Alan Stivell (; born Alan Cochevelou on 6 January 1944) is a Breton and

Celtic music Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celts (modern), Celtic people of Northwestern Europe (the modern Celtic nations). It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and ...

ian and singer, songwriter, recording artist, and master of the Celtic harp. From the early 1970s, he revived global interest in the Celtic (specifically Breton) harp and

as part of

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

. As a bagpiper and bombard player, he modernized traditional Breton music and singing in the

Breton language Breton (, , ; or in Morbihan) is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic languages, Celtic language group spoken in Brittany, part of modern-day France. It is the only Celtic language still widely in use on the European mainland, albei ...

. A precursor of

Celtic rock Celtic rock is a genre of folk rock, as well as a form of Celtic fusion which incorporates Celtic music, instrumentation and themes into a rock music context. It has been prolific since the early 1970s and can be seen as a key foundation of the ...

, he is inspired by the union of the Celtic cultures and is a keeper of the

Breton culture The culture of Brittany is the patterns of human activity and symbolism associated with the historical region of Brittany in northwestern France and the Breton people. Breton culture has been influenced by various local and nearby traditions over t ...

Musical career

Early life and career beginnings

Exposition ROK - harpe de cristal Alan Stivell 01

Alan Stivell was born in the

Auvergnat (; ) or (endonym: ) is a northern dialect of Occitan spoken in central and southern France, in particular in the former administrative region of Auvergne. Currently, research shows that there is not really a true Auvergnat dialect but rath ...

town of Riom. His father, Georges (Jord in Breton) Cochevelou, was a civil servant in the French Ministry of Finance who achieved his dream of recreating a

Celt The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...

ic or Breton harp in the small town of Gourin,

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

JT Koch (ed). ''Celtic Culture. A Historical Encyclopaedia'' ABC-CLIO 2006 pp. 1627–1628 and his mother Fanny-Julienne Dobroushkess was of Lithuanian-Jewish descent. In 1953, Alan began playing the instrument at the age of nine under the tutelage of his father and Denise Megevand, a concert harpist. Alan also learned Celtic mythology, art, and history, as well as the

, traditional Breton dance, and the Scottish

bagpipe Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, No ...

and the bombarde, a traditional Breton instrument, from the

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...

family. Alan began playing concerts at the age of eleven and studied traditional Breton, English, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh folk music, also learning the drum, Irish flute, and tin whistle. He competed in, and won, several Breton traditional music competitions in the Bleimor Pipe band.RFI Music. Alan Stivell. Biography. RFI Music. (last accessed 15 July 2009) Alan spent his childhood in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, with its cosmopolitan influences. But he fell in love with Breton music and Celtic culture, in general, and often went back in his teens to Brittany. Stivell's first recording came in 1960 ("Musique gaelique"), a single that was followed by the LP '' Telenn Geltiek'' in 1964. He already recorded solo harp and harp backing singers in 1959 with ''Breiz ma bro'' ("Brittany my country") and a ''Mouez Breiz'' EP ("Voice of Brittany") with the female singer Andrea Ar Gouilh. His stage name, Stivell, means "fountain" or "spring" in Breton. The name refers both to the Breton renewal and to his surname Cochevelou (an evolution of ''kozh stivelloù'', "the old fountains").

Stivell and the Celtic harp revival

With a new bardic harp with bronze strings, Stivell began experimenting with modernized styles of music that became known as

. In 1966, Alan Stivell began to perform and record as a singer. The following year, he was signed by

Philips Records Philips Records is a record label founded by Netherlands, Dutch electronics company Philips and in 1999 was absorbed into Netherlands, Dutch-United States, American music corporation Universal Music Group. It was founded as Philips Phonograph ...

. This was during the birth of the New Breton and Celtic music movement. In 1968, after two years of touring and regular appearances at the American Students and Artists Center in Paris, Alan joined the Moody Blues onstage to perform in London's Queen Elizabeth Hall. In 1970, Stivell released his first hits, the single "Broceliande" and the album ''Reflets'', both on the Philips record label. He became closely associated with the burgeoning Breton roots revival, especially after the release of the purely instrumental 1971 album '' Renaissance of the Celtic Harp'', which won one of the most famous awards in France, the prize of the Académie Charles Cros. The music critic Bruce Elder wrote of the album '' Renaissance of the Celtic Harp'': On 28 February 1972, Stivell performed a concert in the Olympia theater, a famous music hall in Paris, where Alan and his band played music combining traditional Celtic music with modern sounds (electric guitar, drums, etc.). This concert made Stivell and his music well known throughout France. At this time, Stivell's eclectic approach to music was very new and was considered risky, but it soon became popular. Over 1,500,000 records of that concert ('' À l'Olympia'') were sold. Alan Stivell's newfound fame propelled him to tour across France, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States. He continued recording, and published a collection of Breton poetry in 1976. With his 1980 '' Symphonie Celtique'', he mixed for the first time elements of rock, a symphonic orchestra, Celtic instruments and such non-European ethnic elements as

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

vocalist Djourha and

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in 19th-century India. Khusrau K ...

ist

Narendra Bataju Narendra may refer to: Places *Narendra (Karnataka) a village in Dharwad, Karnataka People *Narendra Nath Datta, better known as Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902), an Indian Hindu monk *Narendra Deva (1889–1956), also known as Acharya Narendra De ...

. The folk music revival faded somewhat in the 1980s. Though Alan Stivell still maintained a popular following, he did not reach the heights of popularity that he had in the 1970s. He continued touring in many parts of the world and recording for a loyal fanbase. He also worked with the English musician

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and dancer. Bush began writing songs at age 11. She was signed to EMI Records after David Gilmour of Pink Floyd helped produce a demo tape. In 1978, at the ...

Celtic fusions and world music

In the 1990s, Stivell recorded with the French singer

Laurent Voulzy Lucien Voulzy (, born 18 December 1948), better known as Laurent Voulzy (), is a French singer-songwriter, composer, and musician. Life and career Voulzy was born in Paris, France. He originally led the English-pop-influenced Le Temple de Vénu ...

, Irish traditional performer Shane MacGowan and Senegalese singer Doudou N'Diaye Rose. The album was '' Again'', and it became very popular in France, initiating the beginning of a Celtic new wave. Stivell's records in the late 1990s contained more pronounced rock elements, and he performed at a rock festival called Transmusicales in

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

. He continued working with a variety of musicians, inviting

Paddy Moloney Paddy Moloney (; 1 August 1938 – 12 October 2021) was an Irish musician, composer, and record producer. He co-founded and led the Irish musical group the Chieftains, playing on all of their 44 albums. He was particularly associated with the re ...

(of

The Chieftains The Chieftains were a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous w ...

Jim Kerr James Kerr (born 9 July 1959) is a Scottish musician and lead singer of the rock band Simple Minds. Commercially successful singles released by Simple Minds include " Don't You (Forget About Me)", " Glittering Prize" (1982), " Someone Somewh ...

(of

Simple Minds Simple Minds are a Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977, becoming best known internationally for their song "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Billboard Hot 100, Hot 100 ...

), Khaled and

Youssou N'Dour Youssou N'Dour (, ; also known as Youssou Madjiguène Ndour; born 1 October 1959) is a Senegalese singer, songwriter, musician, composer, occasional actor, businessman, and politician. In 2004, ''Rolling Stone'' described him as, "perhaps the m ...

to be in his very international ''1 Douar'' / ''1 Earth'' album. The 1998 French-language hit "

La Tribu de Dana "La Tribu de Dana" (, literally ''Dana's tribe'') is a 1998 song by French hip hop band Manau (band), Manau for their debut album Panique celtique, on which it features as the second track. Initially released as a single in July 1998, it was an ...

" by rap trio Manau, one of the best-selling French singles of all time, featured a very similar musical arrangement to Stivell's " Tri Martolod". Although Stivell sued Manau for the unauthorised sampling, the group claimed that they had modified the original sufficiently, through the addition of lyrics and other changes, to avoid any charges of

plagiarism Plagiarism is the representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 ''Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close ...

. Stivell is now credited for a part of "

"'s arrangements. Stivell's CD album ''Again'' in 1993 was the base for a new wave of his popularity, especially in France and Brittany. Other albums received good critical reviews, such as ''

Brian Boru Brian Boru (; modern ; 23 April 1014) was the High King of Ireland from 1002 to 1014. He ended the domination of the High King of Ireland, High Kingship of Ireland by the Uí Néill, and is likely responsible for ending Vikings, Viking invasio ...

'' or '' 1 Douar'' ("1 Earth"). In 2002 Stivell released '' Au-delà des mots'' ("Beyond Words"), his twenty-first LP. The album featured him playing six different harps, specially dedicated to the Celtic Harp Revival's 50th anniversary. In 2004, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Celtic harp revival in Brittany, he wrote a book in collaboration with Jean-Noël Verdier: ''Telenn, la harpe bretonne'' ("Telenn, the Breton harp"). The same year, the DVD ''Parcours'' was published by Fox-Pathé. In 2006, a new CD album called ''Explore'' came out in France and other countries, distributed through Harmonia Mundi. The album explored fusions of Celtic music with electro-rock, raga and hip-hop with a unique and personal vocal style and an original mix of lyrics in Breton, English and French. Nolwenn Leroy - Alan Stivell

In 2009, the title of his album ''Emerald'' celebrated his emerald anniversary with his fans (i.e. forty years together) and paid homage to the sea and the Celtic lands (color blue-green, ''Glaz'' in Breton language). In 2013, a new CD album and DVD called ''Olympia 40th Anniversary'' came out in France ( Universal) as a result of the concert performed at the Olympia mythical music hall on 16 February 2012. On 2 October 2015, Stivell released a new CD album called '' AMzer: Seasons'' through '' WorldVillage'' in France (and other countries), his first one of the 2010s, coinciding with his career's 50th anniversary. The album is also available as a "Leclerc limited edition" including 3 bonus tracks (2 alternative mixes and a brand new instrumental) and a 60-page booklet.

Critical acclaim

Music critic Bruce Eder has stated: " lan Stivell'sharp recordings, with their enveloping lyricism and tightly interwoven patterns of variations, can appeal to more serious listeners of new age music. Stivell's main audience, however, lies with fans of Celtic music and culture, and English folk music. Embracing ancient and modern elements, but (apart from his folk-rock work) making no compromises to modern melodic sensibilities, his music captures the mystery and strangeness of Breton, Irish, Welsh, and Scottish landscapes that are both ageless and timeless. It is haunting, mysterious, and beautiful, with no equivalent in modern popular music and few peers in the realm of commercial folk music."

Interviews

An English translation of Stivell's interview for ''Le Peuple Breton'' by Peter Barry was published in the Scottish political, current affairs and arts review, ''Calgacus'' in 1975. In the 1978 book ''Racines interdites'' ("Forbidden Roots"), a series of interviews with Stivell covers questions about the Breton language, history and geography, as well as his

utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', which describes a fictiona ...

n vision of a world living in meditative harmony with nature. Lyrics for 17 of Stivell's songs are reprinted at the back of the book.''Alan Stivell: Racines interdites'', interviews conducted by Jacques Erwan and Marc Legras, "Musiques et Musiciens series", 1978

Legacy

Alan Stivell has influenced multiple contemporary artists, most notably

folk metal Folk metal is a fusion genre of heavy metal music and traditional folk music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. It is characterised by the widespread use of folk instruments and, to a lesser extent, traditional singing styles (for example ...

band

Eluveitie Eluveitie ( ; )Chrigel Glanzmann: "Eluveitie is a name in Gaulish language, which is an ancient Celtic language. Since it's not a living language anymore, nobody really knows how it's pronounced like. All we have today of this language is scient ...

. Their biggest hit 'Inis Mona' shares a melody with the traditional Tri Martolod. Where it is played on

bagpipes Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, N ...

, tin whistle and

hurdy-gurdy The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-turned crank, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin (or nyckelharpa) bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar ...

with the addition of harsh vocals,

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

and

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Instruments

Festival de Cornouaille 2016 - Alan Stivell - 13.jpg, Celtic harp and low whistle Alan Stivell - tin whistle.jpg, Vocals and tin whistle Festival de Cornouaille 2016 - Alan Stivell - 14.jpg, Bombard Alan Stivell - biniou.jpg,

Electronic bagpipes The electronic bagpipes is an electronic musical instrument emulating the tone and/or playing style of the bagpipes. Most electronic bagpipe emulators feature a simulated chanter, which is used to play the melody. Some models also produce a harm ...

(

MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface (; MIDI) is an American-Japanese technical standard that describes a communication protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, ...

) Festival de Cornouaille 2016 - Alan Stivell - 11.jpg, Great Highland bagpipe Pat O'May et Alan Stivell 02.JPG,

Electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

Discography

Original (studio and live) albums

#''Telenn Geltiek / Harpe celtique'' (1964) (studio #01 / instrumental #01) #''Reflets / Reflections'' (1970) (studio #02) #'' Renaissance of the Celtic Harp'' (1971) (studio #03 / instrumental #02) #'' À l'Olympia / Olympia Concert'' (1972) (live #01) #''

Chemins de Terre ''Chemins de Terre'' is a folk rock album by Alan Stivell, originally released in 1973. It was produced by Franck Giboni. It was retitled ''From Celtic Roots...'' in the United Kingdom and ''Celtic Rock'' in Germany. Track listing *All selection ...

/ From Celtic Roots / Celtic Rock'' (1973) (studio #04) #''E Langonned'' (1974) (studio #05) #'' E Dulenn / À Dublin / Live in Dublin'' (1975) (live #02) #''Trema'n inis: Vers l'Île'' (1976) (studio #06) #''Raok Dilestra: Avant d'accoster / Before Landing'' (1977) (studio #07) #''Un dewezh 'barzh 'gêr: Journée à la maison / A Homecoming'' (1978) (studio #08) #''International Tour: Tro ar Bed'' (1979) (live #03) #'' Symphonie Celtique: Tir Na N-Og'' / ''Celtic Symphony'' (1979) (studio #09) #''Terre des vivants: Bed an dud vew'' (1981) (studio #10) #''Legend / Légende / Mojenn'' (1983) (studio #11) #''Harps of the New Age / Harpes du Nouvel Âge / Telenn a' Skuilh-dour'' (1985) (studio #12 / instrumental #03) #''The Mist of Avalon'' (1991) (studio #13) #'' Again'' (1993) (studio re-recordings with other artists in duet) #''Brian Boru'' (1995) (studio #15) #''1 Douar / 1 Earth'' (1998) (studio #16) ("Eunn Douar" in Breton) #''Back to Breizh'' (1999) (studio #17) #''Au-delà des mots / En tu-hont d'ar c'homzoù / Beyond Words'' (2002) (studio #18 / instrumental #04) #''Explore'' (2006) (studio #19) #''

Emerald Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr., and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991). ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York ...

'' (2009) (studio #20) #'' AMzer: Seasons'' (2015) (studio #21) #''Human~Kelt'' (2018) (studio #22) ''A l'Olympia'' and ''In Dublin'' were recorded live, but featured only new, previously unreleased tracks.

Compilations

* ''Attention! Alan Stivell!'' (1973) * ''Grand Succès d'Alan Stivell'' (1975) * ''70/95 Zoom'' (1997) – Disques Dreyfus (2-CD compilation 1970~1995, 35 tracks) * ''Routes'' (1997) – Disques Dreyfus (4-CD boxset / 73 tracks / 32-pages booklet) * ''Vers l'île'' (1999) –

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

(3CD "Long Box" / 30 titres / booklet) * ''Ar Pep Gwellañ (Le best of)'' (2012) – Universal Music Group (CD best-of including a bonus CD of the remastered recording of the 1972 "Olympia" concert) * ''40th Anniversary Olympia 2012'' (2013) – Universal Mercury (CD/DVD Live about the new concert in Paris)

Family tree

References

Footnotes

Sources

* Laurent Bourdelas: ''Alan Stivell'', Brest, 2012, * Yann Brekilien (photog. Padrig Sicard): ''Alan Stivell ou le folk celtique'', Paris, 1973, * Jonathyne Briggs, ''Sounds French: Globalization, Cultural Communities, and Pop Music in France, 1958–1980'', Oxford University Press, 2015, Chapter 4 "Sounds Regional: The World in Breton Folk Music", * Anny Maurussane and Gérard Simon: ''Alan Stivell ou l'itinéraire d'un harper hero'', Paris, 2006, * Alan Stivell, Jacques Erwan and Marc Legras: ''Racines interdites / Gwriziad difennet'', Jean-Claude Lattès, Paris, 1979 * Alan Stivell and Jean-Noël Verdier
''Telenn, la harpe bretonne''
Brest, 2004, *Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine

External links

* (English, Breton and French language)
Biography until 1995

Alan Stivell
at

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Alan Stivell
at

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2019 interview with Innerviews
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stivell, Alan 1944 births Living people Breton musicians Celtic fusion musicians People from Riom French people of Breton descent Breton-language singers French people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Celtic rock music French folk music Fontana Records artists Vertigo Records artists Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres