Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celtic people of Northwestern Europe. It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and recorded music and the styles vary considerably to include everything from traditional music to a wide range of hybrids.
Brittany is a peninsula, historical country, and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period of Roman occupation. It became an independent kingdom and then a duchy before being united with the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province governed as a separate nation under the crown.
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 earliest known sound recording device in the world, the phonautograph, was patented in France 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.
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.
Alan Stivell is a French, Breton and Celtic musician and singer, songwriter, recording artist, and master of the Celtic harp. From the early 1970s, he revived global interest in the Celtic harp and Celtic music as part of world music. As a bagpiper and bombard player, he modernized traditional Breton music and singing in the Breton language. A precursor of Celtic rock, he is inspired by the union of the Celtic cultures and is a keeper of the Breton culture.
A Fest Noz is a Breton traditional festival, with dancing in groups and live musicians playing acoustic instruments.
Breton literature may refer to literature in the Breton language (Brezhoneg) or the broader literary tradition of Brittany in the three other main languages of the area, namely, Latin, Gallo and French – all of which have had strong mutual linguistic and cultural influences.
The Bretons are a Celtic ethnic group native to Brittany. They trace much of 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.
Italian folk music has a deep and complex history. National unification came quite late to the Italian peninsula, so its many hundreds of separate cultures remained un-homogenized until quite recently compared to many other European countries. Moreover, Italian folk music reflects Italy's geographic position at the south of Europe and in the center of the Mediterranean Sea: Celtic, Slavic, Arabic, Greek, Spanish and Byzantine influences are readily apparent in the musical styles of the Italian regions. Italy's rough geography and the historic dominance of small city states has allowed quite diverse musical styles to coexist in close proximity.
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.
Yann-Fañch Loeiz Kemener was a traditional singer and ethnomusicologist from Brittany, born in Sainte-Tréphine, Côtes-d'Armor, France. Known in French as Jean-François Louis Quémener.
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.
Glenmor was the stage name of Emile Le Scanf (1931–1996), a Breton protest singer who sought to preserve the Breton language and adapt local traditions of folk singing to the radical culture of the 1960s and 70s. He is also known by the Breton name Milig Ar Skañv.
Annie Ebrel is a traditional Breton singer of traditional Kan ha diskan and Gwerz (ballads).
Bagad Kemper is one of the oldest bagad, Breton pipe bands. Formed in 1949, its first president was none other than Loeïz Ropars, renovator of the Fest Noz and kan ha diskan singer. This ensemble holds the record for the most national Championship title wins.
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).
Ahez is a French vocal group from Carhaix, Brittany, consisting of Marine Lavigne, Sterenn Diridollou and Sterenn Le Guillou. The trio represented France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 together with Alvan with the song "Fulenn".
