Nolwenn Korbell
Encyclopedia
Nolwenn Korbell is a French Breton
singer-songwriter and actress.
Best known for her songs in Breton
, with her musicians or in a duet with guitarist Soïg Sibéril, she released four albums, regularly performs in concerts, and also keeps acting in plays and films.
singer Andrea Ar Gouil and Hervé Corbel, also a Breton music amateur.
All four of them spoke Breton in their daily life, and Nolwenn learnt French at school.
She followed her mother during her tours in the Celtic nations
, where she heard Welsh
, Irish
and Scottish
people sing in their respective languages.
She began taking theatre classes in her teens.
At 16, she played in sketches
during the , a pastiche
of the César Awards ceremony
.
Youenn Gwernig, the head of Breton language programs of France 3 Ouest, noticed her.
In 1984, France 3
bought the rights of a Welsh cartoon in order to dub it in Breton, and Gwernig gave her the female character's role.
During two years, she studied modern language
s at University of Rennes 2, learning German, Breton and Welsh.
She spent three years in the Dramatic Arts Conservatory in Rennes, learning lyrical singing, and performing as a soprano
in the band Arsis Théâtre Vocal.
She hosted television programs on France 3 Ouest.
Between 1991 and 1999, she lived between Brittany
and Wales
, the home land of her partner, Twm Morys.
She sang in his band, .
At that time, she played in short and long films by Olivier Bourbeillon, Simon Hymphries.
In 1997, she competed in the Kan ar Bobl
, a Breton singing contest that brought to fame, among others, Yann-Fañch Kemener
and Denez Prigent.
There, she sang (My seamstress), a song she wrote as a tribute to her grandmother, and won the first prize.
In 2000, after the birth of her son Gwion, she went back to France in order to devote herself to theatre and singing.
In 2002, she sang during the . The two heads of Coop Breizh were in the audience and offer her to record an album.
This title was chosen so that anyone can find their own meaning in it: it can, for example, refer to a the end of a love relationship that leaves some hope, to the Breton language and culture
that are still alive, or to a work of art, like the album itself, that is never over because it is always possible to give a new interpretation of it.
All the songs are in Breton, except ("The new world"), which is in Welsh.
All the lyrics were by Nolwenn Korbell, except those of ("The girl of the closed bed", by Bernez Tangi), (Twm Morys) and ("Come with me", traditional).
Korbell cited as her main source of inspiration the songs, often from the Barzaz Breiz
, that her mother sang to her.
She wrote using simple words, following the example of Bernez Tangi, who, in addition to a song, wrote the poem that serves as a preface to .
Because of her training as an actress, she took great care of pronouncing correctly, which is part of her effort in making her songs understandable by the largest audience.
She expressed one of her strongest convictions: the importance of Breton, and of languages in general: "I would like the world to keep all the colours that are under the sun", she said in an interview.
She included in the album "", a traditional song that her mother taught her, also sung by the Goadec sisters.
Another traditional theme is the subject of "" (Song of the girl who had nothing), inspired from a nursery rhyme
designed to teach children the days of the week, the name of farm animals and the sound they make: everyday, the narrator goes to the fair and buys an animal.
In Nolwenn Korbell's version, starting on Wednesday, the narrator buys something that cannot be bought: a husband, a son, a heart, a voice and a life.
According to the author, "this song is a parable
which demonstrates that what makes the salt of life is not negotiable".
The band that performed on included Frédérique Lory on the piano, Tangi Le Doré on the bass, and d'Antonin Volson on drums.
This team remained with her until 2010.
This album received France 3's Priz (award) of the best CD in 2003 and the (made in Brittany) disc grand award in 2004.
In 2004, Nolwenn Korbell received the Imram award, given each year to a Breton language author for his or her whole work.
Her shows were produced by Big Bravo Spectacle, a company based in Saint-Quay-Portrieux
.
She sang in many events, such as the Vieilles Charrues Festival
in 2004, the Festival du bout du monde, the Nuit celtique in Bercy
in 2005 and 2006.
In 2006, she performed in the Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow
and a concert in Olympia
with Gilles Servat
.
Breton people
The Bretons are an ethnic group located in the region of Brittany in France. They trace much of their heritage to groups of Brythonic speakers who emigrated from southwestern Great Britain in waves from the 3rd to 6th century into the Armorican peninsula, subsequently named Brittany after them.The...
singer-songwriter and actress.
Best known for her songs in Breton
Breton language
Breton is a Celtic language spoken in Brittany , France. Breton is a Brythonic language, descended from the Celtic British language brought from Great Britain to Armorica by migrating Britons during the Early Middle Ages. Like the other Brythonic languages, Welsh and Cornish, it is classified as...
, with her musicians or in a duet with guitarist Soïg Sibéril, she released four albums, regularly performs in concerts, and also keeps acting in plays and films.
Biography
Nolwenn Korbell spent her childhood in Douarnenez with her younger brother and her parents, gwerzGwerz
Gwerz is a type of folk song of Brittany, a Celtic region in France.In Breton music, the gwerz 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...
singer Andrea Ar Gouil and Hervé Corbel, also a Breton music amateur.
All four of them spoke Breton in their daily life, and Nolwenn learnt French at school.
She followed her mother during her tours in the Celtic nations
Celtic nations
The Celtic nations are territories in North-West Europe in which that area's own Celtic languages and some cultural traits have survived.The term "nation" is used in its original sense to mean a people who share a common traditional identity and culture and are identified with a traditional...
, where she heard Welsh
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
, Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
and Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
people sing in their respective languages.
She began taking theatre classes in her teens.
At 16, she played in sketches
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
during the , a pastiche
Pastiche
A pastiche is a literary or other artistic genre or technique that is a "hodge-podge" or imitation. The word is also a linguistic term used to describe an early stage in the development of a pidgin language.-Hodge-podge:...
of the César Awards ceremony
César Award
The César Award is the national film award of France, first given out in 1975. The nominations are selected by the members of the Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma....
.
Youenn Gwernig, the head of Breton language programs of France 3 Ouest, noticed her.
In 1984, France 3
France 3
France 3 is the second largest French public television channel and part of the France Télévisions group, which also includes France 2, France 4, France 5, and France Ô....
bought the rights of a Welsh cartoon in order to dub it in Breton, and Gwernig gave her the female character's role.
During two years, she studied modern language
Modern language
A modern language is any human language that is currently in use. The term is used in language education to distinguish between languages which are used for day-to-day communication and dead classical languages such as Latin, Attic Greek, Sanskrit, and Classical Chinese, which are studied for...
s at University of Rennes 2, learning German, Breton and Welsh.
She spent three years in the Dramatic Arts Conservatory in Rennes, learning lyrical singing, and performing as a soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
in the band Arsis Théâtre Vocal.
She hosted television programs on France 3 Ouest.
Between 1991 and 1999, she lived between Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
and Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, the home land of her partner, Twm Morys.
She sang in his band, .
At that time, she played in short and long films by Olivier Bourbeillon, Simon Hymphries.
In 1997, she competed in the Kan ar Bobl
Kan ar Bobl
Kan ar Bobl is a Breton music competition created in 1973, that takes place in Lorient as part of the Festival Interceltique de Lorient...
, a Breton singing contest that brought to fame, among others, Yann-Fañch Kemener
Yann-Fañch Kemener
Yann-Fañch Kemener is a traditional singer from Britanny, born in Sainte-Tréphine , France.He took part in reviving Kan ha diskan in the 1970s and 1980s, especially with Erik Marchand...
and Denez Prigent.
There, she sang (My seamstress), a song she wrote as a tribute to her grandmother, and won the first prize.
In 2000, after the birth of her son Gwion, she went back to France in order to devote herself to theatre and singing.
In 2002, she sang during the . The two heads of Coop Breizh were in the audience and offer her to record an album.
(It is not over), her first album, was released in the end of 2003.
This title was chosen so that anyone can find their own meaning in it: it can, for example, refer to a the end of a love relationship that leaves some hope, to the Breton language and culture
Culture of Brittany
The Culture of Brittany is made up of a mixture of French and Breton culture, and celtic culture. Within France, Breton culture is closest regionally to those of Normandy, Aquitaine, and Gascony...
that are still alive, or to a work of art, like the album itself, that is never over because it is always possible to give a new interpretation of it.
All the songs are in Breton, except ("The new world"), which is in Welsh.
All the lyrics were by Nolwenn Korbell, except those of ("The girl of the closed bed", by Bernez Tangi), (Twm Morys) and ("Come with me", traditional).
Korbell cited as her main source of inspiration the songs, often from the Barzaz Breiz
Barzaz Breiz
Barzaz Breiz is a collection of Breton popular songs collected by Théodore Hersart de la Villemarqué and published in 1839. It was compiled from oral tradition and preserves traditional folk tales, legends and music...
, that her mother sang to her.
She wrote using simple words, following the example of Bernez Tangi, who, in addition to a song, wrote the poem that serves as a preface to .
Because of her training as an actress, she took great care of pronouncing correctly, which is part of her effort in making her songs understandable by the largest audience.
She expressed one of her strongest convictions: the importance of Breton, and of languages in general: "I would like the world to keep all the colours that are under the sun", she said in an interview.
She included in the album "", a traditional song that her mother taught her, also sung by the Goadec sisters.
Another traditional theme is the subject of "" (Song of the girl who had nothing), inspired from a nursery rhyme
Nursery rhyme
The term nursery rhyme is used for "traditional" poems for young children in Britain and many other countries, but usage only dates from the 19th century and in North America the older ‘Mother Goose Rhymes’ is still often used.-Lullabies:...
designed to teach children the days of the week, the name of farm animals and the sound they make: everyday, the narrator goes to the fair and buys an animal.
In Nolwenn Korbell's version, starting on Wednesday, the narrator buys something that cannot be bought: a husband, a son, a heart, a voice and a life.
According to the author, "this song is a parable
Parable
A parable is a succinct story, in prose or verse, which illustrates one or more instructive principles, or lessons, or a normative principle. It differs from a fable in that fables use animals, plants, inanimate objects, and forces of nature as characters, while parables generally feature human...
which demonstrates that what makes the salt of life is not negotiable".
The band that performed on included Frédérique Lory on the piano, Tangi Le Doré on the bass, and d'Antonin Volson on drums.
This team remained with her until 2010.
This album received France 3's Priz (award) of the best CD in 2003 and the (made in Brittany) disc grand award in 2004.
In 2004, Nolwenn Korbell received the Imram award, given each year to a Breton language author for his or her whole work.
Her shows were produced by Big Bravo Spectacle, a company based in Saint-Quay-Portrieux
Saint-Quay-Portrieux
Saint-Quay-Portrieux is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Bretagne in northwestern France.-Population:Inhabitants of Saint-Quay-Portrieux are called quinocéens.-External links:* *...
.
She sang in many events, such as the Vieilles Charrues Festival
Vieilles Charrues Festival
The Vieilles Charrues Festival is held every year in mid-July in the city of Carhaix located in the west of Brittany.This festival is the largest music festival in France, attracting more than 200,000 festival-goers every year . This festival was created in 1992 in Landeleau, a small village in...
in 2004, the Festival du bout du monde, the Nuit celtique in Bercy
Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy
Opened in 1984, Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, often abbreviated as POPB or Bercy, is an indoor sports arena on boulevard de Bercy located in the 12th arrondissement of Paris...
in 2005 and 2006.
In 2006, she performed in the Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
and a concert in Olympia
Paris Olympia
The Olympia is a music hall in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. Located at No. 28, Boulevard des Capucines, its closest métro/RER stations are Madeleine, Opéra, Havre – Caumartin and Auber....
with Gilles Servat
Gilles Servat
Gilles Servat is a French singer, born in Tarbes in southern France in 1945, into a family whose roots lay in the Nantes region of Brittany.He spent his early childhood around Nantes and Cholet. His music evoques the Isle of Groix, off the coast of Morbihan.His music was originally inspired by the...
.
N'eo ket echu
2003, Coop Breizh- Ur wech e vo
- Padal
- Ma c'hemenerez
- Glav
- Y byd newydd
- Son ar plac'h n'he doa netra
- Luskell ma mab
- A-dreuz kleuz ha moger
- Deuit ganin-me
- Sant ma fardon
Bemdez c'houloù
2006, Coop Breizh- Bemdez choulou
- Termaji
- Dal
- Valsenn Trefrin
- News from town for my love who stayed home
- Yannig ha mai
- Pardon an dreinded
- Dafydd y Garreg WenDafydd y Garreg WenDafydd y Garreg Wen is a traditional Welsh air and folk song.David Owen, the famous blind harper and composer, lived near Porthmadog in Caernarfonshire, Wales in the first half of the 18th century, who was known locally as Dafydd y Garreg Wen,...
- Un petit navire d'Espagne
- Olole
Red
(with guitarist Soig Sibéril), 2007, Coop Breizh- Bugale Breizh
- Valsenn trefrin
- Billy
- Sant ma fardon
- Gourin
- Padal
- Anna
- Bemdez choulou
- Daoulamm ruz
- Kanaouenn Katell
- Turn! Turn! Turn!
- Yannig ha mai
- Glav
- News from town for my love who stayed home
Noazh
2010, Coop Breizh- Blues ar Penn Sardin
- Hir
- Mad Love
- Aet Oan
- An Dud
- Don't Try
- Anna
- Je Voudrais
- Kuit
- One More Day
- Misjac Na Nebi