All Through The Night

It is unclear who composed the Welsh folk song “All Through the Night”, originally titled “Ar Hyd y Nos” in its native tongue. The work first appears in Edward Jones’ Musical and Poetical Relicks of the Welsh Bards from 1784, originally in Bb major and likely notated for harp. Jones’ setting features a statement of the tune followed by five variations of increasing complexity.

While the 1784 version features Welsh lyrics with an English translation, subsequent (and more popular) text settings were composed by poets John Ceiriog Hughes and Harold Boulton.