Max Boyce: Hymns & Arias

When 'Hymns and Arias' rang out at Cardiff Arms Parksome fifty years ago, those great Welsh anthems 'CalonLan' and 'Cwm Rhondda' had found a companion and thevalleys of south Wales had produced a new folk hero.Max Boyce's work, with over five decades of creativity,captures the spirit and the story of the people of Wales. Italso has a warmth and charm that has made his words andmusic resonate with a worldwide audience.From his early days touring the folk clubs and small concerthalls of his native south Wales to sell-out shows at some ofthe world's most iconic venues, including the Albert Hall,the London Palladium and the opera houses of Sydneyand Durban, Max has become an original and treasuredperformer whose songs and stories have become part offolk culture. His albums, including the No. 1 album We AllHad Doctors' Papers and the iconic Live at Treorchy, havesold in their millions and earned him several gold discs.His greatest influence has always been the valleys of Wales,with their inherent warmth and humour, their sadness andpassion, and he has the remarkable ability to heighten, to anart form, the 'hwyl' that attends his nation's national game:rugby union.Compiling - in some instances for the first time in print- the very best songs, poems and stories from across hiscelebrated career, Max: Hymns & Arias is the definitiveselected work of a major cultural figure who, through hisinimitable humour, uniquely Welsh pathos and masterfulwordcraft, has defined a nation and its people for more thanhalf a century.