WHAT THE PAPERS SAID - 1946-1969
“Their superb renderings of recently composed and other music showed this new Treorchy & District Male Voice Choir to be fully capable of carrying on the great tradition of the past.”
St Peter’s Church, Pentre, 1947
“In team work as a choir they are truly outstanding. The smoothness and refinement of their rendering was remarkable.”
Salem Chapel, Cwmparc, 1948
Ipswich, 1951 with Herbert Morrison MP
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“The greatest knockout of the finals of the NCB Boxing Championship in Wembley was scored by the Treorchy Choir. This choral unit impressed so much that they literally had the ten thousand people on their feet.”
Wembley Pool, London, 1949
“The Choir gave a first-rate performance and at times the disciplined tenors and basses combined to create a phalanx of sound that was not only beautiful but positively thrilling.”
Park & Dare Hall, Treorchy, 1949
“The huge audience of 1,300 proved to be one of the most appreciative and enthusiastic the Choir has sung to were treated to a feast of good music and gave the Choir a great ovation.”
Tabernacle Chapel, Morriston, 1951
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“The concert was an outstanding success. To hear the choir was a thrilling experience. The traditional hwyl was ever present and all felt the overpowering sense of hiraeth.”
Birmingham Town Hall, 1951
“The Choir excelled in all it set out to do. This Choir of a hundred voices is a structure built on the foundation of a rich sonorous bass.”
Bethania Chapel, Dowlais, 1951
“The Choir thrilled to the very soul by the majesty of the voices, the drama and a melodrama.”
Polikoff’s Canteen, Treorchy, 1952
“For nearly three hours the audience of over 3,000 was held spellbound by a varied programme of traditional and modern Welsh works.”
Festival Hall, London, 1953
“Nothing finer or more thrilling in the way of choral singing has been heard in this wonderful new home of music than the Choir’s rendering of the 23rd Psalm.”
Festival Hall, London, 1953
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Festival Of Britain Concert, 1951
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“The outstanding feature of their performance was the happy blend of absolute precision and infinite musical pliability. Much could be written about their magnificent performance, but it will be suffice to say that each of their items received rapturous applause from the 4,000 capacity audience.”
Festival Hall, London, 1953
“Magnificent singing by the Choir excited a crowded audience at the Market Hall. The tonal quality and diction of Treorchy revealed that in John Haydn Davies they have an artiste.”
Market Hall, Brecon, 1954
“Treorchy Male Choir of 110 beautifully blended voices charmed the huge audience. Rarely can this Choir, even in the victorious appearance at the National this year be heard to better advantage. This was choral singing at its best.”
Kings Hall, Aberystwyth, 1956
“This magnificent Choir was in excellent voice and thrilled a large audience with a varied programme, the like of which has never been excelled in living memory in the Rhondda.”
Horeb Chapel, Treorchy, 1956
“Treorchy Male Choir is one of the best in Britain and has achieved a stature of an institution in Wales.”
Pontypridd Town Hall, 1957
Festival Hall, London, 1957
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“They sang Cherubini’s Requiem with a restraint and respect for its technical difficulties which commended one’s admiration. John Haydn Davies ruled his eighty singers with a rod of iron. The piano singing was wonderfully effective and the first tenors in their upper register achieved a purity rarely met with.”
Zoar Chapel, Merthyr Tydfil, 1958
“Grouped under Epstien’s Majestas, this finely disciplined choir ranged through the alphabet of tonal experience with exaltations and piety. What the choir could do in the higher reaches they could do in the lower and in these reflective passages their singing had a gentleness and refinement which would not have awakened a sleeping child.”
Llandaff Cathedral, 1958 |
“The Choir rendered all their items with their customary excellent voices, expressive of the varying demands of mood and colour.”
Ebenezer Chapel, Aberkenfig, 1959
“The Choir came to Ross with a first-class reputation, and their finely balanced singing quickly made it apparent the reason for their many successes.”
Baptist Church, Ross-on-Wye, 1959
“To many who have only heard of Welsh singing by repute the accomplishments of this crack Welsh Choir must have been a revelation. Moving with consummate ease through the entire range of dynamic expression, they respond with splendid unanimity to their conductor's demands and produce a beautifully vivid tone.”
St Matthews, Ipswich, 1960
“These eighty voices are selected voices, precision-timed, exquisitely balanced and geared to the niceties of the most exacting music.”
Zoar Chapel, Merthyr Tydfil, 1961
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 Founder choristers pictured in 1967 |
“From the very outset a spell seemed to descend on the audience. These magnificent singers have voices as flexible as musical instruments and can weave magic at the lift of the conductor’s baton whether dropping almost to a whisper or rising to a stirring crescendo, the voices have a rare quality and absolute clarity.”
Kodak Hall, Harrow, 1963
“Those who heard this famous choir for the first time were able to appreciate the reason for their remarkable success. The men of Treorchy sing with equal zest and sincerity whether it be in competition or in a charity concert. They lived up to their remarkably high standard.”
South Shore Theatre, Tenby, 1963
Brangwyn Hall, Swansea, 1968
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“Treorchy Male Choir have taken their music into all corners of the world and their name is synonymous with Welsh music at its ultimate best.”
English Congregational Church, Porth, 1964
“After each spot in the programme the Choir had to give an encore and the evening reached a climax when a standing ovation lasted for several minutes.”
Central Hall, Coventry, 1964
“Every single item was in its own inimitable way an outstanding musical achievement. The choristers responded to their Conductor with precision.”
Elliott Pavilion, Borehamwood, 1964
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“The secret of this great Choir’s success is an intense discipline and the conductor’s extremely acute sense of control, tone, blend and dynamics. John Haydn Davies is a conductor who is obviously an inspiration to his singers.”
Winter Gardens, Malvern, 1965
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