MALDWYN

MALDWYN, a personal name in Welsh, is a traditional Welsh tune thought to date from the seventeenth century. It was published in David Evan's (PHH 285) collection Moliant Cenedl Dinbych (1920). The tune consists of four long phrases, each of which has the same rhythmic scheme. In minor tonality, the melody is mostly stepwise; the strong music is a fitting vehicle for the powerful text. Seerveld chose this tune for this text. He writes, "MALDWYN has exactly the right tension to catch the complaint (st. 1-4), the expostulation (st. 5-7), and the exultation (st. 8-10) of the psalm." Antiphonal performance is suggested for the first seven stanzas, followed by strong unison singing on the final three; use a more majestic tempo for the final stanza. --Psalter Hymnal Handbook