It may sound a bit like a movie script. And actually it could be, those are some of the themes of the story of Pedro and Inês, a Portuguese medieval love story turned into a myth. We started to explore the story in last release in the song Gwerz Inês with the precious and wonderful contribution of Sten that wrote a beautiful lament that really sounds like one written centuries ago.
Because of the complexity of Inês story, we had to chose an “episode”, and gwerz Inês is indeed the murder of Inês. But while working together, we felt we wanted to bring the story further. We’ve been reflecting on the ambiance, the story, the sounds and instruments we’d love to tell more about this story.
Looking at last album poster that shows some of the details of lyrics written by Sten
No musician is luckiest that we are to have such a dedicated and talented author with whom working is liberating, with whom we can work in a crazy and passionate way! Finding someone that shares the same love and passion for Breton tunes and stories is a blessing!
We’re about to leave East Anglia to head do Wales for our first gigs ever there, at Folk on The Lawn festival – this is Breton language, hopefully after 3 days there we might be able to speak 2-3 words of Welsh!
11/07/2015, River Stage, Llwyfan Yr Afon, 9.10pm
12/07/2015, River Stage, Llwyfan Yr Afon, 2.45pm
Normally in Brittany, it is possible, acceptable, usual to wish “happy new year”… until the 31st of January! But since we have many other things – including music and video – to share in the up-coming days, we’ll start with a short message – and a cool new inside!
§ Yann & Simone
Your friends might thank you for letting them know about our music !
This video is indeed a kind of making-offof our last video recording for Barzh an Ifern (You still can watch it >here<).
Lyrics are traditional from Brittany (and as usual in #Breton language). A bachelor is complaining about the way girls are nowadays, not willing to stay home but rather going to school or partying. Composed at least… 100 years ago ! (full English translation and more facts >here<)
The final Live part is from the song “Barzh an Ifern”, in Marseille (south of France), March the 15th, 2014, in Equitable Café (crazy ambiance that night as you can hear from the sound!)
One of our goals is to get ALL the songs from our album available on our YouTube channel, (if you are a regular user of YouTube, you can subscribe here, that way you’ll easily get notified from our new videos)… And we’re almost half-way 😉
Enjoy, and if you enjoy it, please share around!
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41.00527028.976960
Your friends might thank you for letting them know about our music !
We didn’t even know it existed, but it does! A method for English speakers to learn Breton language!
We haven’t tried or even seen it, if anyone has any feedback, we’ll share it around most definitely. >Here is an Amazon link<, it’s even cheap (about 20€):
41.00527028.976960
Your friends might thank you for letting them know about our music !
[ lyrics, translation & facts for the last song from our album >here< ]
This song is a really really famous one, all over Brittany although it is originally from the Vannes area (>google map<). The dance itself is quite simple. The song is usually called by the 1st sentence of the lyrics, “du-hont ar ar manez““over the mountain/hills“. Indeed, the Breton word for mountain may be used for hill as well, they aren’t any huge high mountains, highest point is 380 meters (yes !) at the Mont Saint Michel de Brasparts.
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Yann transformed the initial dance rhythm by adding a 7th beat. To be more technical it was a 6/4 and it was turned into 7/4.
Music & Lyrics: traditional
Instruments : acoustic & electric guitar, acoustic & electric saz
Rythme : hanter-dro dance with an extra beat
In case you had miss it, here is the video from that song that you may listen to while reading further. In case you hadn’t? Well take a chance to enjoy it once more!!!
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The Vannes area has a particular Breton dialect, for linguistics lovers, the stress on the words and sentences tend to be on the last syllable, a bit like in French but unlike the other dialects from Brittany – and for non linguistics lovers, well, it does have a huge impact on the beat and the rhythm of the songs. Some words are also spelt
Du-hont, du-hont, àr ar manez ez eus ur verjelenn
Berjelenn e c’houarn he deñved a sonas ur sonenn.
On the top of the hills there’s a shepherdess While she’s taking care of her herd, she’s singing a song
Mabig ar roue he selaoue hag he selaoue mat
Na dre ar fenestr uhellañ ‘oe e palez e dad
The son of the king listen to her, and he listens well From the highest window of his dad’s castle
Sonet, sonet, berjelennig, kar me ‘gav brav ho son
O na raktal pan he c’hlevan e rejoui ma c’halon
Sing, sing young shepherdess, since I like your song , And when I hear it my heart is full of joy
Nompas, nompas, denig yaouank, me ne ganin ket ken
Kar me ‘meus ur breur en arme hag a ra din anken
Oh no, young man, I won’t sing any longer Since I have a brother gone to the army, which makes me sad
Ouian ket mard eo beuzet er mor, pe lazhet en arme
Kaset em eus un evnig rouz da c’houiet e zoare
I don’t know whether he drowned in the see or if he died at the army I’ve sent a little red bird to hear about him
Mar da ma breur ha dont en-dro me ‘vo-me begulez
Mar da ma breur ha chom en dour me ‘vo-me minourez.
If my brother is to come back I’ll have children If my brother drowns in the waters I’ll be orphan
This is as usual a personal translation, with emphasis on the meaning than on the exact-correct-official translation
§ Simone
41.00527028.976960
Your friends might thank you for letting them know about our music !
Which means, from a linguistic point of view, it is a language, with its own own specific grammar, syntax and vocabulary, and not a dialect derived from French. Of course, it contains many words derived from French, just like French also has some words from Breton.
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– 2 – Breton is a Celtic Language
Where French is a Latin language, Breton is from the Celtic branch of Indo-European languages, and is related to Welsh and Cornish (‘P’ Celtic languages) as well as to Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx (to a certain extend…).
When we look at old Cornish grammars (the last person speaking fluently the language is said to have died in 1777 – although there are groups of “neo-Cornish-speakers”), it really is very similar to modern Breton.
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Celtic languages family
– 3 – Breton is a written language
Just because it is not an official language ( it is the only spoken Celtic language that isn’t recognised as an official or regional language), it is not taught in most schools doesn’t mean it can not be written. And indeed it has been written for centuries, The Leyde Manuscript (790) being a well-know example of old Breton.
Last official survey in 2007 indicates that 206000 people in Brittany speak Breton (out of the 4,3 Million inhabitants in the province). In 1999, 61% of them were over 60 years.
More recent sources >here< (in French, but numbers are quite easy to understand 🙂 )
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– 5 – 14 709 children get education in Breton at school
In 2012-13, 14 709pupils (from age 3-18) get to study in Breton, within 3 systems:
Diwan: private schools with 100% teaching in Breton (except French and foreign languages)
Kanañ [‘kã:nã] is “to sing”, you can find it in the first sentence of >1932<, and other words from the same roots like in >barzh an ifern<, kanaouenn, song, used in plural, kanaouennoù. This is also where the “kan” from Astrakan comes from, meaning singing. More about it in the >FAQ< section.
Berjelenn : is a Shepherdess (or also maybe a cow-girl 🙂 ) you’ll find this word in many Breton songs, and sometimes even in their titles. She’s taking care of sheep but also of cows. The word however never appears in Breton dictionaries, it might be because it’s from French origins, but anyway, this is the word I most commonly use, and songs too! You can find a nice love story between a Shepherdess and a Prince in this video from >7 Hills< with all the lyrics hand-written. On stage we also play another song called Berjelennig lazhed, or the murdered little shepherdess.
Yaouank [‘jɔwãŋk] : young, it is found very often in typical sentences like “young and old people, listen to my song”, but also in in >3 Martolod an Orient<, in >1932<, in >barzh an ifern<, in this last song it’s the word “yaouankiz” that is used, for youth. It’s a very common word in Breton, and even people that don’t know Breton know it, maybe also because of a very well known fest-noz band from the 90’s called Ar Re Yaouank (the young ones)
Marv [marw] : death, we have a certain addiction to sad songs, and they are also quite common in Breton culture, so, this word is also to be found a lot… In >Pemp Bolot<, a few times for example. On stage we also play a very famous song called “Marv eo ma Mestrez“, my beloved is dead.
Kalon [‘ka:lɔ̃n] : a beautiful word meaning heart, used in most of songs, like our >Kreñv ‘veld ar garantez<, >Pemp Bolot<, >1932< and also >O Soñjal<, in this last song, the exact word used is “kalonad“, which basically is “the content of your heart”, in that case fear and sadness.
§ Simone
41.00527028.976960
Your friends might thank you for letting them know about our music !
[ lyrics, translation & facts for the 7th song from our album >here< ]
We’ve played this song for many years, in fest-noz (breton balrooms). The dance itself is called kas a-barh, and it has origins in the south of Brittany (in the Vannes area). The rhythm is similar to many traditional dances from various places in Europe and in the Balkans.
Traditionally in that area of Brittany, the assembly will repeat the lyrics after the leader while dancing. Our way to add extra voices however is more influenced by the time we recorded it, in Shiroka Laka, a small mountain village from the Bulgarian Rodopi Mountains. During our breaks we used to watch Folk TV. The result then of course doesn’t sound Bulgarian at all, maybe more Albanian?
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Because of these voices, we named the song “mouezhioù” which means “voices”. Indeed, most of Breton songs, unlike Irish ones, don’t have any official title, we tend to refer to them by the beginning of the first verse, this one being referred to as “pa garche ma mamm”
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Music & Lyrics: traditional
Instruments : guitar, darbuka
Rythme : kas a-barh dance.
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Pa garche ma mamm ha ma zad / Ma’m behe bet ur chansig vat
Ma’m behe bet ur chansig vat / Ma’m behe mab un avokat
Ma’m behe mab un avokat / Breman m’eus bet un astralhuiad
Breman m’eus bet un astralhuiad / Na oar na devoam nag arad
Na oar na devoam nag arad / Med konduin e c’har a c’huitellad
Med konduin e c’har a c’huitellad / Monet d’en davarn mintin mat
Ha leun an ti a vugale / Pevar ar bank pemb e gwele
Pevar ar bank pemb e gwele / C’hoaz a vo c’hoaz ma vez danvez
C’hoaz a vo c’hoaz ma vez danvez / Ya ma bez bolontez Doue
Ya ma bez bolontez Doue / Bolontez an dud gwech a vez
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If my mother and father had wanted to / I would have been more chanceful
I would have been more chanceful / I had married a lawyer
I had married a lawyer / Now I’m with a drunkard
Now I’m with a drunkard / He doesn’t know how to plow a field
He doesn’t know how to plow a field / But he drives his wagon and whistles
But he drives his wagon and whistles / And goes to the pub early in the morning
And the house is full of kids / Four on the bench and five more on the bed
Four on the bench and five more on the bed / And there will be more if there is willingness
And there will be more if there is willingness / Or if it’s God’s will
Or if it’s God’s will / And also people’s will sometimes
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Notes: As usual, it’s a personal translation, with no attempt to translate the poetic style, it might not be fully accurate, the purpose is more to give an idea about what it is.
41.00527028.976960
Your friends might thank you for letting them know about our music !
