French Folk Music

France is old compared with most other modern European countries. Roman Gaul was a vast area that in modern terms comprised France, Belgium, western Switzerland, parts of the Netherlands, and Germany. But when the first of the Frankish kings, Clovis I, was crowned King of France in 486, the country he ruled was, in size and area, much the same as modern-day France. Spain, in contrast, was not unified until 1479, while Italy and Germany did not achieve full national unification until the nineteenth century. France has been a sovereign nation for more than fifteen hundred years. In spite of frequent hostilities with neighbors-including invasions by the Vikings, the English, and the Germans, among others-and a revolution that changed France from a kingdom to a republic, the French have enjoyed a degree of cultural continuity almost unique among European countries. The diversity and richness of French culture is as remarkable as its continuity.

France is divided historically, culturally, and geographically into different regions. The French are deeply patriotic people. They tend to be proudest of their particular locality. Every region of France has its own flavor, its own character, its own traditions-and its own distinctive sound. The music that is played, the instruments that it is played on, and the people who play it, differ significantly from place to place. Brittany, Limousin, Gascony, the Auvergne, and the Mediterranean island of Corsica are probably the richest of all in terms of musical heritage, and represent a wide diversity of styles, traditions, and ethnic origins.

The Brittany peninsula juts out of northwestern France between the Atlantic Ocean and the English Channel. It points toward Ireland, and its people share the same ethnicity as the Irish, the Scots, and the Welsh. The Bretons are a Celtic peoples. Their old language, known as Breton or French Gaelic, has much in common with the Gaelic of the Irish and Scottish. Breton is vibrantly alive in the folk songs of the region. Breton songs are often sung unaccompanied, and can take the form of lively call-and-response or, as in the gwerz, a uniquely Breton ballad form; a solo voice will tell old stories, lament lost love, or pass on narrative accounts of real events.

Early Collections of Folk Music

The French took an early interest in their folk heritage, and many of the old songs were collected by Hersart de la Villemarqué and published in 1839 in a large compilation called Barzaz-Breizh. The Breton folk tradition, like other authentic folk traditions, has evolved by being passed on from generation to generation, within families and from musician to musician, by oral transmission.

Folk traditions are fragile, and songs can die as a result of neglect and social change. Barzaz-Breizh is an important historical source, like the Francis J. Child Ballads of the Anglo-Celtic-American folk tradition.

Instruments

The instrumental music of Brittany is in many ways similar to that of Ireland and Scotland. Most typical is the fast, whirling dance music known as Couple de Sonneurs (pair of players), which is traditionally played on biniou and bombarde, and often accompanied by drums. The biniou is like the Irish and Scottish bagpipes, but pitched much higher. Its lowest note is equivalent to the highest note on the Great Highland Bagpipes of Scotland. The bombarde is a cross between the oboe and the medieval shawm. The bombarde has a double reed held between the lips to produce a strident, shrieking sound. It requires so much breath that the player can rarely play for long periods. This suits Breton music, where there is often a solo line which is then echoed by a chorus: the bombarde plays the solo line and then the player recovers while the other instruments play the echo. There is an older, vocal equivalent for the Couple de Sonneurs, known as Kan Ha Diskan, where the voices act as musical instruments. This is a virtuoso art, and it was almost lost before the revival of interest in France's Celtic folk tradition that began in the early 1970s. The French Celtic harp, which is similar to the Irish, or Erin harp, was revived from obscurity at the same time, and is played solo, or as an accompaniment to ballads and laments.

Bagpipes are also an essential part of the music of central France. The Auvergne region is especially known for its Cornemuse, or Cabrette bagpipes, a lower-pitched, gentler and simpler cousin of the Breton pipes. These pipes are an essential accompaniment to the Bal-Folk set dances of the region. The accordion, which was introduced from Italy in the middle of the nineteenth century, almost replaced the pipes, and became the basis for Bal-Musette music, which arrived in Paris in the late nineteenth century as a result of Auvergnat migration. (The music that we usually associate with Parisian cafés is Auvergnat in origin.) The hurdy-gurdy is also an integral part of central French folk music. The French name, viella à roue (wheel fiddle), describes the method by which sound is produced. The bowing action of the fiddle is replaced by a wheel cranked by a handle. The outer part of the wheel is coated with resin, like a violin bow, and when the crank is spun, the wheel turns and the gut strings vibrate. Just as the bag of the bagpipe acts as a reservoir of air for continuous sound, so too the wheel makes possible continuous sound by avoiding changes of bowing. The hurdy-gurdy is the ideal instrument for the dance music of the region. Limousin, which borders the Auvergne to the northwest, is famous for its fiddle music: the fiddle and the pipes often join together in gentle, lilting harmony and counterpoint.

In southwest France, close to Spain, we find yet another variation of the bagpipe-the high-pitched, single-drone, boha pipe. Gascony has a large population of Basques, an indigenous people who inhabit the border area between France and Spain. The best-known form of Basque folk music is called Trikitrixa, in which the accordion plays a central part. But there is an older tradition, in which a single player performs simultaneously on a simple pipe or tin whistle, and a small drum, which is held under the other arm, or strapped to the body. The Basque pipe has only three holes, which means it can be played with one hand. In Basque, it is known as the txistu, and it is very similar to the pipe that medieval English musicians played to accompany Morris dances, stick dances, and other formation dances, while similarly playing a small drum, or tabor, with the other hand. There is a strong Spanish-Moorish influence in the folk music and dance of the Basques, It is possible that "Morris" is a corruption of the word "Moorish." Both are highly formal, and in both, the musician moves among the dancers and is part of the dance. The Basque shawm, a woodwind with a double reed located within the body of the instrument, is Middle Eastern in origin, and comes from the time when the Iberian Peninsula was part of the Muslim Empire-from the eighth to the fifteenth centuries. It has a loud, raucous sound which is ideal for dance music, particularly when accompanied by drums.

The Music of Corsica

The island of Corsica lies north of the Italian island of Sardinia in the Mediterranean between France and Italy. It is historically part of France, but its traditional music, in particular its vocal music, is unique. Songs for unaccompanied solo voice are characteristically plaintive and strident, without strict rhythm. These lullabies and dirges are traditionally sung by women. But the most thrilling Corsican vocal form is the Paghjella, for three voices. The Paghjella is an extraordinary combination of elements. Early Christian plainchant-a survival of the days when Corsica's isolation made it an ideal location for monasteries-mingles with the more ancient sounds of the pagan Mediterranean, with north African modes, and with Italian polyphony. European harmonies coexist with striking dissonances, and the sacred blends with the profane in one of the most astonishing sounds in all European music.

1950s to Present

Like most of western Europe and the United States, France began to take a more active interest in its musical folk heritage in the 1950s, and while in the 1970s this led to a folk-rock boom, the emphasis nowadays is on authenticity rather than novelty. But folk music, in France as elsewhere, is not static. It has evolved over many centuries, and it will continue to evolve, reflecting social change. The music of the former French colonies, especially Algeria and Morocco, has made its influence felt as waves of immigrants from north Africa have moved into the larger European cities. Algerian Raï and Moroccan Chaabi and Gnawa have found a large audience both within and outside the French Arab community, and the music of the Magreb (Mediterranean north Africa) is fusing with older folk forms. In time, these too will become part of the evolving fabric of French folk music.