The bombard (Breton: talabard, ar vombard, French: bombarde) is a contemporary conical-bore double-reed instrument widely used to play traditional Breton music. The bombard is a woodwind instrument, and a member of the shawm family. Like most shawms, it has a broad and very powerful sound, vaguely resembling a trumpet. It is played as other shawms are played, with the double reed placed between the lips. The second octave is 'over-blown'; achieved via increased lip and air pressure or through the use of an octave key. It plays a diatonic scale of up to two octaves, although contemporary instruments frequently have added keywork permitting some degree of chromaticism. A bombard player is known as a talabarder after 'talabard', the older Breton name for the bombard.
Bombard
Two Soner: a talabarder (left) and a biniaouer (right)
Traditional Breton musicians are referred to as Sonerien (in Breton) or Sonneurs (in French). Musicians playing in pairs are also referred to as "sonneurs de couple". While 'Soner' originally referred only to the bombard player, the meaning long ago expanded to also include other traditional musicians. Call-and-response remains a central aspect of Breton music regardless of the instruments used. The paired kan ha diskan vocal tradition, which remains vitally active today, perhaps formed the original basis for all other pairings of Breton musicians. In some parts of Brittany from the late 19th century onwards, the most popular 'sonneurs de couple' were the paired treujenn gaol clarinet and accompanying button accordion.
Bombards in their most traditional setting are accompanied by a bagpipe called a biniou kozh ("ancient bagpipe"), which plays an octave above the bombard. The bombard calls, and the biniou responds. The bombard requires so much lip pressure and breath support that a talabarder can rarely play a sustained melody line. The biniou plays the melody continuously, while the bombard takes breaks, establishing the call-and-response pattern. Prior to World War I, a given pair of Soners would typically cover all of the weddings, funerals, and other social occasions within a given territory, which would be jealously guarded from other performers. This duet of bombard and pipes, also occasionally accompanied by a drummer in past centuries, has been practiced for at least 500 years in Brittany in an unbroken tradition and must be considered the heart and soul of this instrument's place in Breton culture.
A blackwood bombarde with tin incrustations made by Dorig Le Voyer Ca. 1969
Revival in the bagadoù
Quartet of bombard players
In the first part of the twentieth century, the number of players of bombards and biniou kozh decreased significantly. In the late '40s, the creation of the Bagad, a specifically Breton ensemble of bagpipes, bombards and drums, by figures such as Polig Monjarret and the organization Bodadeg ar Sonerion (Brotherhood of Musicians), offered a new role to the bombard. Now most towns in Brittany have one or several Bagadoù (plural in Breton for "Bagad"), and they continually compete with each other in a series of annual tournaments and festivals. As the bagad is a Breton take on the Scottish pipe band concept, the music initially performed was typically martial in character. Now the Bagadoù play dance music, traditional melodies and new compositions.[a] The large number of bombard players in the Bagadoù has been a key factor in the successful popularization of the instrument. Another key factor has been the revitalization of the traditional pairing of the bombard and biniou in the 1970s with the Breton cultural revival, thanks to the success of Alan Stivell and the development of "Fest Noz" dances and traditional music competitions.
Still evolving: Fest-Noz and beyond
"Essentially a shawm or oboe--that is, a pipe with a conical bore, a double reed, and finger-holes...traditional Breton bombardoù are probably very close to the original progenitor of the oboe family."[1] The bombard is an instrument that has been in constant evolution, with many different keys developed as well as sophisticated silver key-work enabling chromatic possibilities. Milder versions in lower ranges such as Youenn Le Bihan's "piston" (an oboe/bombard hybrid, typically based in the key of Re/D) have been developed for use in mixed ensembles. A class of professional musicians and instrument makers has emerged, as well as standardized reeds and commonly available tutorial materials. Today, both the biniou and bombard are played in combination with an unlimited number of instruments (voice, saxophone, piano, organ, clarinet or treujenn gaol, fiddle, flutes, guitar, percussion… ) in fest-noz,[b] groups and ensembles of all styles - from classical to folk, rock, pop, punk, metal - in arrangements of traditional Breton dance tunes or in new compositions.
Musicians and instrument makers
Chromatic bombard by Axone, in blackwood
Some sonerien:
Gildas Moal
Christian Faucheur
Georges Epinette
André Le Meut..
Jorj Botuha
Christophe Caron
Sabine Le Coadou
Cyrille Bonneau
David Pasquet
Josick Allot
Eric Beaumin
Odran Plantec
Jean Baron
Mathieu Sérot
Stéphane Hardy
Serge Riou
Yann Kermabon
Youenn Le Bihan
Ivonig Le Mestre
Erwan Hamon
Daniel Feon
Jil Lehart (Gilles Lehart)
Some instrument makers:
Hervieux & Glet
Jorj Botuha
Youenn Le Bihan
Axone (Jean-Luc Ollivier)
Yvon Le Coant
Jil Lehart (Gilles Lehart)
Christian Besrechel
Éric Ollu
Rudy Le Doyen
Dorig Le Voyer
Some recordings:
"Evit Dañsal" Jil Lehart and Daniel Féon
"An disput" Gildas Moal and René Chaplain
"Plijadur" Jorj Botuha, with Pascal Guingo, Philippe Quillay, Pascal Marsault
"Kerzh Ba'n Dañs" Skolvan
Films
Of Pipers and Wrens (1997). Produced and directed by Gei Zantzinger, in collaboration with Dastum. Lois V. Kuter, ethnomusicological consultant. Devault, Pennsylvania: Constant Spring Productions.
^a Breton term meaning "Night Festival", a traditional dance event.
References
^Koch, John T. and Minard, Antone (2012). The Celts: History, Life, and Culture, p.98. ABC-CLIO. ISBN9781598849646.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bombards.
Free method for self-learning the Breton Bombard (pdf to download)
January 14, 2023
bombard, music, organ, stop, bombarde, organ, stop, bombard, breton, talabard, vombard, french, bombarde, contemporary, conical, bore, double, reed, instrument, widely, used, play, traditional, breton, music, bombard, woodwind, instrument, member, shawm, famil. For the organ stop see Bombarde organ stop The bombard Breton talabard ar vombard French bombarde is a contemporary conical bore double reed instrument widely used to play traditional Breton music The bombard is a woodwind instrument and a member of the shawm family Like most shawms it has a broad and very powerful sound vaguely resembling a trumpet It is played as other shawms are played with the double reed placed between the lips The second octave is over blown achieved via increased lip and air pressure or through the use of an octave key It plays a diatonic scale of up to two octaves although contemporary instruments frequently have added keywork permitting some degree of chromaticism A bombard player is known as a talabarder after talabard the older Breton name for the bombard BombardTwo Soner a talabarder left and a biniaouer right Woodwind instrumentOther namestalabard bombarde ar vombardClassificationAerophone Non free aerophone Reed aerophoneHornbostel Sachs classification422 112 Double reed instrument with conical bore Related instrumentsOboe Bassoon Shawm Bagpipes Contents 1 The tradition Sonneurs de Couple 2 Revival in the bagadou 3 Still evolving Fest Noz and beyond 4 Musicians and instrument makers 5 Films 6 Notes 7 References 8 External linksThe tradition Sonneurs de Couple EditTraditional Breton musicians are referred to as Sonerien in Breton or Sonneurs in French Musicians playing in pairs are also referred to as sonneurs de couple While Soner originally referred only to the bombard player the meaning long ago expanded to also include other traditional musicians Call and response remains a central aspect of Breton music regardless of the instruments used The paired kan ha diskan vocal tradition which remains vitally active today perhaps formed the original basis for all other pairings of Breton musicians In some parts of Brittany from the late 19th century onwards the most popular sonneurs de couple were the paired treujenn gaol clarinet and accompanying button accordion Bombards in their most traditional setting are accompanied by a bagpipe called a biniou kozh ancient bagpipe which plays an octave above the bombard The bombard calls and the biniou responds The bombard requires so much lip pressure and breath support that a talabarder can rarely play a sustained melody line The biniou plays the melody continuously while the bombard takes breaks establishing the call and response pattern Prior to World War I a given pair of Soners would typically cover all of the weddings funerals and other social occasions within a given territory which would be jealously guarded from other performers This duet of bombard and pipes also occasionally accompanied by a drummer in past centuries has been practiced for at least 500 years in Brittany in an unbroken tradition and must be considered the heart and soul of this instrument s place in Breton culture A blackwood bombarde with tin incrustations made by Dorig Le Voyer Ca 1969Revival in the bagadou Edit source source source source source source source source source source source source source source Quartet of bombard players In the first part of the twentieth century the number of players of bombards and biniou kozh decreased significantly In the late 40s the creation of the Bagad a specifically Breton ensemble of bagpipes bombards and drums by figures such as Polig Monjarret and the organization Bodadeg ar Sonerion Brotherhood of Musicians offered a new role to the bombard Now most towns in Brittany have one or several Bagadou plural in Breton for Bagad and they continually compete with each other in a series of annual tournaments and festivals As the bagad is a Breton take on the Scottish pipe band concept the music initially performed was typically martial in character Now the Bagadou play dance music traditional melodies and new compositions a The large number of bombard players in the Bagadou has been a key factor in the successful popularization of the instrument Another key factor has been the revitalization of the traditional pairing of the bombard and biniou in the 1970s with the Breton cultural revival thanks to the success of Alan Stivell and the development of Fest Noz dances and traditional music competitions Still evolving Fest Noz and beyond Edit Essentially a shawm or oboe that is a pipe with a conical bore a double reed and finger holes traditional Breton bombardou are probably very close to the original progenitor of the oboe family 1 The bombard is an instrument that has been in constant evolution with many different keys developed as well as sophisticated silver key work enabling chromatic possibilities Milder versions in lower ranges such as Youenn Le Bihan s piston an oboe bombard hybrid typically based in the key of Re D have been developed for use in mixed ensembles A class of professional musicians and instrument makers has emerged as well as standardized reeds and commonly available tutorial materials Today both the biniou and bombard are played in combination with an unlimited number of instruments voice saxophone piano organ clarinet or treujenn gaol fiddle flutes guitar percussion in fest noz b groups and ensembles of all styles from classical to folk rock pop punk metal in arrangements of traditional Breton dance tunes or in new compositions Musicians and instrument makers Edit Chromatic bombard by Axone in blackwood Some sonerien Gildas Moal Christian Faucheur Georges Epinette Andre Le Meut Jorj Botuha Christophe Caron Sabine Le Coadou Cyrille Bonneau David Pasquet Josick Allot Eric Beaumin Odran Plantec Jean Baron Mathieu Serot Stephane Hardy Serge Riou Yann Kermabon Youenn Le Bihan Ivonig Le Mestre Erwan Hamon Daniel Feon Jil Lehart Gilles Lehart Some instrument makers Hervieux amp Glet Jorj Botuha Youenn Le Bihan Axone Jean Luc Ollivier Yvon Le Coant Jil Lehart Gilles Lehart Christian Besrechel Eric Ollu Rudy Le Doyen Dorig Le VoyerSome recordings Evit Dansal Jil Lehart and Daniel Feon An disput Gildas Moal and Rene Chaplain Plijadur Jorj Botuha with Pascal Guingo Philippe Quillay Pascal Marsault Kerzh Ba n Dans SkolvanFilms EditOf Pipers and Wrens 1997 Produced and directed by Gei Zantzinger in collaboration with Dastum Lois V Kuter ethnomusicological consultant Devault Pennsylvania Constant Spring Productions Notes Edit See for instance the pop show Heritage des Celtes or Finisterres a Breton term meaning Night Festival a traditional dance event References Edit Koch John T and Minard Antone 2012 The Celts History Life and Culture p 98 ABC CLIO ISBN 9781598849646 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bombards Free method for self learning the Breton Bombard pdf to download Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Bombard music amp oldid 1111444277, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
