All Through the Night (Ar Hyd y Nos)

(Welsh version: Traditional/John Ceiriog Hughes)
(Translation to English: Amelia Opie/Sir Harold Boulton)

This Christmas carol was originally a folk song from Wales that was first published by Edward Jones in his Musical and Poetical Relics of the Welsh Bards in 1784.   Later in the 19^th Century the poet John Ceiriog Hughes put words to it in his native language and it became one of the most widely known Welsh songs and a staple sung by the internationally acclaimed Welsh choirs.  The Welsh composer and harpist arranged it for harp during the mid to late 1800s.

Throughout the last two centuries it has been arranged and translated many times into English with the first known being by Amelia Opie and the most popular version written by Sir Harold Boulton in 1884.

Often heard in film and on television it has been featured in the 1988 movie The Adventures of Baron Bunchausen and in the TV series The Sopranos and Angel.

Arturo Delmoni Recordings
All Through The Night
John Marks Records JMR 18 (CD: A String Quartet Christmas, Volume 2)
Violin – Arturo Delmoni
Violin – Nina Bodnar
Viola – Natasha Lipkina
Cello – Nathaniel Rosen

Carol Thompson recordings
All through the Night,
Dorian DOR 90120 (CD: The Enchanted Isles)
Harp – Carol Thompson

Sources:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ar_Hyd_y_Nos
2. http://www.contemplator.com/wales/allnight.html
3. http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/all_through_the_night.htm
4. http://songsforteaching.homestead.com/LAllThroughTheNight.html
5. http://www.kendormusic.com/ensembles/14922.htm

It is sung here by the Welsh singer Aled Jones….