gwerz
Sign in to savethumb|Lyrics and sheet music for the gwerz "Ar Roue Gralon Ha Kear Is" ("King Gradlon and the City of [[Ys", 1850)]] Gwerz (, "ballad", "lament", plural ) is a type of folk song of Brittany. In Breton music, the tells a story which can be epic, historical, or mythological. The stories are usually of a tragic nature. The gwerz is characterised by an often monotonous melody and many couplets, all in the Breton language. Though historically sung unaccompanied, some modern musicians use limited instrumentation with the gwerz.
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Encyclopedic overview
2 sectionsContents
- Notable gwerzioù
- References
thumb|Lyrics and sheet music for the gwerz "Ar Roue Gralon Ha Kear Is" ("King Gradlon and the City of [[Ys", 1850)]] Gwerz (, "ballad", "lament", plural ) is a type of folk song of Brittany. In Breton music, the tells a story which can be epic, historical, or mythological. The stories are usually of a tragic nature. The gwerz is characterised by an often monotonous melody and many couplets, all in the Breton language. Though historically sung unaccompanied, some modern musicians use limited instrumentation with the gwerz.
Some of the most famous performers in current gwerzioù are Érik Marchand, Yann-Fañch Kemener, and Denez Prigent.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “gwerz” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.