Review: The Music of Gwydion
How do you review an artist who has a near-legendary status within the community you write for? How do you take in and critique the music in a neutral fashion without letting bits and pieces of the legend creep in? As someone who has done a lot of writing about music created by and for modern Pagans the influence of Gwydion Pendderwen was like a ghost haunting both my acceptance and rebellion against the notion of “Pagan Music”. So it is with some trepidation that I begin this review of an artist who’s music has in many senses become liturgical in some corners of modern Pagandom.
I talk of influence and hauntings, but until now I had never heard anything more than snippets of Gwydion’s music. Long out of print, his music was hard to come by and spread from cassette dubs and word of mouth. Even these re-issues are digital transfers from vinyl, the original masters long since lost. The real power of his music came from the huge influence his two records had on the subsequent Pagan musical underground.
Listening to “Songs For The Old Religion” and “The Faerie Shaman” for the first time is somewhat akin to discovering the Rosetta Stone of Pagan music. The bulk of “Pagan” records I had heard after my personal conversion all owe a huge debt (and perhaps some royalties) to Gwydion. In fact discovering the well-spring has all but soured me to many of the smaller musical puddles that have emerged since his passing in 1982. But then much of my career as a interviewer and writer on Pagan music has been spent in active rebellion against the enduring influence of his music.
Why did mainstream Pagan music seem stuck in the seventies? A question I often pondered while searching for new and dynamic Pagan musicians. The answer almost seems to be that when Gwydion Pendderwen passed so too did much of the adventurous spirit of Pagan music from that generation. It wasn’t until the 90s that the funereal mold started to break and a new generation of bands and musicians were willing to take on the task that Gwydion had set himself anew and free of expectations.
So what about the music itself? The first CD “Songs For The Old Religion” is almost what one would expect to hear when they think Pagan music. Sonically the album is a mix of the 60s folk revival, the folk-rock that followed in the late 60s and 70s, reworked traditional numbers from England and the Celtic Nations, and a generous dollop of Californian Paganism circa 1975. Much of this could be safely played at a modern Renaissance Fairs without anyone blinking an eye. All through it you can hear Gwydion the songwriter swimming against the current of tradition trying to find his own voice. This is the very idea of a Pagan music climbing from the primordial ooze. Your enjoyment of this first CD will very much depend on your affection for the styles and influences contained within.
The second CD “The Faerie Shaman” is far better, and shows an artist emerging into his own style. While the CD ranges all over sonically (everything from Welsh balladry to American country and western) you can see a unique lyrical voice emerging. Songs like “We Won’t Wait Any Longer” (a song he famously sung instead of giving a statement after being arrested at a anti-nukes protest) and “A Mother’s Love” show a growing confidence with his material, and a deepening of concepts explored on his first CD. While the overall CD is a bit uneven and the flow between tracks a bit jarring “The Faerie Shaman” shows the promise that Pendderwen held as an artist and the great loss fans must have felt at his passing.
If anything these CDs are a map of possibilities for the genre. It is obvious listening to Gwydion’s music that there was far more (and better) on the horizon, yet due to his tragic death those possibilities are only to be guessed at. I feel that it is only recently that Pagan musicians have taken the lessons of Gwydion’s short musical journey to heart, a lesson best expressed from a traditional chant heard in circles and festivals all over the world. “Everything she touches changes”. Gwydion’s music in the end didn’t try to return you to a mythical past, but to engage the listener in the present and prepare them for the future.
To some the music will seem dated, especially to those used to modern popular music. I feel that despite this, there is much here that makes it a valuable (and enjoyable) listening experience for modern Pagans both young and old. At the very least Serpentine Music and Anne Hill have done the world and our faith communities a great favor for preserving and releasing these lost treasures of our musical heritage.
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