In France, music reflects a diverse array of styles. In the field of classical music, France has produced several prominent romantic composers, while folk and popular music have seen the rise of the chanson and cabaret style. The oldest playable musical recordings were made in France using the earlist known sound recording device in the world, the phonautograph, which was patented by Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville in 1857. France is also the 5th largest market by value in the world, and its music industry has produced many internationally renowned artists, especially in the nouvelle chanson and electronic music.
The binioù is a type of bagpipe. The word binioù means 'bagpipe' in the Breton language.
Since the early 1970s, Brittany has experienced a tremendous revival of its folk music. Along with flourishing traditional forms such as the bombard-biniou pair and fest-noz ensembles incorporating other additional instruments, it has also branched out into numerous subgenres.
Denez Prigent is a Breton folk singer-songwriter of the gwerz and kan ha diskan styles of Breton music. From his debut at the age of 16, he was known for singing traditional songs a cappella, and has moved on to singing his own songs with techno music accompaniments. He has performed in France as well as internationally and has recorded seven studio and two live albums.
A bagad is a Breton band, composed of bagpipes, bombards and drums. The pipe band tradition in Brittany was inspired by the Scottish example and has developed since the mid-20th century. A bagad plays mainly Breton music, but a bagad's music is evolutionary: new forms and musical ideas are experimented with at each annual national competition.
The culture of Brittany is made up of Breton culture, and Celtic culture. Brittany's strongest international connections tend to be in the United Kingdom, particularly in the Celtic groups of Cornwall and Wales, and in Canada.
The Bretons are a Celtic ethnic group native to Brittany, north-western France. They trace their heritage to groups of Brittonic speakers who emigrated from southwestern Great Britain, particularly Cornwall and Devon, mostly during the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain. They migrated in waves from the 3rd to 9th century into Armorica, which was subsequently named Brittany after them.
Kan ha diskan is probably the most common type of traditional music of Brittany. It is a vocal tradition. The style is the most commonly used to accompany dances. 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 bombard is a contemporary conical-bore double-reed instrument widely used to play traditional Breton music. The bombard is a woodwind instrument, and a member of the shawm family. Like most shawms, it has a broad and very powerful sound, vaguely resembling a trumpet. It is played as other shawms are played, with the double reed placed between the lips. The second octave is 'over-blown'; achieved via increased lip and air pressure or through the use of an octave key. It plays a diatonic scale of up to two octaves, although contemporary instruments frequently have added keywork permitting some degree of chromaticism. A bombard player is known as a talabarder after 'talabard', the older Breton name for the bombard.
This article defines a number of terms that are exclusive, or whose meaning is exclusive, to piping and pipers.
An dro or en dro is a Breton folk dance in 4
4. It is a form of a circle dance.
AberFest is a Celtic cultural festival celebrating all things Cornish and Breton that takes place every second year in Cornwall, UK, around Easter. The AberFest Festival alternates with the Breizh – Kernow Festival which is held in Brandivy or Bignan in Brittany, alternating between those two Breton locations.
Breton dance is a group of traditional dance forms originating in Brittany, the Celtic region of France. The dance has experienced a reappropriation in the late 1950s, with the development of the Celtic Circles and Fest Noz.
Les Ramoneurs de menhirs are a Breton Celtic punk group formed in 2006. Its members include Éric Gorce on the bombardon, Richard Bévillon on the bagpipes, the traditional vannetais singer Gwenaël Kere and Loran, guitarist from the group Bérurier Noir. They play concerts at fest noz as well as normal rock concerts. Most of their songs are sung in the Breton language.
Kornog is a Breton folk music band formed in 1980 which plays traditional Breton or Celtic tunes and compositions. It was one of the most influential Celtic groups of the 1980s and one of the only representatives of Breton music to perform in the United States.
The Festival de Cornouaille is an annual festival taking place in Quimper, a city in the south-west of Brittany, a western region of France. The festival begins on the third Sunday of July and lasts for one week. It has been held since 1923 and is one of the biggest cultural events in Brittany.
Sonerien Du is a group of Breton music adapted for the dances in Fest Noz. The group was born in 1972, in Alan Stivell's trail, harpist of the Celtic Revival. Driving force of the Breton culture, the group crossed periods of concerts and festoù-noz, with a traditional and modern music at the same time, always respecting dance. It recorded 20 albums over 40 years.
Ar Re Yaouank is a Breton band, established in 1986 by two brothers born in Quimper, Brittany, northwestern France, Fred and Jean-Charles Guichen playing the diatonic accordion and the acoustic guitar respectively. They were joined in 1987 by Gaël Nicol, David Pasquet (bombards), then in 1990 by Stéphane De Vito playing the electric bass.
The Goadec Sisters usually known as Les sœurs Goadec in French, were a Breton vocal group originating from Treffrin. The trio embody the traditional music of Brittany, singing a cappella. The three sisters were Maryvonne (1900-1983), Eugenie (1909-2003) and Anastasie Goadec (1913-1998). They began to perform at fest-noz in 1956, among the pipers and bombard players. Accompanied until 1964 by their two sisters, Louise (1903-1964) and Ernestine (1911-1964), their repertoire consisted mainly of laments. As a trio, they attempted to adapt their singing to dance and developed a new form of call and response singing.
Louise Ebrel was a Breton singer whose parents Eugénie Goadec and Job Ebrel were themselves singers. Her repertoire was composed of traditional Breton songs, either for dancing or for listening (gwerz).
