Renaissance of the Celtic Harp explained

Renaissance of the Celtic Harp
Type:studio
Artist:Alan Stivell
Cover:Renaissance of the Celtic Harp by Alan Stivell.jpg
Released:1972
Recorded:at Studio Des Dames, Paris by Paul Haudebinr & Philippe Lerichomme
Genre:Celtic music / Celtic fusion
New-age / World music
Breton traditional music
Irish traditional music
Welsh traditional music
Scottish traditional music
Manx traditional music
Label:Fontana/Philips
Producer:Franck Giboni
Prev Title:Reflets
Prev Year:1970
Next Title:À l'Olympia
Next Year:1972

Renaissance de la Harpe Celtique or Renaissance of the Celtic Harp is a 1972[1] [2] record album by the Breton master of the Celtic harp Alan Stivell that revolutionised the connection between traditional folk music, modern rock music and world music.[3]

Significance

The release of this album with its fusion of classical, traditional folk and rock music, its mixture of instruments (cello, harp, electric guitar, traditional and modern drums) and its evocation of a utopian atmosphere and vision of humans in harmony with nature, immediately set it as a benchmark in the Celtic music revival of the 1970s.[4]

The album influenced many harpists, Bretons like or Cécile Corbel[5] but also Jo Morrison, Loreena McKennitt, Deborah Henson-Conant, Charles de Lint, Australian Robert Hart and Louisa John-Krol, Russian, Italian Vincenzo Zitello, Norwegian Kristian Nordeide, New York musicians Steven Halpern and Ben Kettlewell.By the time of his second album, in one year, the number of harps sold in France had reached into the thousands.[6]

Music critic Bruce Elder wrote:

People who hear this record are never the same again. Renaissance of the Celtic Harp, one of the most beautiful and haunting records ever made by anybody, introduced the Celtic harp to many thousands of listeners around the world. To call this music gorgeous and ravishing would be the height of understatement—indeed, there aren't words in the English language to describe this record adequately.
The opening work, Ys, is a piece inspired by the legend of the 5th century capital of the kingdom of Cornwall, [most versions of the legend place the city in the [[Douarnenez Bay]] on the coast of Brittany] which was engulfed by a flood as punishment for its sins. (Debussy wrote one of his finest works, "The Engulfed Cathedral," later adapted by the group Renaissance into "The Harbor" on Ashes Are Burning, based on the same legend). The reflective "Marv Pontkellec" is every bit as sublimely beautiful, but the highlight of this record is "Gaeltacht," a 19 minute musical journey by Stivell's harp across the Gaelic lands of Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man.[7] [8]

Personnel

Track listing

Side A:

Side B:

Discography

References

Sources

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Bruce . Elder. All Music Guide. . 15 July 2009.
  2. Web site: Alan . Stivell . Discography. 9 June 2014.
  3. Jonathyne Briggs, 2015, p. 127
  4. JT Koch (ed). Celtic Culture. A Historical Encyclopaedia ABC-CLIO 2006 pp 1627-1628
  5. Web site: Nicolas . Roberti. Cécile Corbel. Pour tout vous avouer, je suis plutôt optimiste. French. www.unidivers.fr. July 1, 2011.
  6. Briggs, 2015, p. 122
  7. Web site: Bruce . Elder. All Music Guide. . 15 July 2009.
  8. Guyot, Charles. The Legend of the City of Ys, Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 1979.
  9. Web site: Alan Stivell – Renaissance De La Harpe Celtique (1973, Vinyl). Discogs. 1973 .
  10. Web site: Jim . Chokey. Discography Alan Stivell. 15 July 2009.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Renaissance of the Celtic Harp".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.