Bryn Terfel Jones was born in Pantglas, North Wales, the son of a farmer (he knew of another Welsh baritone named Delme Bryn-Jones, so Terfel chose Bryn Terfel as his professional name). Terfel had an interest in and talent for music from a very young age. A family friend taught him how to sing, starting with traditional Welsh songs. After winning numerous competitions for his singing, Terfel moved to London in 1984 and entered the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, from which he graduated in 1989, winning the Gold Medal. He came in second behind Dmitri Hvorostovsky in the Cardiff BBC Singer of the World Competition the same year, though won the Lieder Prize.
In 1990, Terfel made his operatic début as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte at the Welsh National Opera, and later in the same season he sang the title role in The Marriage of Figaro, a role with which he made his debut with the English National Opera in 1991.
Terfel made his United States début as Figaro at the Santa Fe Opera. In 1992, he made his Royal Opera House, Covent Garden début as Masetto in Don Giovanni, with Thomas Allen in the title role. Terfel's international breakthrough came when he sang Jochanaan in Strauss's Salome at the 1992 Salzburg Festival. Terfel went on to make his début as Figaro at the Vienna State Opera. That year, he also signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon, and returned to the Welsh National Opera to sing Ford in Falstaff. In 1993, he recorded the role of Wilfred Shadbolt in The Yeomen of the Guard, by Gilbert and Sullivan. Terfel has said that he would like to record "an album of Gilbert and Sullivan arias."
In 1994, Terfel sang Figaro at Covent Garden, and made his Metropolitan Opera début in the same role. He also sang Mahler's Eighth Symphony at the Ravinia Festival under the baton of James Levine. However, back surgery in 1994 (and again in 2000) prevented him from performing in several scheduled events. In 1996, Terfel expanded his repertoire to include Wagner, singing Wolfram in Tannhäuser at the Metropolitan Opera, and Stravinsky, singing Nick Shadow in The Rake's Progress at the Welsh National Opera.
In 1997, Terfel made his La Scala début as Figaro. In 1998, Bryn had a recital at Carnegie Hall which included works by Wolf, Fauré, Brahms, Schumann, Schubert, and others. In 1999, Terfel performed in Paris the title role of Don Giovanni for the first time. That year, Terfel also debuted in the title role in Falstaff at the Sydney Opera House for Opera Australia and then performed the same role at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
She Moved Through The Fair
Bryn Terfel Lyrics
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My mother won't mind
And my father won't slight you
For your lack of kind
And she laid her hand on me
And this she did say
It will not be long, love
As she stepped away from me
And she moved through the fair
And fondly I watched her
Move here and move there
And then she turned homeward
With one star awake
Like the swan in the evening
Moves over the lake
The people were saying
No two e'er were wed
But one had a sorrow
That never was said
And I smiled as she passed
With her goods and her gear
And that was the last
That I saw of my dear
Last night she came to me
My dead love came in
So softly she came
That her feet made no din
As she laid her hand on me
And this she did say
It will not be long, love
'Til our wedding day
The lyrics of Bryn Terfel's "She Moved Through The Fair" tell a hauntingly beautiful story of young love and loss. The song begins with the anticipation of a young couple's upcoming wedding. The singer's young love reassures him that her parents will accept him despite his lack of wealth or status. She promises that their wedding day is not far away. However, as she walks away from him, the scene shifts to a fairground where she moves gracefully among the people, catching the singer's attention as she glides through the crowd. She eventually turns to go home, and the image of her moving like a swan over a lake is painted.
The tone shifts in the following stanza, revealing a sense of foreboding and unspoken sorrow. The people at the fair remark that the couple will never marry, hinting at some hidden reason. The singer, however, continues to smile as she passes by him with her belongings, unaware that it will be their last meeting.
In the final stanza, there is a supernatural twist. The singer describes how his dead love came to him in a dream or vision. She approaches him silently, with her feet making no sound, and lays her hand on him. She reassures him once again that their wedding day is near, despite her death. The song leaves us with a lingering sense of longing and the belief that love transcends mortality.
Line by Line Meaning
My young love said to me
My beloved expressed to me
My mother won't mind
My mother will not object
And my father won't slight you
And my father will not criticize you
For your lack of kind
For your different social background
And she laid her hand on me
And she touched me affectionately
And this she did say
And this is what she said
It will not be long, love
Our wait will not be long, my love
Till our wedding day
Until the day we get married
As she stepped away from me
As she moved away from my side
And she moved through the fair
And she gracefully walked through the marketplace
And fondly I watched her
And lovingly I observed her
Move here and move there
As she moved from place to place
And then she turned homeward
And then she returned home
With one star awake
With only one star remaining visible
Like the swan in the evening
Similar to how a swan moves in the evening
Moves over the lake
Glides across the calm lake surface
The people were saying
The people were gossiping
No two e'er were wed
That no couple were ever as deeply in love as we were
But one had a sorrow
But one of us had a hidden sorrow
That never was said
That was never expressed openly
And I smiled as she passed
And I smiled when she walked by
With her goods and her gear
With her belongings and possessions
And that was the last
And that was the final time
That I saw of my dear
That I saw my beloved
Last night she came to me
Last night she appeared to me
My dead love came in
My departed love entered
So softly she came
So gently she approached
That her feet made no din
That her footsteps made no noise
As she laid her hand on me
As she placed her hand on me
And this she did say
And this is what she said
It will not be long, love
Our wait will not be long, my love
'Til our wedding day
Until the day we get married
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, O/B/O DistroKid, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: CHRIS HAZELL, PADRAIC COLUM, HERBERT HUGHES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind