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130punctuation: the reciting tone dips slightly on each strong accent; but at cadences oncommas or periods in the text, the dip may reach as much as a fourth. These cadences aresnapped sharply, in a sixteenth-and-dotted-eight rhythm. The alternation of voices addsvariety, as children chant in unison, then women in unison, then men, and the entirecongregation once more in two parts” (Kinney, 2000:345).The tradition of choral singing today is something of which the Welsh are rightlyproud. The roots of this tradition can be found in the ancient predilection of Welshmenthtowards part-singing, described by Giraldus Cambrensis at the end of the 12 century, butmore immediate connections should be made with the growing popularity of choralsinging in the 18th and 19 th centuries. The widely popular festival of choral singing“Gymanfa Ganu” has been regularly held throughout Wales for more than a century.Not much evidence is available about polyphonic singing in Scotland andIreland. Ofcourse, Cambrensis’ information is interesting in regard to the singingtraditions of Ireland and particularly Scotland (as Cambrensis mentions, the northernregions are more polyphonic). Interesting singing traditions from Shetland Islands,Hebrides and Orkney Islands (including the famous polyphonic hymn to St. Magnus)support the suggestion that both Ireland and particularly Scotland must have hadtraditions of vocal polyphony during the Middle Ages. Another reference to the existenceof the tradition of polyphonic singing comes from the Irish Sagas. In a “Saga on the Sonsof Usneh” there is mention of the tradition of three-part male polyphony. The Sagacontains the names of all three parts as well: andord (tenor), coblach (baritone) and dord(bass) (Gruber, 1941:507).On Tory Island, off the Northeastern tip of Ireland, the tradition of part singing isstill alive. According to an article on Irish music in the “Garland Encyclopedia of WorldMusic”, Tory islanders “favor duet or even loose choral singing more than singerselsewhere” (Shields & Gershen, 2000:381).Information on polyphony in Sweden is mostly connected to polyphony inchurch music: “Some extant liturgical books used in Swedish religious institutions from1300 to 1400 and containing music notations give evidence for polyphonic singing at thecathedral of Uppsala in 1298. King Gustav Vasa (reigned 1523 – 1560) eliminated papalcontrol of Christianity in Sweden and introduced the Protestant faith. The reformationresulted in many handwritten hymnbooks that reflected local traditions; in 1697, the firstofficial collection of hymns was published” (Ling et al., 2000: 443-444). According toLing, the tradition of folk choral singing (both in unison and polyphony) is still alive inSweden (Ling, 1981:42). From the 1800s choral singing became widely popular andmany major choral societies were established throughout Sweden. During this period“choral and solo vocal music dominated the local production and reception of music”(Ling et al., 2000:444).According to Giraldus Cambrensis, Denmark and Norway were twoof the most important and influential centres for the dissemination of vocal polyphony