Cardiff Male Choir – Côr Meibion Caerdydd

Our Story

Celebrating singing in the capital of the land of song

Founded in 1898, Cardiff Male choir is one of the oldest choirs in South Wales. We sing a wide variety of songs, including; Welsh hymns and arias, Jazz classics and gospel numbers, songs from the shows, sentimental songs and ballads, choruses from the great operas, traditional songs from Way Back When, and even the odd latest hit!

Wales has been known for centuries as “The Land of Song”, and over the last hundred and fifty years especially as “The Land of Male Voice Choirs”. Throughout the nineteenth century and the early years of the twentieth, every Welsh town, and even many small villages, boasted its own male voice choir.

It was in accordance with this tradition that in 1898 a group of men got together in a hotel in Canton, a suburb on the western side of Cardiff, and founded a male choir which has survived two world wars and which has continued its choral activities during the reigns of six British kings and queens. During more than a hundred eventful years the Choir has given more than two thousand concerts in halls, churches, cinemas, theatres, restaurants and in the streets of Cardiff – even once in a farmyard!

One of the legendary tales which has been passed down by generations of choristers concerns the evening on which the police had to be called out to control the crowd which had gathered outside the hotel in order to listen to a practice of the newly-born choir. On another occasion, at a performance for the inmates of Cardiff Prison, they included “Bless This House” in the programme, but the record does not say whether this was a request!

During the 1914-18 war a great many of the founding members died, mostly in the armed forces. But after the armistice the Choir re-established itself stronger than ever, with almost a hundred members. During the 1920’s they gave many successful concerts in Cardiff and nearby towns, and the Choir gained prizes at many Eisteddfodau (traditional Welsh competitive music festivals).

The 1930’s were a difficult time for Wales. In the major industries of coal and steel unemployment remained high, with the result that many Choir members found themselves dependent on public assistance, and a considerable number left Cardiff in search of work elsewhere. But in spite of the choir losing half of its members in this way, practices and concerts continued, often held to raise funds in aid of the unemployed.

After 1937, choirs began to pick up strength again. But unfortunately in 1943, one of the air raids which Hitler inflicted on Cardiff, destroyed the entire archives of the Choir, including all of its library of music. But he did not succeed in silencing the Choir, which survived the 1939-45 war in triumph. Faithful to the Welsh tradition, in Cardiff we still have five male voice choirs. But only one of them has the privilege of receiving the honour, ceremonially granted by the Mayor and Corporation of Cardiff, of carrying on their uniforms the arms of our Welsh Capital, which you can see on our Home Page.

So in 1969 we announced our newly granted title of “CARDIF MALE CHOIR”, of which we are very proud, given to us in recognition of our work for charity and for our contribution to the musical life of the Capital. During recent years we have continued to present our concerts in Wales, in England, and overseas, sometimes in collaboration with other choirs, including the “Cor y Byd” (World Choir) of 10,000 voices in 1992 and 1993, at the commemoration in 1995 of the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the 39-45 war.

In 1998 we celebrated the hundredth anniversary of the formation of the Choir, for which a new choral work based on historical events in South Wales was commissioned and successfully performed. As for the future, our enthusiastic Musical Director, Timothy Goss, is inspiring us to expand our repertoire and to improve our quality of singing. Above all, we aim in future to continue bringing quality singing to our friends and our visitors, and to the best of our ability to maintain into the new millennium the reputation of Wales as “The Land of Song”.