September 10, 2026 - 136 views
An internationally acclaimed Welsh composer says he felt the weight of Welsh history on his shoulders while creating a new opera about one of the most significant protests in the country’s modern history.
Gareth Glyn’s latest work, Fflamau Penyberth – The Flames of Penyberth – marks the 90th anniversary of the 1936 arson attack on the site of what became RAF Penrhos near Pwllheli.
The opera tells the story of Saunders Lewis, Lewis Valentine and D J Williams, three Welsh nationalists who set fire to buildings at the RAF training site in protest against the destruction of Penyberth, a historic farmhouse with deep connections to Welsh culture and pilgrimage.
All three handed themselves in to police afterwards. They were later convicted at the Old Bailey in London and sentenced to nine months in Wormwood Scrubs.
The incident became a defining moment in the history of Welsh nationalism. When the three men were released from prison, they returned to Caernarfon to a hero’s welcome, with around 15,000 people turning out to greet them.
For Gareth Glyn, who was born in Machynlleth, raised in Mold and has lived on Anglesey for almost 50 years, bringing the story to the opera stage has been a major responsibility.
He said: “Fflamau Penyberth commemorates a hugely significant event in Welsh history and I felt a great responsibility to get it right and I hope my score does justice to this seminal moment.”
The three-act opera begins with one of the men in a prison cell, before the story unfolds through a series of flashbacks.
Gareth says the score gives each of the three central characters their own musical identity, with the three also coming together for an unaccompanied piece which he believes is particularly powerful.
The casting has also been carefully considered, with the singers chosen to reflect the voices and regional backgrounds of the men they portray.
Tenor Robyn Lyn Evans takes the role of Saunders Lewis, while baritones Emyr Wyn Jones and Robin Gruffudd Hughes portray Lewis Valentine and D J Williams.
Gareth said having singers who could reflect the regional accents of the original figures was important to the production.
The opera was commissioned by OPRA Cymru, with its libretto written by the organisation’s founder Patrick Young from Llan Ffestiniog, working alongside Caernarfon author and historian Arwel Vittle.
Penyberth had been home to generations of patrons of Welsh poets and was also a stopping place for pilgrims travelling towards Bardsey Island. Plans to replace it with an RAF training camp and aerodrome sparked protests across Wales.
The three men carried out their attack on September 8, 1936, believing they were protesting against what they saw as the destruction of an important part of Welsh culture.
Fflamau Penyberth is Gareth Glyn’s fourth opera and his third for OPRA Cymru. His previous opera inspired by Caradog Prichard’s Un Nos Ola Leuad was adapted into the film Tanau’r Lloer, which premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival last year before being shown on Channel 4 and S4C.
The new production will receive its world premiere at Neuadd Dwyfor in Pwllheli on November 19 before touring Wales.
It will visit Rhosllannerchrugog on November 20, Bangor on November 24, Swansea on November 26, Barry on November 27, Brecon on November 28 and Aberystwyth on December 3, before returning to Pwllheli for the final performance on December 5.
Gareth, who celebrated his 75th birthday in July, has also recently released a new album, Yr Oriau Oll a Welsom – All the Hours We Saw – bringing together five vocal and instrumental works.
More information about the Fflamau Penyberth tour is available from OPRA Cymru, with tickets available through the individual theatre box offices.
