN – SCD2306 (2002)
Crasdant : SAIN – SCD2220 (1999)

Y Glerorfa – Cerddorfa Werin Cymru (The Welsh Folk Orchestra)
Yn Fyw – Live (performing and as MD) : SAIN – SCD2607 (2009)

Rhes Ganol
Yn y Gwaed – In the Blood : Tant – 002 (2006)

Cusan Tân
Esgair – The Ridge : SAIN – SCD2115 (1995)
Cusan Tân – Kiss of Fire : Fflach – CD113H (1992)

Mabsant
Trwy’r Weiar – Through the Wire : SAIN – LP & cassette (1987)

Compilations
Sackpfeifen in Schwaben 2012 [Doch!!!] : Haus der Volkskunst (Balingen – DE 2013)
World Music Instruments – Magic Harp : NoEthno – 1012-14 (2011)
Nuit de la Saint Patrick (Extraits du concert diffusé sur ‹‹Paris Première››): Keltia Musique – KMCD504 (2009)
Traddodiad Canu Gwerin Cymru – The Folk Music of Wales : SAIN – SCD2626 (2009)
Traditions (The Welsh Gold Collection) : SAIN – SCD2559 (2009)
Heartstrings (The Welsh Gold Collection ) : SAIN – SCD2586 (2008)
Telyn y Celt – Trad Harps : SAIN – SCD2397 (2004)
Gwlad y Delyn – Wales, Home of the Harp : SAIN – SCD2396 (2003)
Masters of the Harp : Arc Music – EUCD1764 (2002)
A Celtic Christmas : Saydisc – SDL417 (1996)
Traditional Songs of Wales – Caneuon Traddodiadol Cymru : Saydisc – SDL406 (1994)

TV & Film music
Eldra – The Story of a Welsh Gypsy Girl : S4C television (2001)
BAFTA (Cymru) award-winning score
DVD – Valleystream (2007)

Producer
Ffylantin-tw! : SAIN – CS030 (2012)
(CD of Welsh Folk Songs performed by 13 leading contemporary Welsh folk singers with accompanying book.)

Photos

Bio

Robin’s repertoire is a varied patchwork of both the traditional and historical, and of the innovative and original. He plays material collected over the last three centuries, but truly brings it to life (often arranging it himself), having learned authentic technique and interpretation from living exponents of the Welsh Harp. These would include Dafydd and Gwyndaf Roberts of the group Ar Lôg, Edith Evans ‘Telynores Eryri’, and Llio Rhydderch amongst others. Perhaps the most important of these was Eldra Jarman, the last of the Welsh Romany Gypsy harpists, who very generously shared her family tradition with him.

Robin has also always drawn inspiration from non-harpists on the scene he has worked with over the years, such as Siwsann George of Mabsant, Huw Williams, Stephen Rees and Andy McLauchlin of the Welsh ‘Super-group’ Crasdant, and in particular from Anne Morgan-Jones of the innovative acoustic Welsh group Cusan Tân (whose works really made him move beyond the bounds of tradition!).

But whether he plays piercing laments or exuberant Gypsy dances, ethereal airs with glittering variations or the earthy rustic tunes of the ‘Gwerin’ (the ‘People’), whether he plays historic material or new imaginative compositions, Robin makes full use of the otherworldly, shimmering voice of the Triple Harp to rekindle the very soul of Welsh tradition, as only he can.