Renaissance de la Harpe Celtique or Renaissance of the Celtic Harp is a 1972[1][2] record album by the
Breton master of the Celtic harp
Alan Stivell that revolutionised the connection between traditional
folk music, modern
rock music and
world music.[3]
Significance
The release of this album with its fusion of classical, traditional folk and rock music, its mixture of instruments (cello, harp, electric guitar, traditional and modern drums) and its evocation of a
utopian atmosphere and vision of humans in harmony with
nature, immediately set it as a benchmark in the Celtic music revival of the 1970s.[4]
People who hear this record are never the same again. Renaissance of the Celtic Harp, one of the most beautiful and haunting records ever made by anybody, introduced the Celtic harp to many thousands of listeners around the world. To call this music gorgeous and ravishing would be the height of understatement—indeed, there aren't words in the English language to describe this record adequately. The opening work,
Ys, is a piece inspired by the legend of the 5th century capital of the kingdom of
Cornwall, [most versions of the legend place the city in the
Douarnenez Bay on the coast of
Brittany] which was engulfed by a flood as punishment for its sins. (
Debussy wrote one of his finest works, "
The Engulfed Cathedral," later adapted by the group
Renaissance into "The Harbor" on
Ashes Are Burning, based on the same legend). The reflective "
Marv Pontkellec" is every bit as sublimely beautiful, but the highlight of this record is "Gaeltacht," a 19 minute musical journey by Stivell's harp across the
Gaelic lands of
Ireland,
Scotland, and the
Isle of Man.[7][8]
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"
ISBN9780199377091