Artist Bio:
The resurgence of Brittany's Celtic heritage can be directly traced to the life's work of the brilliant folklorist, harpist, piper and singer-composer Alan Stivell (né Cochevelou). Until he came along, the province's ancient language and culture were moribund almost to the point of extinction. Most of the inhabitants were not even aware that their native Brittany (Bretagne in French, Breizh in Breton,), which is located on the western coast of France, was one of the original six Celtic homelands.
Alan Stivell was born on January 6, 1944, in Riom, France. He made his debut while he was still a child, performing on a harp reconstructed from a medieval Irish prototype by his trailblazing father, Jord. The boy studied classical harp and piano while learning the Breton language and immersing himself in the area's history, mythology and arts. Having mastered the bombarde (a local member of the shawm/oboe family) and the biniou (a type of Breton bagpipe,) he formed the Bagad Bleimor, an ensemble not unlike a Scottish bagpipe band. His debut album, Telenn Geltiek (Celtic Harp in Breton) was released in 1960.
After his father had built him a more authentic wire-strung harp, which was both louder and capable of electrification, Stivell began performing in nightclubs, festivals and at events staged by Breton cultural organizations. As his fame grew, he was invited to open for the Moody Blues in London, but by the '70s he was ready to claim his place in his country's musical history. His second recording, Reflets (1970), yielded his earliest hits and attracted younger Bretons to the cause. But his ground-breaking release was Renaissance de la Harpe Celtique (1971), a lushly beautiful, mystical fantasy that not only presaged the New Age and Celtic Twilight genres (for better or worse) but took Brittany, France and the world by surprise and, ultimately, by storm. Renaissance was succeeded by a wealth of other recordings, many of which featured material from Ireland and Scotland plus increasingly daring intercultural experiments. But although Stivell had put Breton traditional music on the map, confused record store clerks, for whom "Celtic" still meant Ireland and Scotland, sometimes filed his works under the wrong country.
In 1972, accompanied by Breton rock guitarist Dan Ar Braz, singer Gabriel Yacoub (who would later found the folk group Malicorne) and Michel Santangeli, a rock drummer, Stivell performed a hugely popular concert at the Olympia Theater in Paris. The subsequent live album sold 1.5 million copies. In 1973, the English publication Melody Maker named his Chemin de Terre best album of the year; other notable high points of the decade include the charmingly intimate E Langonned (1974) and Trema'n Inis (To the Island in Breton; 1976), which consisted of Stivell's and his late father's arrangements of Breton poetry. By the '80s, the vogue for folk-based styles had faded a bit, but Terre des Vivants (1981) Légende (1983) and Harpe du Nouvel Age (1985) kept the flame alive.
By the '90s there was a renewal of interest in his work. The Martin Meissonnier-produced Brian Boru (1995) was a watershed release and critical favorite. His 19th album, 1 Douar (One Earth, 1998), featured duets with Senegalese superstar Youssou N'Dour, Algerian rai figurehead Cheb Khaled, Jim Kerr of the Scottish rock group Simple Minds and Paddy Moloney of the Chieftains. This was followed by Back to Breizh (2000), in which Stivell incorporated cutting edge electronica and beats, and Au-delà des Mots ( "Beyond Words, 2002).
A good place to begin with Stivell's huge discography is Zoom (Dreyfus), a two-CD compilation that's a one-stop overview that includes much of Renaissance de la Harpe Celtique and also covers his later career. —Christina Roden
