“Little children of Aberfan
in their school that day
the big coal mountain…”
My mom’s original lyrics at top, in my father’s handwriting. Below that, what I chose to keep from that verse.
To participate in making sure this project happens, please donate: www.tinyurl.com/FundAberfan
“In the small Welsh town of Aberfan
for days the rain did fall
down on the heart–”
Here is a vocal sample of the first verse, one of three short lyric fragments from the folk song my Mom wrote following the disaster. Aberfan is, in essence, a bonding of many different musical sequences, the least of which contain words, each a portion of the experience, each a part of the whole.
This is a picture of Pantglas School, upon which the landslide fell in 1966. Courtesy Alan George.
Laura Siersema is composer of Aberfan (7 pianos, voice and tools of rescue), a sponsored project of New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), a 501(c)(3), tax-exempt organization. All donations are tax deductible. Your contribution ensures we can return to the studio to complete its recording.
In the corner under the garret… (only after I wrote this did I realize these words are from “For What I Know”, a song I recorded in 1999 on my first album, When I Left Loss)
Laura Siersema 