Alan Stivell

To tell the musician, people who are not familiar with his work (perhaps you still belong to them) is not easy. Nevertheless: Alan Stivell is one of the greatest musicians in the history of folk music and, of course, an outstanding figure in the whole of modern music (not bad for a start, daN). If you are up to that point had never heard his name, . this does not mean, . that the authors exaggerate his merit or if you know a bad in music: The genre itself, . which works Stivell, . not provide the popularity of Michael Jackson or Frank Sinatra,
. However, if you ask about it in any specialist in the field of folk music, or just a person well versed in music, then most likely you will hear at least a respectful tip.

Alan Stivell (Alan Stivell) was born in January 6, 1946, in the town of Riom in Auvergne, where his parents emigrated from Brittany during the Second World War. Shortly after his birth, his family moved to Paris. Father Alan, Jordi Koshevelu (Jord Cochevelou), was an unusual man. Easy employee of the Ministry of Finance, he devoted all his spare time, that as a matter of his life - the reconstruction and rebuilding of the Celtic harp in Brittany, where this noble instrument by that time disappeared. Enthusiasm Jordy bear fruit - after several years of hard work, he collected his first harp. "When my father pulled the first string, I was mesmerized by its sound" - says Alan Stivell. Thus, from early childhood, Alan came into contact with the instrument, which he will devote his life. Even in the age of eight, he began a small speech in public, and his father, at the same time, seeking funds for the release of harps. The foundation was laid!

With age, Alan is expanding its horizons, takes an interest in gelskoy music. He masters the art of playing the Scottish bagpipes in Glasgow, then in Paris, taking part in Bagadi Bleymor (Bagadi - an analogue of the Scottish Pipe Band, Breton volynochny Orchestra).

. These events occurred at the beginning of the 60-ies - a revolutionary time for music
. "In my mind hovered thought Breton folk-rock". Alan writes several sorokopyatok and LP - "Telenn Geltiek". He met with the musicians of Moody Blues, who offered him his first branch in concert. So, in 1968, Alan Stivell arrives in London that would address the Concert Hall Queen Elizabeth Hall.

In 1972, out of his second album - "Renaissance de la harpe celtique", which won grand prize at the Academy Charles Cross. In the same year held a legendary concert at the Olympia - the first triumph Stivella, a symbol of rebirth and recognition of Breton culture in the XX century.

. Performance in the Concert Hall "Olympia" is not in vain dubbed the "Celtic Woodstock": this epithet very vividly conveys the atmosphere that prevailed February 28, 1972, at the main concert stage France
. Young, . move from various parts of Europe, . including those from Ireland, . Wales, . Scotland, . naturally, . Brittany, . danced around the room, . vigorously supporting their peers, . who performed the music of the Celtic world to the accompaniment of instruments inherent in both rock, . and folk music,
. "In the 70's," Olympia "was even more authoritative meaning than today. Playing there was the coronation. The repertoire, which we submitted was Breton, Irish and Scottish, and supplemented some of my compositions. But as most things were Breton traditional melodies, arranged in a new way, Bretons could believe that they were themselves on the stage of "Olympia". Then it was feeling conquest of Paris, France. And it was not with arms, but with the harp, which was even cooler! "- Says Alan Stivell.

This concert was broadcast music department of radio station "Europe I". In Brittany, thousands of people gathered in bars and cafes that would together hear the speech of their fellow. The concert was recorded and published under the title: "Olympia Concert". In Europe, it sold a half million copies of this album. He remains the absolute best-seller among Celtic music. However, its main merit is not the point, but the fact that this is the concert raised keltomanii wave that struck Europe and America in the 60-70 years of our century.

Thus, further. Stivell began actively touring around the world, while continuing to studio work. Until the late 70's, he released several albums (one per year!), Which follows two main directions: a "clean" Breton Folk (E Langonned) and folk-rock (Chemins de Terre). However, in 1980, should be the next major milestone in the work of a musician, was marked by a shift in its sound: Simphonie celtique (Tir Na Nog). Indeed, on this album is no longer the familiar sequence of songs, the music is almost continuous rampart, and in the sound palette, there are several choirs and instruments inherent in the symphonic, folk and rock music. And this time Stivell uses folk instruments not only Celtic, or, as he did, the Indian, but also instruments from other countries and continents. Typical conceptual side of the disc - the unity of folk cultures of the planet Earth and the negation of the primacy of the ethnic majority over the minority. Generally, these two themes can be traced throughout Stivella creativity, ideas, so to speak, heralds of the future concept of world-music.

In 1993, Alan released the album "Again", where there are new versions of his old "rebels": "Tri martolod", "Suite sudarmoricaine", "Ian Morrisson reel", etc.. In recording this album he helped Kate Bush and Shane McGowan.

By the end of the 90's, in the work of a musician more clearly be seen a tendency to world-music. In 1998, the album goes "I Douar" (One Earth), which establishes a reputation as a musician one of the founders and leaders of this genre. Some fans of orthodox folk, criticized Stivella for "a departure from pure folk sound". This is a question of a separate study and you are entitled to them to do. Listen, look, make your conclusions ...

PS. In March 2000, came another artist's CD: "Back to Breizh".