Traditional music and dance
Music, song and dance have always been an integral part of Breton culture. In the rural society of the 19th and early 20th centuries, weddings, festivals and pardons, as well as winter evenings, work in the fields, threshing, harvesting and other collective chores, were all occasions for singing and dancing. These include kan ha diskan, those bewitching dance songs typical of Basse-Bretagne, a cappella and tiled: the second singer repeats the words of the first, starting on the last syllables. As for gwerzioù, these laments recounting tragic events, handed down from generation to generation, are usually reserved for evening gatherings, while the songs of sailors lull Bretons to sleep even in the countryside. On special occasions, sonneurs(sonerien in Breton, sonnou in Gallo), village musicians, play the biniou and bombarde in Finistère and Morbihan, the violin and hurdy-gurdy in Ille-et-Vilaine and Côtes-d'Armor, the clarinet in Central Brittany and the accordion just about everywhere.
In addition to the pleasure it offers, dancing is a way to unwind after hard work. It is also used to encourage the creation of a dirt floor inside the house, or a threshing floor in the yard. Gavotte in Cornouaille, ridées in Léon, plinn in Centre-Bretagne, en dro and hanter dro in Pays vannetais, quadrilles and avant-deux in Haute-Bretagne... Each country, indeed each village, has its own style of dance and its own musical particularities.
Fest-noz and bagad: time for reconstruction
The 20th century, with its upheavals in society, turned rural society upside down and damaged its cultural heritage. At the same time, however, a great movement of reappropriation took shape. Numerous field surveys were carried out to collect traditional dances, music and songs. The first Celtic circles sprang up between the wars, especially among the Bretons of Paris. These folk groups revived dances and costumes, and played a major role in preserving and passing on Breton culture to new generations. At the end of the 1940s, Breton activists invented the bagad, inspired by the tradition of Scottish pipers and pipe bands, then very much in vogue across the Channel. It consists of four sections: in addition to the essential biniou-bombarde duo, there are Scottish snare drums and percussion. Bagadoùs soon became very popular.
Fest-noz ("night party" in Breton) was born in the mid-1950s, thanks to Loeiz Ropars, a teacher with a passion for Breton culture. In his central Breton village of Poullaouen, he organized the first modern festoù-noz, a cross between the old peasant festivals and popular dances, with paid admission, refreshment stands and live music. The formula quickly spread throughout Brittany and the diaspora. It wasn't long before the Bal Breton had its stars: the Goadec sisters, stars of kan ha diskan, and the Morvan brothers, who have racked up over 3,000 singing tours in a 61-year career, from 1958 to 2019, from the smallest village festoù-noz to the biggest festivals like Les Vieilles Charrues.
The Breton cultural renaissance
In the 1970s, Alan Stivell revolutionized Breton music, resurrecting the mythical Celtic harp and composing a fusion of Celtic influences, folk rock and world music, of which he was one of the forerunners. His success was phenomenal, with young people in Brittany and abroad. On February 28, 1972, his legendary concert at the Olympia is considered a founding event of the Celtic vogue. In the post-May 1968 wind of liberation, this decade saw the emergence of a whole new generation of Breton musicians who reappropriated traditions to offer original creations, blending Celtic roots and modern influences: folk singer Gilles Servat and his Blanche Hermine, guitarist Dan Ar Braz and his ensemble L'Héritage des Celtes, folk-rock groups Tri Yann and Sonerien Du, pianist Didier Squiban, who blends Breton music with jazz and classical, clarinettist Erik Marchand, who collaborates with electro and Balkan artists, and singer and ethnomusicologist Yann-Fañch Kemener, renovator of gwerz and kan ha diskan... A little later came rock groups such as Red Cardell and Ar Re Yaouank, and artists such as Denez Prigent, who didn't hesitate to combine gwerz with electro.
Breton music has thus managed to perpetuate and regenerate itself. At the start of the 21st century, it is still very much alive and in tune with the times. Celtic circles and bagadoù are still going strong, competing in major competitions and performing at festivals such as Guingamp's Saint-Loup, Quimper's Cornouaille, Concarneau's Filets Bleus and, of course, Lorient's Interceltique. Far from simply reproducing the old models, they demonstrate their creativity and contribute to the vitality of Breton culture. The festoù-noz, which are still very numerous, remain popular events, mixing generations and offering a springboard to the young Breton scene. Festoù-noz bands cover a wide range of styles, from pure tradition to Celtic punk with Ramoneurs de menhirs, world music with 'Ndiaz, electro with Plantec, Gallo rap with Krismenn and Beat Bouet Trio, polyphonic singing with Barba Loutig... Other artists such as rock groups Matmatah and Soldat Louis, rappers Manau and singer Nolwenn Leroy also draw inspiration from Breton music.
The lively Rennes rock scene
In the late 1970s and 1980s, Rennes became the capital of French rock. The student town, lulled by the new wave coming from neighbouring England, experienced a musical effervescence and saw talent blossom: the pioneers of Marquis de Sade, Etienne Daho, les Nus, Dominique Sonic, Niagara, Pascal Obispo... In 1979, the Trans Musicales festival was created: initially a showcase for Rennes rock, it went on to reveal French and international stars before they became household names, such as Noir Désir, Mano Negra, Nirvana, Björk and Portishead.
The Rennes scene had a strong influence on French rock. Today, it is more diverse, still marked by rock, but also featuring hip-hop and electro. At the other end of the peninsula, on the Brest side, two other emblematic figures of current Breton music passed through Rennes rock before branching off: Christophe Miossec, a singer-songwriter rooted in Brest, is one of those who have revitalized French chanson, with his raw lyrics and rock melodies. Yann Tiersen, a genius composer and multi-instrumentalist based in Ouessant, made his name with the soundtrack toAmélie Poulain.
A flood of festivals
The Bretons' passion for music and festivities is also expressed in today's festivals. The region is fertile in this respect: from small local festivals to big machines, there are countless events, especially in fine weather. And there's something for every taste: traditional music (Yaouank in Rennes, Festival de Cornouaille in Quimper), world music (Bout du monde in Crozon, Festival du Chant de marin in Paimpol), electro (Astropolis in Brest), jazz (Jazz en ville in Vannes, Jazz à l'ouest in Rennes), classical (Lanvellec early music festival, Fougères musicales), pure rock (Binic folks blues, Route du rock in Saint-Malo, Motocultor in Carhaix) or general (Trans Musicales in Rennes, Art rock in Saint-Brieuc, Fête du Bruit in Landerneau)... And let's not forget the two heavyweights, the Festival interceltique in Lorient, which attracts some 800,000 people over 10 days, and the Vieilles Charrues in Carhaix, France's biggest festival with some 300,000 festival-goers over 4 days. It has to be said that Brittany gave birth to France's first major rock festival: Elixir. Nicknamed the "Breton Woodstock", this touring event was born in 1979 and died in 1987, hosting such big names as The Clash and Leonard Cohen, and inspiring many of the festivals that followed in its wake.
A strong theatrical tradition
Brittany is home to some 750 amateur troupes and 450 professional companies. This vitality can be explained by history: from the end of the 19th century onwards, the clergy encouraged sporting and artistic activities, particularly theater, to occupy their flock's free time with healthy activities. Lay patronages responded by taking to the stage. This competition fosters the growth of amateur troupes. It was on this fertile ground that modern Breton theater was built. In 1949, on the initiative of the Compagnie des jeunes comédiens, an amateur troupe based in Rennes, the Centre dramatique de l'ouest was created, which toured the region presenting both classical and contemporary repertoire. The Centre soon joined forces with the Maison de la Culture de Rennes, created in 1968 as part of the cultural decentralization campaign launched by André Malraux. The two structures merged in 1990 to become the Théâtre national de Bretagne. A regional jewel in the crown of the dramatic arts, it organizes a renowned annual festival that combines theater, dance, circus and other performances. The Breton capital also boasts an opera house and a national choreographic center. Apart from Rennes, the region also boasts a number of venues dedicated to the performing arts: the Théâtre de Lorient, a national drama center; the national stages of Le Quartz in Brest, La Passerelle in Saint-Brieuc and Théâtre de Cornouaille in Quimper; Le Carré magique in Lannion, dedicated to the circus arts; Le Fourneau in Brest, devoted to the street arts... Festivals such as Les Rias in Quimperlé, Théâtre en Rance in Dinan and Les Tombées de la nuit in Rennes are also sure to please fans.
