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Cor Glanaewthy, a 167 strong choir from North Wales, performed "Hallelujah" in Welsh on the final of Britain's Got Talent on Saturday May 30th.

An excellent choir, an excellent arrangement and an excellent performance. I am sure Leonard would have approved if he had heard it.

i have to confess i watched the BGT final , but recorded to miss the very large number of ad breaks.
The choir version of hallelujah ( downsized to not much over 2 mins! ) sounded good - wondered what any welsh speaking LC fans made of the translation (welsh is a very foreign language to me ).I'm pretty sure the more ' erotically charged ' verses were not included - at least i hope so given the presence of so many children in the choir.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-4JmRnv_nE

I think Simon Cowell called it a great song choice, but then doesn't his company SYco own the rights to the song ( or is that just a rumour)
Also found myself wondering whether translations of lyrics need permission from the rights owner , if not the original author??

In the end a ' dog act ' won
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGCkPZBdLjg

cohenadmirer wrote:Also found myself wondering whether translations of lyrics need permission from the rights owner , if not the original author??

Here's the answer to at least one of your questions. The author approved the translation back in 2008. Don't know about the rights owner.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7715493.stm

Wendy

"the Welsh lyrics of 'Haleliwia' are a complete rewrite of the song, giving it the feel of a festive, if somewhat sombre, carol."

That sounds ... ominous. - Does anybody know of a re-translation back to English?

Hartmut wrote:Does anybody know of a re-translation back to English?

http://www.brigyn.com/english/lyrics-haleliwia.html

That was quick. - Thank you, Roman!

He gave "the thumbs up" for these lyrics? He seems to get really forgiving. - I can still remember when he got annoyed because Joan Baez changed a few words in "Suzanne" ...

cohenadmirer wrote:i have to confess i watched the BGT final , but recorded to miss the very large number of ad breaks.
The choir version of hallelujah ( downsized to not much over 2 mins! ) sounded good - wondered what any welsh speaking LC fans made of the translation (welsh is a very foreign language to me ).I'm pretty sure the more ' erotically charged ' verses were not included - at least i hope so given the presence of so many children in the choir.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-4JmRnv_nE

I think Simon Cowell called it a great song choice, but then doesn't his company SYco own the rights to the song ( or is that just a rumour)
Also found myself wondering whether translations of lyrics need permission from the rights owner , if not the original author??

In the end a ' dog act ' won
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGCkPZBdLjg

Thank you for posting the YouTube. I am a big fan of choral music and this was beautiful. It was very uplifting to see the children in the chorus-very well done. The Welsh historically have been known for beautiful voices and choral singing-I can still remember singing, "All Through the Night" in my elementary school days.

I would be hard pressed to find a time where Leonard denied permission for a song. He has said over and over that he suspends all disbelief when ever he hears a cover of one of his songs.

Joe

I think there's a difference between a cover version and new lyrics ...

Hartmut wrote:I think there's a difference between a cover version and new lyrics ...

Yes, of course, but my point was Leonard's generosity of spirit.

Joe

Yes, Joe, I see. - It seems he's getting more and more generous with each passing year ...

Hi Jarkko, Hi everybody. I am Welsh but do not live in Wales so I do not watch UK tv. Thanks to you I have just listened to the Welsh version of Halleluiah. Liked it but I think a GOOD Welsh male-voice choir could do something even better !!!! If you want something else of his in Welsh I suggest you listen to Iris Williams singing Hey that's no way to say Goodbye, in Welsh Anodd yw wneud yw dewed farewell. It's on YouTube. Enjoy. This was the first LC song I ever heard - long before I even knew that LC existed !!!!! Loved it back in the 60's and still love it now.

thanks for the heads-up, david.

i gave up watching these tv talent shows a long time ago.

they were great fun when they started but have become too tawdry and contrived IMO.

had i known about this welsh group, of course i would have voted for them.
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from the year 2008 :

...One of the most influential songwriters in the world has given a Welsh language band approval to release their version of his most famous song, Hallelujah.

Leonard Cohen has agreed that Snowdonian outfit Brigyn can finally put out the Welsh language track, which they recorded three years ago...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7715493.stm

Brigyn - Haleliwia (Hallelujah) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sF_5WLagqIU

What a beautiful soulful rendition by Cor Glanaethwy. Their story is so touching, too. Combine the two and it's hard to watch it all the way through with a dry eye. Thanks for posting

8 dates in uk.

list of venues - http://www.gigsandtours.com/tour/cor-glanaethwy

https://www.venuecymru.co.uk/an-evening ... ethwy.html