Ar Hyd y Nos

Ar Hyd y Nos (English: All Through the Night) is a Welsh folksong sung to a tune that was first recorded in Edward Jones' Musical and Poetical Relics of the Welsh Bards (1784). The Welsh lyrics were written by John Ceiriog Hughes, and has been translated into several languages, including English (most famously by Harry Boulton) and Breton. One of the earliest English versions was by Thomas Oliphant in 1862.

The melody was used by John Gay in The Beggar's Opera. It is also used in the hymn "Go My Children With My Blessing."

The song is highly popular with traditional Welsh male voice choirs, and is sung by them at festivals in Wales and around the world.

The song is also sometimes considered a Christmas carol, and as such has been covered by numerous artists on Christmas albums, most recently including Olivia Newton-John and Michael McDonald who performed the song as a duet on Newton-John's 2007 album Christmas Wish. Cerys Matthews has also sung Ar hyd y nos.

Lyrics

Welsh Holl amrantau'r sêr ddywedant Ar hyd y nos Dyma'r ffordd i fro gogoniant Ar hyd y nos. Golau arall yw tywyllwch I arddangos gwir brydferthwch Teulu'r nefoedd mewn tawelwch Ar hyd y nos. O mor siriol, gwena seren Ar hyd y nos I oleuo'i chwaer ddaearen Ar hyd y nos. Nos yw henaint pan ddaw cystudd Ond i harddu dyn a'i hwyrddydd Rhown ein golau gwan da'n gilydd Ar hyd y nos.

English All the star's twinkles say, All through the night, "This is the way to the realm of glory," All through the night. Darkness is a different light That exposes true beauty, The Heavenly family in peace, All through the night. O, how cheerful smiles the star, All through the night, To light its earthly sister, All through the night. Old age is night when affliction comes, But to beautify man in his late days, We'll put our weak light together, All through the night.

Different English lyrics were written by Sir Harold Boulton in 1884 and set to the same tune.

Sleep my child and peace attend thee, All through the night Guardian angels God will send thee, All through the night Soft the drowsy hours are creeping Hill and vale in slumber steeping, I my loving vigil keeping All through the night. While the moon her watch is keeping All through the night While the weary world is sleeping All through the night O'er thy spirit gently stealing Visions of delight revealing Breathes a pure and holy feeling All through the night.

Variations

In an alternate version, the second verse is substituted with:

Angels watching ever round thee
All through the night
In thy slumbers close surround thee
All through the night
They will of all fears disarm thee,
No forebodings should alarm thee,
They will let no peril harm thee
All through the night.

Another alternate version features a more neutral, night song text:

Deep the silence ‘round us spreading
all through the night.
Dark the path that we are treading
all through the night.
Still the coming day discerning
by the hope within us burning.
To the dawn our footsteps turning
all through the night.

Star of faith the dark adorning
all through the night.
Leads us fearless t’wards the morning
all through the night.
Though our hearts be wrapt in sorrow,
from the hope of dawn we borrow
promise of a glad tomorrow
all through the night.

Cultural references

• An a cappella version of the song occurs very briefly at the end of the Vulcan/Volcano scene in Terry Gilliam's film, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, (1988) as Vulcan kisses Venus. It is assumed that the cyclopes/miners are the singers.
• In season 3 of the series Angel, the character Daniel Holtz is frequently heard singing the English version of this song.
• The TV movie of A Child's Christmas in Wales features the family singing the song towards the end of the movie, but in English.
• In the 1945 film version of Emlyn Williams' The Corn Is Green, the children in the school are taught the English version.
• Carter Burwell's soundtrack to the film, The General's Daughter, features a version of the tune played on a glockenspiel.
• The film Knowing, starring Nicolas Cage, features his character's wife singing the English version of the song to their child.
• In the episode "Thursday's Child" in season 5 of Road to Avonlea, Alec King (played by Cedric Smith) sings the English version of this song to his son Daniel. However, the lullaby applies to everyone else awake in the household, given the recent bout of TB in the youngest daughter, Cecily, which has thrown the family into crisis.
• In the episode "Denial, Anger, Acceptance" of HBO's popular television show The Sopranos, Meadow Soprano and her choir sing the English version of the song, intercut with the mock execution of Christopher Moltisanti, and the real execution of Brendan Filone.

External links

• Ar Hyd y Nos: Free scores at the International Music Score Library Project.
• Verse and prose translationsbr:Ar Hyd y Nos