Brittany has been inhabited by the Celts since about the 6th century, and were independent for a time, though not united politically or, in all likelihood, culturally. Charlemagne, a Frankish king, conquered the Bretons and under his sn, Louis the Pious, the Bretons were organized as a single nation under a single ruler, Nevenöe. For a time following, Brittany was an independent duchy but then fell back into French control in the 16th century.
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2 Modern Breton music |
Traditional Breton folk music includes a variety of vocal and instrumental styles. Purely traditional musicians became the heroes of the roots revival in the 20th century, most importantly the Goadec sisters. Vicomte Theodore Hersart de la Villemarqué's collection of largely nationalistic Breton songs, Barzaz Breiz, was also influential, and was partially responsible for continuing Breton traditions.
Kan ha diskan (roughly translated as call-and-response singing) is probably the most common type of Breton vocal music, and is the most typical style to accompany dance music. It has become perhaps the most integral part of the Breton roots revival, and was the first genre of Breton music to gain some mainstream success, both in Brittany and abroad.
The lead singer is the kaner, and the second singer is the diskaner. The kaner sings a phrase, and the diskaner signs the last few lines with the kaner, then repeats it alone until the same last few lines, when the kaner again joins in.
In addition to the Goadecs, the singer Loeiz Ropars largely responsible for maintaining kan ha discan's vitality in the middle of the 20th century, and the 60s and 70s revivalists drew largely on his work.
Gwerzioł and sonnioł are the two primary classifications of Breton folk song. Vocals for both types are usually by a soloist and without accompaniment. Gwerzioù are characterized by a very gloomy, morbid tone, and the lyrics typically describe tragic murders and deaths, or lost love.
A chanteur engagé (literally engaged singer) is a singer that is roughly analogous to a singer of protest songs. These songs are usually nationalistic, and are celebrations of Breton culture. This is mostly a modern tradition, though some older songs of this type are known and the tradition stretches into the ancient past of Brittany. Chanteurs engagé are often also singers of more traditional material.
Since the Breton folk music revival, Scottish bagpipes and Irish harps have been added to the Breton repertoire, though Brittany has its own piping traditions which have been historically unbroken.
There are two types of bagpipes indigenous to Brittany. The veuze is very similar to other western European bagpipes, while the biniou-kozh are much smaller and were used to accompany the bombarde. The biniou, which plays exactly one octave above the bombarde, and bombarde duo (sonner par couple) are an integral and common part of Breton folk music, and was used historically for dancing. The two performers play alternate lines that intersect at the end; the bombarde is not usually played every line, however, and is usually instead played every other line, or in three out of four lines.
Undoubtedly the most famous name in Breton music is Alan Stivell, who popularized the Celtic harp with a series of albums in the early 1970s, including most famously Renaissance de la Harpe Celtique (1971) and Chemins de Terre (1973). His harp was built by his father, who based it off the plans for the midieval Irish Brian Boru harp; this type was unknown in Brittany before Stivell. He later began playing the bombarde, a double-reeded shawm (or oboe), and began recording Breton folk, Celtic harp and other Celtic musics, mixing influences from American rock and roll.Traditional Breton music
Vocal music
Gwerzioł and sonnioł
Chanteurs engagé
Instrumental music
Piping
Modern Breton music