Alan Stivell - Tir Na Nog: Symphonie Celtique (1979)

Alan Stivell - Tir Na Nog: Symphonie Celtique (1979)
EAC Rip | APE, image+cue, log / 470 mb | Mp3 CBR 320Kbps / 178 mb | 16 tracks | Covers
Celtic / Breton Folk | Keltia III KE3 101 | RAR 3% Rec. | Time: 1:08:53 | FileSonic, FileServe, Uploaded

It's a very hard work to describe sufficiently. Broadly, it holds a three- movement structure. Within each phase are different strands, each leading from one mood to another. The opening half of this work is majestic and stately- huge flowing tapestries of gorgeous tonalities. The final suite is one big party. Beyond that, I'm afraid, my words can't any further help you. You'll have to do yourself a favour and hear it with your own ears




The great Brazilian genius of sound, Hermeto Pascoal, talks about his work not as Jazz or Samba or Fusion, but as Universal music. I think this is the only correct term for the marvelous Symphonie Celtique. Though it uses the materials of Stivell's original Breton folk- rock alloy, (its instruments and themes,) this work goes beyond all the rest of that genre as a rocket goes beyond the planet's gravity.

It's a very hard work to describe sufficiently. Broadly, it holds a three- movement structure. Within each phase are different strands, each leading from one mood to another. (A real advantage of the CD over the vinyl is that this flow need not be interrupted by having to turn the disc over) The opening half of this work is majestic and stately- huge flowing tapestries of gorgeous tonalities. The final suite is one big party. Beyond that, I'm afraid, my words can't any further help you. You'll have to do yourself a favour and hear it with your own ears

All I can helpfully add now is that there are very slight changes to the CD edit from the record; a short section has been cut from what was side three. But I feel it is an improvement to the pacing of the piece as a whole. And finally, it's very nice, in a CD, to get a proper lyric book, containing all the many languages sung in their original scripts, just as came in the LP, but with some Stivell original texts (in French,) added.

The Rower, Amazon




If there is a single savior of Celtic music, Alan Stivell is probably it. Since the end of the 1960s, he has done more to revive interest in the Celtic (specifically Breton) harp than anyone in the world and, in the process, almost singlehandedly made the world aware of native Breton Celtic music. Since 1971, he has been recording albums of extraordinary beauty and diversity, ranging from ancient Breton and Irish material to modern folk-rock and progressive rock.

He was born Alan Cochevelou, the son of a harp-maker. His father was the rediscoverer of the Breton harp, but he started his musical life on a somewhat more conventional instrument, taking up the piano at age five. He was given a harp by his father at age nine, and studied for the next several years under the direction of his father and Ms. D. Megevand, a concert harpist, freely mixing classical repertoire and arrangements of Breton, English, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh folk material.

Stivell was playing concerts at age 11, and he began taking up the more general study of traditional popular Celtic music, including the Scottish bagpipes, drum, Irish flute, and tin whistle, while in his teens. He ultimately became well-versed in all of these and won honors in national piping competitions in Scotland, and chose the professional name of Stivell, the Breton word meaning fountain, spring, or source. By the age of 21, while studying for his degree in English, he became an established folk musician, recording songs to his own harp accompaniment. While his singing is less effective than his harp or bagpipe playing, his voice is expressive, and most of his albums feature a mix of vocal and instrumental music. In 1967, he formed a group consisting of himself on harp, bagpipes, and Irish flute and Dan Ar Bras on electric guitar, backed by bass and drums. He released several albums during this period, including Reflections (1971), A l'Olympia (1972), Chemins de Terre (1972), Celtic Rock (1972), and E. Lagonned (1976). He left the group in the mid-'70s to concentrate exclusively on a solo career -- by this time, he had become a major influence on a multitude of folk-rock musicians with his interweaving of electric and traditional instruments.

During the early '70s, he acquired a popular following in France and England. By the mid-'70s Americans -- and not only those of Irish or, more rarely, Scottish, Welsh, and Breton descent, but those interested in things Celtic -- were discovering Stivell in growing numbers, prompting labels such as Rounder to begin releasing his work (until then, available only as expensive imports) in the United States. Stivell's first major solo album, Renaissance of the Celtic Harp (1972), remains a favorite among fans of the stringed instrument, while his later albums also display his abilities with bagpipes and as a singer. For a time during the mid-'70s, his success placed traditional Breton and Celtic music on the English charts on a regular basis.

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