The doorbell rings, I open the door and it’s the mailman with a package in his hand addressed to me. While trying to identify the package and the sender, I notice French stamps, I scramble across to my room and open the package finding a nicely bubble wrapped bright yellow coloured Agfa cassette tape inside.
I pop it into the player and a French voice (speaking English in a French accent) addresses me by my name. It’s Catherine’s voice, my pen friend (a Breton) with whom I had been communicating for almost five years. She sent me a cassette with a compilation of her favourite songs. The first piece was an instrumental, a very melodious and lively tune. I had hit the rewind button three times before going on to the next track. Looking through the package I find a note with list of songs jotted down, the first track on the cassette as indicated was POP PLINN by Alan Stivell.
The account given is not from yesterday, but 29 years ago, going back all the way to 1975, I was a 16-year-old lad then. This is when I first learnt about an artist by the name of Alan Stivell. The bright yellow cassette is still with me, kept as a souvenir reminding me of the carefree and good ole’ days. Later I was to learn that this tune was a turning point in the artist’s career, it was a combination of fusion/rock/pop/folk which appealed to a very large audience, both the younger generation as well as, ahem, not so young. Many of us assume that harp has a place only in a concert orchestra and is played as one of the instruments in the background. This fine album is very well poised to disproving that notion.
ON ALAN STIVELL AND ORIGINS OF THE HARP
Alan Cochevelou was born on January 6th, 1944, in a family originally from Gourin in Brittany. His first musical influences were purely classical when he took up Piano lessons and instructions on harp with Denice Megevand at the age of 5.
His father, Georges Cochevelou (Kozh-stivelloù), which in Breton means, ’’old spring’’, a master craftsman, was the driving force in bringing the Celtic harp back into use in Brittany. No one had used the Celtic harp in Brittany for centuries, Georges had it in his mind to come up with a harp that would be specifically Breton. In the early middle ages, it was the same culture from Scotland to Brittany to Ireland, so the harp itself was not much different from one country to another. The Celtic harp disappeared in Brittany about the time of the end of Breton’s independence, around the fifteenth or sixteenth century. So in 1953 Georges at the age of 64 remade the ancient Breton Celtic harp. The actual working on Georges part of recreating the Celtic harp started sometime during the year 1942 and it took him almost ten years to accomplish what he wanted to do. The ancient Celtic harp was reborn. It was Alan who was the first for four centuries to make the Breton harp resonate again.
The young Alan was awestruck by the beauty of the instrument and what it was capable of producing. He fell in love with the harp his father had made for him. He went on to give the first public recital on Celtic harp (solo) in the same year his father made it at the tender age of 9. He also studied the Breton bombardon (bagpipes), Breton Dances, language and subsequently achieving fame amongst the people of Brittany when he was awarded several first prizes during Breton folk festivals. He went from town to town, making the old and young dance. He was on his way to becoming a master harpist.
HOW MANY TRACKS ON THE CD?
I thought it would be appropriate to mention here that some may find it disappointing that there are only 5 tracks on this CD. In fact, the last track on the CD actually comprises of 11 tracks merged together. The total track time is 6 seconds short of 19 minutes. I have listed the five tracks and for the sake of convenience indicated the titles of the merged tracks on the last one. Some of his other CD’s feature these titles as individual tracks.
Ys
Marv Pontkalleg
Ap Huw Penllyn
Eliz Iza
Gaeltacht
(I) Caitlin Triall (Irish Melody)
(II) Port Ui Mhuirgheasa (Irish jig)
(III) Airde Cuan (Irish Melody)
(IV) Na Reubairean (Scottish Melody)
(V) Manx Melody
(VI) Heman Dubh (Isles of Hebrides songs)
(VII) Gaelic Waltz (Traditional Scottish waltz)
(VIII) Struan Robertson (Scottish Straspey)
(IX) The Little Cascade (Scottish dance, reel)
(X) Braigh Loch Lall (Scottish Melody)
(XI) Port An Deorai
INSTRUMENTS FEATURED ON THE CD
Alan Stivell
Breton Celtic Harp, Irish Flute, Scottish bagpipes and Breton Bombardon.
Accompanying musicians:
Michel Delaporte: Percussions-tablas
Guy Cascales: Drums
Gérard Levavasseur and Gérard Salkowsky: Bass
Dan Ar Braz: Electric and Acoustic Guitars
Gilles Tynaire: Organ
Yann-Fanch Ar Merdy: Scottish Drums
Mig Ar Biz/Alan Kloatr: Bombardon
Jean Huchot/Henri Delagarde/Manuel Recassens: Cello
Stéphane Wiener/Gabriel Beauvais/Paul Hadjaje/Pierre Cheval: Viola
Jean-Marc Dollez: Double Bass
Anne Germain/Claude Germain/Jean-Claude Briodin/Françoise Wall/Jacques Hendrix/Danielle Bartolleti: Backing Vocals
HOW THE CD SOUNDED?
On one of my trips to Japan I had the pleasure of listening to a harp being played by a beautiful young lady with no accompanying instruments (solo) from few feet away. It was Vivaldi’s ’’Four Seasons’’, a composition very popular with the Japanese. Knowing what a harp sounds like in its pure form and in reality even though it was not the Celtic harp, I’d say that the natural ambience and delicate sound of the harp is captured on this album very beautifully. Recording a solo harp is one of the most daunting tasks for any recording engineer. On the other hand, getting the audio system to reproduce the sound of harp faithfully is equally frustrating. If you need to perform maintenance of your system, a harp is an instrument of choice for finding out which screws need to be tightened! You will be surprised how many of them are loose once the harp starts to resonate. On equipment capable of bringing out the last ounce of detail, a very slight hiss can be noticed, only on certain very quite passages where the harp is the only instrument playing, that too if heard very, very carefully. I personally did not find it disturbing in any way whatsoever and I am sure most would not even notice it. At times, if you are really engrossed, the sound of the harp will be like a breath of fresh air.
I have five Alan Stivell albums in my collection and if I were asked to recommend another album of Alan Stivell to complement ’’Renaissance of the Celtic Harp’’, it would be ’’Harp of the New Age’’, recorded and mastered in digital domain. This album is actually a sequel to ’’Renaissance?..’’ and is a solo effort by Alan Stivell, which also features the newer electro-acoustic harps built by him. You can actually revitalise your soul by sprinkling some of the music from this album.
CONCLUSION
On several occasions I have come across websites featuring graphics where angels are depicted playing the harp in heavenly surroundings. Could it be that the angels, from amongst all the known instruments, prefer the harp? Well, we may never know. Nevertheless, harp is an instrument that at times, I believe, is featured in one’s dreams. ’’Renaissance of the Celtic Harp’’ is perfectly suited to be the soundtrack of your dreams.
Thank you for dropping by and reading what I write.
All text Copyright Quadophile 2004