In These Stones, Horizons Sing

I arrived in Cardiff this afternoon, for a workshop that's taking place tomorrow. I had time to get the bus down to Cardiff Bay before the afternoon light disappeared and do a little bit of sightseeing.

This is the Wales Millenium Centre, an arts centre which hosts performances of opera, ballet, dance, comedy and musicals. The building was designed to reflect the many different parts of Wales with local Welsh materials that dominate its history: slate, metal, wood and glass. All the materials used come from Wales; the Centre was built from 1,350 tonnes of Welsh slate, 300,000 concrete blocks, and a million metres of electric cable.

On the front of the building are words in both English and Welsh; each letter is six-foot tall and formed of stained glass, set in glass-reinforced gypsum. The translation of the Welsh, Creu Gwir fel Gwydr o Ffwrnais Awen, is 'Creating truth like glass from inspiration's furnace'. The words in English, 'In These Stones, Horizons Sing', are also the title of a work for chorus and orchestra by Karl Jenkins, which was commissioned for the opening of the Centre. The music is powerful, moving and unmistakeably Welsh: like the building itself.