Tristan Le Govic

Admittedly, I didn’t know much about Breton music before I met Tristan Le Govic. He introduced himself at a harp festival several years ago, and as he described the arrangements of Breton music he just published, it was impossible not to be persuaded by his enthusiasm for the music. Breton music is in Le Govic’s bones. He is Breton through and through, and the intensity and commitment with which he pursues everything in his life has helped him build a vibrant career as a Breton harper. He has published volumes of music, put out several critically acclaimed albums, and is in demand as a solo and chamber musician. Oh, and he’s also working on his Ph.D. in his free time. Free time, however, is not something he has too much of at the moment, as he has just become a first-time father to his baby daughter, Lena. We caught up with Le Govic on a video chat with him at his home in Baud, a town near where he grew up in Brittany.
Harp Column: What makes Breton music special for you?
Tristan Le Govic: It’s the music where I come from. It’s my roots. I’m the second generation after the big Celtic growth of the Celtic harp, which happened with Alan Stivell, of course. He was the first to play traditional Breton Celtic music on the harp, and I am part of the generation which came after that. When I grew up, there was a huge Celtic revival, thanks to Alan Stivell, and in particular, a huge concert he did in 1972 at the Olympia Concert hall in Paris. That started a huge wave of Celtic music all over the world. For the first time, you could see the Celtic harp on stage with the electric guitar, with a rock attitude on the stage, which was very popular at that time. I was born in 1976, four years later, so I didn’t see that concert, but I was part of the wave that followed that concert. Without Stivell, I probably would not be here. He made the music popular, he made the Breton language more popular, and of course he made the Celtic harp more popular. He presented something that was completely new to people, so when I came along it was a bit easier for me because people knew this music already. I came to the harp in 1982, 10 years after this revival, and by then the Celtic harp wasn’t such a new thing. There were enough Celtic harpists around me that I was sure I wanted to be one too. Playing traditional music still wasn’t so easy at that time, despite Alan Stivell. There were no structures to learn Celtic harp at that time like we have now, of course. I was very lucky in my hometown there was a school—it was a unique place because it was a private conservatory only for traditional music. It didn’t last for a long time, unfortunately, but I’m part of this generation that started only with traditional music. It was great. It was as normal for me to go in and learn traditional music as it would have been to learn Mozart or Bach. I used to go to the fest-noz. I grew up with those pictures and images and sounds in my ears. I was able to see harps on exhibition at the biggest folk music festival in the world, Festival Interceltique, which happens to be held in my hometown of Lorient in Brittany. There were thousands of people coming to the festival from around the world every summer, except this year of course. I remember when I was young, I lived in a part of the city where there was a campsite where musicians who were invited to perform would come and stay a week before the festival and practice together. So I would hear this music and these sounds—I was surrounded by that and fascinated by that as a child. So for me, Breton music was not something new. I heard it all around me.
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Grand nom de harpe celtique, Tristan Le Govic n'est pas seulement un interprète inspiré et virtuose : il est un guide, un initiateur, dans la culture bretonne et celtique. Ses concerts s'articulent comme un voyage musical de Bretagne en Ecosse et jusqu'aux terres nordiques, ou le traditionnel ouvre la porte à ses propres compositions, où l'imaginaire flirte avec le jazz.

Rachel Hair, Robin Huw Bowen et Tristan Le Govic se partageaient hier soir la scène d’un Palais des Congrès surveillé comme le lait sur le feu par les forces de police. La salle était comble. Un ministre de la Culture au festival, c’est rare et pourtant hier soir, Frédéric Mitterrand était dans la salle.
Eh bien, il a pu assister à un excellent moment de musique mêlant mélodies et airs de toutes les régions de la Celtie : jigs irlandaises, plinn breton, marche écossaise, airs tsiganes du pays de Galles, ballade asturienne, scottish norvégienne pas très celtique mais tellement bien interprétée par Tristan. Le dialogue entre Rachel et Tristan, appuyé sur une pseudo-rivalité entre l’Écosse et la Bretagne, contribue à créer cette atmosphère de complicité qui enchante le public. Eh oui, la gavotte et le reel sont très proches et peuvent mêler leurs accords et leurs harmonies.
La puissance de la triple harpe, le jeu cristallin de Rachel, le groove de Tristan, contribuent dans les morceaux interprétés en commun à cette couleur unique des instants magiques du Festival. La Kesh jig, si souvent entendue, prend alors une dimension inespérée dans le dernier rappel et vient conclure en apothéose ce grand moment trop vite passé.

Celebrating its 30^th anniversary, the Edinburgh International Harp Festival has long been in the vanguard in highlighting the diversity of harping traditions, and their contemporary cross-fertilisation with other musical influences. Both elements of its programming were exemplified in this double bill, opened by the pairing of Breton-born harpist Tristan Le Govic and Swedish singer Lise Enochsson, joined here by the jazz-inflected double bass and percussion of Stuart Macpherson and Roy Shearer. While Le Govic was decidedly hampered by a severe tendon problem in his right shoulder, thus playing mainly one-handed, he displayed admirable stagecraft by turning the affliction into a running gag, and though his role was inevitably weakened, his arrangements' rhythmic flair and imagination shone through. Enochsson's vividly liquid, piquant singing created an arresting synthesis between Nordic and Celtic tonalities, particularly in her beautiful Swedish translation of a traditional Gaelic love lament.

A full house always creates a good atmosphere and there is no doubt that the audience at Strachur Memorial Hall were well inclined to enjoy themselves at last weekend’s concert. But however willing the audience, it takes musicians of skill and character to build on the potential for a truly great evening.

Residents, and the masses of visitors, were extraordinarily lucky with the first act. The harp is a classic instrument in the traditional music repertoire, and just beginning a revival here, although we are told it is massively popular on the mainland of Europe.. However it is quite rare in the UK to see it as a solo instrument, or in a duo of unaccompanied harpists.

The moment Tristan Le Govic (top picture) and Ailie Robertson plucked their first notes, it was clear that the audience were in for something special. They quickly established a relaxed and appreciative atmosphere in the audience. With Tristan’s virtuosity on the Breton harp, combined with appealing stories and song in Breton and French, it is no surprise that he is in demand at Festivals, has composed music for the cinema, and has won major competitions internationally.

Ailie is also no stranger to competition. No clarsach player has ever won the BBC Young Traditional Musician of the Year Award, but she was a rare clarsach finalist. Picking up five Mod gold medals along the way of her short career, she shows just how versatile the instrument can be. Her warmth, touch and subtlety shine through on stage. This duo made a wonderful exploration of the music of two different, but interlinked, cultures, creating a rich tapestry of traditional tunes, woven with new compositions. Their performance delighted everyone present.

"Lorsqu'il chante ou lorsqu'il joue de la harpe ou lorsqu'il fait les deux à la fois, Tristan Le Govic transmet une sérénité, une finesse, une grande sensibilité qui touche les auditeurs.

Tout semble si simple, si tranquille avec lui. Il nous ballade de la région de Baud, en passant par les pêcheurs de Paimpol, puis l'Irlande. Quand il traduit le dur métier des pêcheurs d'Islande avec sa harpe, c'est comme si on entendait simultanément sonner le glas pour les marins qui se noient, tressaillir le bateau secoué par la tempête, et les cris des pêcheurs qui luttent avec acharnement.

Tristan Le Govic chante ou joue de la harpe, comme il respire, avec aisance, sans artifice, faisant naître de son doigté ou de sa voix de subtiles émotions et une limpide poésie".

Mardi, le musicien a transformé la chapelle Saint-Ivy en théâtre des légendes bretonnes. Les notes sautillent, s'amusent, espiègles et rieuses puis, soudain, comme un banc d'oiseaux, s'envolent et se dispersent, trouvant refuge dans un sous-bois hospitalier. Là, un rayon de soleil doré allume les fougères où perle la rosée. Dans la clairière, le musicien aimerait se reposer mais, c'est sans présumer des sarcasmes des facétieux korrigans. Alors pour les tenir tranquilles, il joue kas a-barh, gwerz, kost ar c'hoed...

Tout en quittant la forêt, le harpiste pense : " Lorsque je reviendrai sur Terre, je ne resterai pas à rêver." Mais peut-on s'empêcher de rêver lorsqu'on est musicien ? Certes non ! On le retrouve quelques instants plus tard à Paimpol, s'embarquant, avec les marins pêcheurs, pour la mer d'Islande. Témoin de leurs mésaventures, il les chante. Sa voix se perd bientôt dans les brumes, déchaînant aussitôt le rire moqueur des mouettes. Pourtant, quelques gavottes plus loin, Tristan Le Govic trouve refuge dans son pays, tenant la main d'une jeune fille. "Venez avec moi ; jeune fille, venez au jardin. Vous y verrez des roses blanches."

Tout simplement magique ! Tristan Le Govic donnait, vendredi soir, en la chapelle de Lothéa, un récital de harpe celtique. Actuellement en tournée dans toute la Bretagne, le jeune musicien, récompensé à de multiples reprises, invite les spectateurs, à travers les 36 cordes de son instrument, à une plongée au coeur de la culture bretonne.

Pureté. Dès les premières notes, le public est envoûté par tant de pureté. Entre compositions personnelles, laridés, gwerzioù, Tristan Le Govic sait distiller les émotions. Dans le cadre de la petite chapelle, les sons s'envolent, vibrent et touchent le spectateur en plein coeur. Entre chaque morceau, le virtuose explique en toute simplicité, en breton puis en français, les morceaux interprétés, les arrangements choisis.

Sonorités cristallines. La harpe celtique accompagne à merveille sa voix profonde de sonorités cristallines. Ses chants sont tour à tour tristes et gais. C'est une invitation à un voyage dans le temps que propose Tristan Le Govic. Pour autant, ses interprétations n'en oublient pas une étonnante modernité. Preuve que passé et présent se conjuguent.