Breton Hymns
Kantik, or Breton Hymns are popular sacred songs in the Breton language sung at masses and pardons in Lower Brittany.
General characteristics
"The songs are sung communally, in the sense that they have been adopted and sung by the people" and allow the people to express their praise to God in Brittany during religious offerings when the liturgical language of the Catholic church was Latin. Effectively, until the Second Vatican Council, Mass and Vespers were spoken or sung in Latin.In the abundant discography of traditional Breton carols, one can cite the albums of :fr:Anne Auffret, Yann-Fañch Kemener, Jean Le Meut, choirs like Kanerien Bro Leon, Kanerion Pleuigner, Mouezh Paotred Breizh, Manécanterie Saint-Joseph de Lannion, Psalette de Tréguier or Chœurs de la Maîtrise de Sainte-Anne d’Auray.
The Second Vatican Council having authorised the celebration of Mass and offerings in vernacular language, new Breton carols had been composed since the 1970s, notably by :fr:Visant Seité and :fr:Roger Abjean, :fr:Job an Irien and :fr:Michel Scouarnec. A certain number had been published under the title of Hag e paro an heol by :fr:Bleun-Brug then :fr:Minihi Levenez. One can also cite more recently the creations of the choir Allah's Kanañ.
Some Breton songs have seen some success outside of Brittany, and have been used to accompany the French lyrics of carols. For example, the carol La nuit qu’il fut livré le Seigneur prit du pain, in which the melody is the same as Lavaromp ar chapeled stouet war an douar, as is also the case in Le pain que tu nous donnes, O viens, sagesse éternelle, En toi Seigneur mon espérance, Quand je viens vers toi, O Croix dressée sur le monde, Jésus qui vit aux cieux, Ami que Dieu appelle, Vous attendiez la promesse and Bénie sois-tu, sainte Église, Seigneur, seul maître du monde, Seigneur que ta parole, Vous êtes sans pareille . The carol Seigneur, en ton Église has also taken one of the two melodies from l’angélus Breton de Noël, which is also that of Gwerz Zant Erwan.
There have also been recent composition, with melodies modeled on inspiration from Breton songs Dieu qui nous mets au monde and Si l’espérance t’a fait marcher by :fr:Didier Rimaud and :fr:Michel Scouarnec.
One can also note the interest in Breton carols by the composers :fr:Camille Saint-Saëns Trois Rapsodies sur des Cantiques bretons for organ ;, :fr:Joseph-Guy Ropartz, :fr:Paul Ladmirault, and :fr:Jean Langlais.
History
17th century
The cultural and religious importance of Breton hymns has been undeniable in Lower Brittany since the middle of the 17th century, due to the influence of the Church. More than in other provinces of France, hymns were a better method used by Catholic pastoralists for catechesis for the then massively rural and illiterate population. The precursor was Michel Le Nobletz who preached in Morlaix, Landerneau, Le Conquet and especially Douarnenez, illustrating his teaching with tableaux de mission or taolennou depending on hymns. His disciple, Father Julian Maunoir, took up the baton in 1642, publishing a collection of Canticou spirituel "spiritual Kantikoù". "The hymns of Dom Michel and Julien Maunoir, learnt by heart and sung for three hundred years by the Breton people, were their Bible; as they were not Protestants, they had no direct contact with Holy Scripture. However, the hymns themselves comprise well scriptural allusions ".The melodies of the hymns were easy to memorise, as they were sometimes based on well-known French tunes - many of them are simply to the tune of ton anavezet -. This closeness to secular music initially led to controversy over their validity, as did the quality of the language used, leading to the purification efforts started in the middle of the 19th century by Jean-Guillaume Henry following suite of the Barzaz Breiz de La Villemarqué
Today
Breton hymns were sung in all Breton-speaking dioceses until the French Revolution. Those of Cornouaille, Léon, and Tréguier were entirely Breton-speaking; Vannes' hymns were two-thirds Breton, Saint-Brieuc's in its north-western part, Nantes' in the Guérande peninsula, and Dol's in its parishes surrounded by Breton-speaking areas.Today, three dioceses have collections of Breton hymns: Quimper, Saint-Brieuc, and Vannes.
- Quimper:
- Breton Hymns of the Diocese of Quimper and Léon. Accompaniment Book, by Joseph Le Marrec, with over 200 harmonized melodies, 7th edition 1996, Morlaix, Liturgical Editions of the Saint-Mathieu Choir.
- Kantikou Brezoneg a-viskoaz hag a-vremañ / Breton Hymns of Always and Today, Minihi Levenez, 2002.
- Musikou Kantikou Brezoneg a-viskoaz hag a-vremañ. Collection of scores of Breton hymns of always and today, Minihi Levenez, 2011.
- Saint-Brieuc:
- Kantikou Brezhonek, Kergrist-Moëlou, An Tour-Tan editions, 1983.
- Vannes:
- Gloér de Zoué. Book of Melodies, Sainte-Anne d’Auray, Santéz Anna Gwened association, no date.
- Gloér de Zoué. Book of Melodies. Translation in French, Sainte-Anne d’Auray, Santéz Anna Gwened association, 1998.
These notated collections do not include all the hymns, as some have their own unique melodies that are heard only in a single location and on the day of the pardon, and are therefore found on loose sheets.