Music of Cornwall

History

In medieval Cornwall there are records of performances of ‘

During the Twelve Days of Christmas between 1466-67, the household accounts[2] of the Arundells of Lanherne, Mawgan-in-Pydar, record expenditures to buy white bonnets for minstrels, cloth and bells for Morris dancers, as well as materials for costumes for the "disgysing" (mummers or guise dancers), an activity which involved music and dancing.

Then followed a long period of contention which included the

A number of manuscripts of dance music from the period 1750 to 1850 have been found which tell of renewed patronage, employment of dancing masters, and a repertoire that spanned class barriers. Seasonal and community festivals, mumming and guise dancing all flourished.^[4]

In the 19th century, the nonconformist and temperance movements were strong: these frowned on dancing and music, encouraged the demise of many customs, but fostered the choral and brass band traditions. Some traditional tunes were used for hymns and carols. Church Feast Days and Sunday School treats were widespread—a whole village processing behind a band of musicians leading them to a picnic site, where "

In Cornwall, the carol "While shepherds watched their flocks" is popularly sung to "Lyngham", a tune usually associated with "O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing". Another tune traditionally used for it in Cornwall is "Northrop".^[12]

Dances

Cornish dances include community dances such a 'furry dances', social (set) dances, linear and circle dances originating in carols and farandoles, and step dances – often competitive. Among the social dances is 'Joan Sanderson', the cushion dance from the 19th century, but with 17th-century origins.^[13]

The English composer Sir Malcolm Arnold composed "Four Cornish Dances" in 1966 which is influenced by characteristically Cornish types of music.^[14]

Breton connection

Cornish music is often noted for its similarity to that of

have enjoyed a progressive revival.

Modern

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Modern Cornish musicians include the late

Kyt Le Nen Davey, a multi-instrumental Cornish musician, established a not-for-profit collaborative organisation, Kesson, to distribute Cornish music to a world audience. Today, the site has moved with the times, and now provides individual track downloads, alongside traditional CD format.^{[citation needed]}

Pioneering

Bands such as Dalla and Sowena are associated with the nos lowen style of Cornish dance and music, which follows the Breton style of uncalled line dances. Troyls, usually called in a ceilidh style, occur across Cornwall with bands including the North Cornwall Ceilidh Band, The Brim, the Bolingey Troyl band, Hevva, Ros Keltek and Tros an Treys.Skwardya and Krena play rock, punk and garage music in the Cornish language. The Cornwall Songwriters organisation has since 2001 produced two folk operas 'The Cry of Tin' and 'Unsung Heroes'. Also Cornwall has a selection of up and coming young bands such as "Heart in One Hand" and "The small print".^{[citation needed]}

Black Friday, a six piece Celtic-folk-punk band have been a constant part of the live music scene in Cornwall for two decades and a popular highlight of a number of Cornwall festivals[17] including Port Eliot Festival, Little Orchard and Boardmasters as well a number of major UK and European festivals such as Donous Insel Fest, Electric picnic, Boomtown and Glastonbury.^[18] The band have led mass sing a longs to songs popular in the Cornish singing traditions such as Little Eyes and South Australia and they have supported Madness, Ralph McTell and The Mahones. The band performs across numerous smaller venues every weekend of the year, sometimes up to five or six times and there industrious live schedule and constant touring is perhaps why they have only ever released live recordings and never produced a studio album yet have managed to achieve a Guinness world record playing 30 gigs in twelve hours.^[19]

The underground scene includes

Sic, the singer of the Dutch pagan folk band Omnia hails from Cornwall and wrote a song named Cornwall about his homeland. During gigs by Omnia the Cornish flag is displayed on stage when this song is performed.

In 2012 the folksinger and writer Anna Clifford-Tait released 'Sorrow', a song written in Cornish and English.^[20]

Fisherman's Friends is a male vocal group from Port Isaac specialising in the sea shanty repertoire.^[21]

The

The Welsh musician Gwenno Saunders has written and recorded songs in Cornish, notably Amser on her album Y Dydd Olaf, while her album Le Kov was recorded entirely in Cornish.^[26] Gwenno's sister, Ani Glass, also records in Cornish, and the title song of her album Mirores is in Cornish. ^[27] Both are bards of the Cornish Gorsedh. ^[28]

Classical musicians from Cornwall include baritone Benjamin Luxon, born in Redruth,^[29] and composer Graham Fitkin, born in Crows-an-Wra.^[30]

Cornish traditional music

Cornish traditional music can be heard at various festivals including Golowan in Penzance and Lowender Peran^[23] in Newquay, at Cornish cultural events, and at Cornish music pub sessions.^[31]

Brass and silver bands

Triggshire Wind Orchestra, an amateur orchestra for wind players primarily from Sir James Smith's School, Wadebridge School, Budehaven Community School, was set up in 1984. After the success of the wind orchestra, Triggshire String Orchestra was set up, to cater for the string players from these schools.^[33]

Boardmasters Festival

The Cornish language radio station Radyo an Gernewegva broadcasts Cornish music on several community radio stations and online.^[35]

See also

• Culture of Cornwall
• List of topics related to Cornwall
• List of Cornish musicians

References