Well for this post I have to say I am 100% biased and obviously the artist is amazing (this is family and you don’t want to make a bigoudène angry 🙂 )
Subjectivity aside, the traditional bigouden songbook or chansons traditionelles du pays bigouden from Gilles Goyat is likely to be the one and only proof of the traditional breton songs in this region.
Donatien Laurent interviewed and recorded Catherine Madec in 1960s, a Bigoudene from Plozevet, who only spoke Breton and still knew many of the Breton songs from the first world war era by heart. For people who don’t know much about Brittany, Breton is a spoken language, not often written and at risk of disappearing in the coming years. I will not discuss here the good or bad of this situation, I just hope some of its folklore will not be forgotten and music is indeed part of it.
The book includes a CD of Catherine Madec singing, it is quite an experience for me to listen to the voice of my great grandmother. I can tell you the singing is also very authentic, no arrangements or auto tuning in the background!
This book is our history and even if these songs are no longer used, I believe they can still inspire future artists, this is my message in a bottle 🙂
Needless to say this book only covers a minuscule part of the rich music heritage and artists Brittany has, other articles will follow.
