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Gwerz (band)
Gwerz (, "ballad", "lament", plural ) is a type of folk song of Brittany. In Breton music, the tells a story which can be epic, historical, or mythological. The stories are usually of a tragic nature. The gwerz is characterised by an often monotonous melody and many couplets, all in the Breton language. Though historically sung unaccompanied, some modern musicians use limited instrumentation with the gwerz. Some of the most famous performers in current gwerzioù are Erik Marchand, Yann-Fañch Kemener, and Denez Prigent. Notable gwerzioù *'' An hini a garan'' *''Gwerz Skolan'' *''Gwerz Santes Enori The ''Gwerz Santes Enori'' is a Breton ''gwerz'', a type of folk song that combines literary with musical characteristics. The song, which is preserved in many versions and fragments, tells a story that resembles a saint's life, a 14th-century ve ...'' *Gwerz Ker is *'' Gwerz Fañchig kemper *Gwerz ar vezhinerien *Ar Roue Gralon ha Kear Is References Breton music {{m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gwerz Ar Roue Gralon Ha Ker Is
Gwerz (, "ballad", "lament", plural ''gwerzioù'') is a type of folk song of Brittany. In Breton music, the ''gwerz'' tells a story which can be epic, historical, or mythological. The stories are usually of a tragic nature. The gwerz is characterised by an often monotonous melody and many couplets, all in the Breton language. Though historically sung unaccompanied, some modern musicians use limited instrumentation with the gwerz. Some of the most famous performers in current gwerzioù are Erik Marchand, Yann-Fañch Kemener Yann-Fañch Loeiz Kemener (April 7, 1957 – March 16, 2019) was a traditional singer and ethnomusicologist from Brittany, born in Sainte-Tréphine, Côtes-d'Armor, France. Known in French as Jean-François Louis Quémener. He took part in re ..., and Denez Prigent. Notable gwerzioù *'' Gwerz Skolan'' *'' Gwerz Santes Enori'' *Gwerz Ker is *'' Gwerz Fañchig kemper *Gwerz ar vezhinerien *Ar Roue Gralon ha Kear Is References Breton music ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Europe, and later in Australia, North Africa, North America and South America. Ballads are often 13 lines with an ABABBCBC form, consisting of couplets (two lines) of rhymed verse, each of 14 syllables. Another common form is ABAB or ABCB repeated, in alternating eight and six syllable lines. Many ballads were written and sold as single sheet broadsides. The form was often used by poets and composers from the 18th century onwards to produce lyrical ballads. In the later 19th century, the term took on the meaning of a slow form of popular love song and is often used for any love song, particularly the sentimental ballad of pop or roc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lament
A lament or lamentation is a passionate expression of grief, often in music, poetry, or song form. The grief is most often born of regret, or mourning. Laments can also be expressed in a verbal manner in which participants lament about something that they regret or someone that they have lost, and they are usually accompanied by wailing, moaning and/or crying. Laments constitute some of the oldest forms of writing, and examples exist across human cultures. History Many of the oldest and most lasting poems in human history have been laments. The Lament for Sumer and Ur dates back at least 4000 years to ancient Sumer, the world's first urban civilization. Laments are present in both the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', and laments continued to be sung in elegiacs accompanied by the aulos in classical and Hellenistic Greece. Elements of laments appear in '' Beowulf'', in the Hindu Vedas, and in ancient Near Eastern religious texts. They are included in the Mesopotamian City Lame ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, 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 Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duchy of Brittany, duchy before being Union of Brittany and France, united with the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a provinces of France, province governed as a separate nation under the crown. Brittany has also been referred to as Little Britain (as opposed to Great Britain, with which it shares an etymology). It is bordered by the English Channel to the north, Normandy to the northeast, eastern Pays de la Loire to the southeast, the Bay of Biscay to the south, and the Celtic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its land area is 34,023 km2 . Brittany is the site of some of the world's oldest standing architecture, ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Breton 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. Traditional 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 second half of the 20th century, notably the Goadec sisters (Maryvonne, Thasie, and Eugénie). At the end of the 19th century, the vicomte Theodore Hersart de la Villemarqué's collection of largely nationalistic Breton songs, '' Barzaz Breiz'', was also influential, and was partially responsible for preserving Breton traditions. Vocal music 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. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Breton Language
Breton (, ; or in Morbihan) is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family spoken in Brittany, part of modern-day France. It is the only Celtic language still widely in use on the European mainland, albeit as a member of the insular branch instead of the continental grouping. Breton was brought from Great Britain to Armorica (the ancient name for the coastal region that includes the Brittany peninsula) by migrating Britons during the Early Middle Ages, making it an Insular Celtic language. Breton is most closely related to Cornish, another Southwestern Brittonic language. Welsh and the extinct Cumbric, both Western Brittonic languages, are more distantly related. Having declined from more than one million speakers around 1950 to about 200,000 in the first decade of the 21st century, Breton is classified as "severely endangered" by the UNESCO '' Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger''. However, the number of children attending bilingual classes rose 33 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erik Marchand
Érik Marchand (born 1955) is a Breton traditional singer and player of the treujenn-gaol (Breton clarinet). Although born in Paris, his family was of Breton origin, hailing from Quelneuc, Brittany. Influenced by the music of Manuel Kerjean, Marchand moved to his family's homeland and studied traditional music and the Breton language. He became deeply involved with traditional Breton singing, including the ''gwerz'', a traditional lament. In the 1980s he helped form a traditional music group called which released three albums. In the 1980s Marchand also began to collaborate with oudist Thierry Robin, producing a fusion of Celtic and Arabic motifs influenced by jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m .... Discography *1982 : Chants à danser de Haute-Bretagn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yann-Fañch Kemener
Yann-Fañch Loeiz Kemener (April 7, 1957 – March 16, 2019) was a traditional singer and ethnomusicologist from Brittany, born in Sainte-Tréphine, Côtes-d'Armor, France. Known in French as Jean-François Louis Quémener. He took part in reviving ''Kan ha diskan'' (french: chant et contre-chant) in the 1970s and 1980s, especially with Erik Marchand. He collected songs from the oral tradition in the Breton language. He sang in numerous Festoù Noz. Kemener died in Tréméven on March 16, 2019 at age 61. Discography * ''Chants profonds et sacrés de Bretagne'', 1977 * ''Chants profonds et sacrés de Bretagne 2'', 1978 * ''Chants profonds et sacrés de Bretagne 3'', 1982 * ''Kan ha diskan'', 1982, with Marcel Guilloux * ''Chants profonds et sacrés de Bretagne 4'', 1983 * ''Chants profonds de Bretagne'', 1983 * ''Dibedibedañchaou'', 1987, edited again by Dastum in 1999 (small songs for children in Breton language) * ''Gwerziou et soniou'', 1988 * ''Ec'honder'', 1989, in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Denez Prigent
Denez Prigent (; born 17 February 1966 in Santec, Finistère) 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. Biography Childhood and early career During his childhood, Prigent lived with his father in Le Relecq-Kerhuon and spent his weekends at his grandmother's, in Santec. His father, a primary teacher, raised him speaking French, although he spoke Breton fluently, because he did not see the point in teaching Breton to his son. Denez thus discovered the Breton language at his grandmother's, along with its natural harmony and the tendency of Breton speakers of that time to sing written or improvised songs. While in secondary in Brest he preferred liste ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gwerz Skolan
"Gwerz Skolan" is a ''gwerz'' with a long tradition in Lower Brittany, especially Léon-Trégor and Cornouaille. Its story is found in Old Welsh texts also, and the oldest extant Welsh version is found in the 13th-century '' Black Book of Carmarthen''. The poem is cited as evidence for the preservation in Brittany of cultural memories and traditions predating the entrance of Bretons into Brittany. The ''gwerz'' was performed in Brittany until the 19th century, with some late examples from the 20th century. Its content (though many versions differ in their details) describes a man who had died after living a life of rape and murder, and now comes back from hell to ask for forgiveness. Content The main character, Iannic Skolan (also Skolvan, Yscolan (in Welsh), and other spellings; "Skolan" meaning "the phantom"), is guilty of a variety of crimes (depending on the version)—in many versions, he raped his three sisters and killed the offspring, and set fire to a church and killed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gwerz Santes Enori
The ''Gwerz Santes Enori'' is a Breton ''gwerz'', a type of folk song that combines literary with musical characteristics. The song, which is preserved in many versions and fragments, tells a story that resembles a saint's life, a 14th-century version of the hagiography of the Breton saint Budoc. Its general theme has been called that of "the girl with a golden breast", as told in stories throughout the Celtic world and surviving in oral form into the 20th century. Summary The poem's story concerns the youngest of a king's three daughters (the king of Brest, or Brittany, or Spain, depending on the version), who sacrifices herself when her father is bitten by a snake. Only a virgin breast can save him, and Enori, the youngest, neglected daughter, offers herself up after her two sisters refuse. When she goes to help him a snake jumps onto one of her breasts, and her father cuts off the breast, after which he is miraculously cured (Mary-Ann Constantine identifies this as a "Celtic t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
