Georges Cochevelou (1889–1974) was an interpreter, soldier and banker. He discovered and reconstructed the

Celtic harp The Celtic harp is a triangular frame harp traditional to the Celtic nations of northwest Europe. It is known as in Irish, in Scottish Gaelic, in Breton and in Welsh. In Ireland and Scotland, it was a wire-strung instrument requiring great ...

of the Middle Ages, and, along with his harpist son

Alan Stivell Alan Stivell (; born Alan Cochevelou on 6 January 1944) 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 (specifically ...

, was responsible for its revival in

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 ...

in the 1950s.

Early life

Georges (Jord or Jorj in

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

) Cochevelou was born on May 16, 1889 in the rue Vercingétorix (Vercingétorix Street) of the

14th arrondissement of Paris The 14th arrondissement of Paris ( ), officially named ''arrondissement de l'Observatoire'' (; meaning "arrondissement of the Observatory", after the Paris Observatory), is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. It is situa ...

. His father was a native of Nouec Vihan in

Gourin Gourin (; br, Gourin) is a commune in the Morbihan ''département'' of Brittany in north-western France. Geography Gourin is in the northwest of Morbihan, northeast of Quimper and northwest of Lorient. Historically, it belongs to Cornouaill ...

, and his mother of

Pontivy Pontivy (; ) is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France. It lies at the confluence of the river Blavet and the Canal de Nantes à Brest. Inhabitants of Pontivy are called ''Pontivyens'' in French. Map History ...

. Georges was baptised in Vannetais territory in the south of

, after which his family moved away from Paris. He was raised for some years by his maternal grandmother in Moustoir-Ac, and lived in

Morbihan Morbihan ( , ; br, Mor-Bihan ) is a department in the administrative region of Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Morbihan (''small sea'' in Breton), the enclosed sea that is the principal feature of the coastli ...

until he was thirty years old.

Career

He was raised as a speaker of Gwenedeg before he became a soldier in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He was wounded and taken prisoner in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in 1917. On

Armistice of 11 November 1918 The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed at Le Francport near Compiègne that ended fighting on land, sea, and air in World War I between the Entente and their last remaining opponent, Germany. Previous armistices ...

, he was in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, where he studied

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

and

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

. After the war he worked as a banker, administrator and interpreter, but his real passion was for the arts. He was a winner in the Lépine competition for several artistic works: he made an "astignomètre" (an ophthalmological device), created a table lamp (sold by Lancel - French leatherwear), built furniture like a cabinetmaker (French polish and marquetry) and painted in an original technique "of water-color in oil" on panels of hardboard painted in white, which were shown at an exhibition of independent artists at the academy of Raymond Duncan. On August 1, 1932, he married Fanny-Julienne Dobroushkess, native of

Baltic states The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...

, from which her father, Hain-Woulf Dobroushkess was an emigrant. She gave birth to their son, Jean, in December, 1935. On the eve of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Georges was fifty years old, and although he was over the age limit for his rank (captain of the reserves) and not ably fit, he considered it his duty to answer the call and was allocated to the east army to

Épinal Épinal (; german: Spinal) is a commune in northeastern France and the prefecture of the Vosges department. Geography The commune has a land area of . It is situated on the river Moselle, south of Nancy. Épinal station has rail connection ...

and to Saint-Dié. His wife and their son joined him in the spring of 1940. Their second child Yves was born on May 18, 1940 in

. At the beginning of June, the east army started their withdrawal. They travelled for a week before finding a family near

Villeneuve-sur-Lot Villeneuve-sur-Lot (; in the Languedocien dialect of Occitan language: ''Vilanuèva d'Òlt'' ) is a town and commune in the southwestern French department of Lot-et-Garonne. The commune was formerly named ''Villeneuve-d'Agen''. Villeneuve-sur-Lot ...

. Georges eventually found employment in

Châtel-Guyon Châtel-Guyon (; oc, label=Auvergnat, Chastel Guion) is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in central France. Prior to June 2008 it was known as Châtelguyon.Alan Cochevelou, the future Alan Stivell, was born. A short time later, the family settled down in Paris again. At that time Georges was working as an English interpreter and contract employee for the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Eco ...

where he translated documents to French from English, Russian, Polish and Spanish. Fanny was working in the secretarial department of the civic and social Feminine Union, at 25

Rue de Valois Rue de Valois is a street in the Palais-Royal quarter in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. Description The 377-meter-long-street starts at 202, Rue Saint-Honoré and ends at 1, Rue de Beaujolais. It has a north-south orientation and is a ...

. Cochevelou lived for five years in a small apartment on the boulevard of Belleville. They then lived on Rue Marne, then in

Vincennes Vincennes (, ) is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is next to but does not include the Château de Vincennes and Bois de Vincennes, which are attached ...

. Georges adopted ideas appropriate to the right-wing middle class, despite he and his family having relatively low incomes.Laurent Bourdelas, ''Alan Stivell'',

Le Télégramme ''Le Télégramme'' is a French-language daily newspaper from the Brittany region of France, based in the commune of Morlaix. It has been founded in 1944 and still exists to this day, although circulation is experiencing a decline since 2012. His ...

Editions, 2012, p. 22 His wife Fanny encouraged him to resume contact with family members remaining in Brittany. Gradually Georges' interest in Brittany was rekindled, particularly in the Breton movement, of which he had never completely lost sight. One of his passions was in

cabinetmaking A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves and/or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood (so ...

—he made furniture and musical instruments. Furthermore, he played the

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

, the

transverse flute A transverse flute or side-blown flute is a flute which is held horizontally when played. The player blows across the embouchure hole, in a direction perpendicular to the flute's body length. Transverse flutes include the Western concert flute ...

and the

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...

. He tried to recreate the

, an instrument forgotten when the

Duchy of Brittany The Duchy of Brittany ( br, Dugelezh Breizh, ; french: Duché de Bretagne) was a medieval feudal state that existed between approximately 939 and 1547. Its territory covered the northwestern peninsula of Europe, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

lost its independence, at the end of the Middle Ages. He did research about it in the years 1946-1951, increasing his number of meetings and document retrievals, until finally he produced a prototype based on his personal designs. At the age of sixty three, he brought ambition, passion and perfectionism to this work which began in April, 1952 which lasted a year. Fifteen years of work allowed him to create a "perfect and magical harp" according to his son, realizing his dream in the early 1950s. He created, in April 1953, "Telenn gentañ", a harp model equipped with nylon strings. This work was the outcome of much research and calculation. The sound of this harp, as well as the various performances and the recitals by his son Alan, created an enthusiasm for the harp which caused the revival of the instrument in Brittany in the 1950s. In 1959, he harmonized and arranged the pieces of Alan's first record. He produced about twenty copies which in the

Celtic circle A Celtic circle ( br, kelc'h keltiek, french: cercle ) is an association which emphasizes the Breton culture, by using possibly the Breton language. The Celtic circles created before the Second World War had very wide cultural objectives, incl ...

s of

Saint-Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast. The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Alli ...

Redon Redon (; ) is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Geography Redon borders the Morbihan and Loire-Atlantique departments. It is situated at the junction of th ...

. In 1964, he created an instrument inspired by the 15th or 16th century Irish harp, fitted with metallic strings which gave him a tone similar to the twelve-stringed guitar or zither. Jord died on December 20, 1974 in

Saint-Mandé Saint-Mandé () is a high-end Communes of France, commune of the Val-de-Marne Departments of France, department in Île-de-France in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. It is one of the sm ...

(

Val-de-Marne Val-de-Marne (, "Vale of the Marne") is a department of France located in the Île-de-France region. Named after the river Marne, it is situated in the Grand Paris metropolis to the southeast of the City of Paris. In 2019, Val-de-Marne had a pop ...

). In 1976, Alan dedicated his album ''Trema'n Inis'' ("Towards the island") to Georges. His wife died on September 26, 2005 in

Limeil-Brévannes Limeil-Brévannes () is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Geography Climate Limeil-Brévannes has a oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification ''Cfb''). The average annual temp ...

(Val-de-Marne) at the age of 102. Alan paid tribute to her with the song "Over there, over there" on the album ''Explores'' in 2006. Both rest in the cemetery of Gourin, following the wishes of Georges.

Family tree

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cochevelou, Georges Musicians from Paris 1889 births 1974 deaths Breton music French harpists Breton musicians