Music of Cornwall
It is accompanied by traditions of pipers, brass and silver bands, male voice choirs, classical, electronic and popular music.
Also (as frequently mentioned in the Launceston borough accounts) minstrels were hired to play for saints day celebrations.
[1] 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.
[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.
Records exist of dancing in farmhouse kitchens, and in fish cellars Cornish ceilidhs called troyls were common, they are analogous to the fest-noz of the Bretons.
This carol and its melody were first transcribed from the singing of a villager in St Day in the parish of Gwennap: the lyrics are similar to those of "The Holly and the Ivy".
Songs of the West was published by Methuen in conjunction with Watey and Willis; the first edition appeared both as a four-part set, undated, and as one volume dated 1895.
[11] 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".
[14] Cornish music is often noted for its similarity to that of Brittany; some older songs and carols share the same root as Breton tunes.
Documentary sources and Cornish iconography (as at Altarnun church on Bodmin Moor and St. Mary's, Launceston) suggest a late-medieval line-up might include a crwth (or crowd, similar to a violin), bombarde (horn-pipe), bagpipes and harp.
bands Sacred Turf, Skwardya and Krena, have begun performing British folk rock in the Cornish language.
Today, the site has moved with the times, and now provides individual track downloads, alongside traditional CD format.
Along with friend and collaborator Luke Vibert and business partner Grant Wilson-Claridge, James has crafted a niche of 'Cornish Acid' affectionately identified with his home region.
[citation needed] 3 Daft Monkeys (Tim Ashton, Athene Roberts, and Jamie Waters) combine vocals, fiddle, 12-string guitar, bass guitar and foot drum to play a fusion of Celtic, Balkan, Gypsy, Latino, dance, dub, punk, reggae and traditional folk music.
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.
They have played Reading and Leeds festivals, the Eden Sessions and gained support slots with The Pogues, Blink 182 and Brandon Flowers.
The underground scene includes rappers Hedluv + Passman, multi-instrumentalist Julian Gaskell and alternative folk/skiffle duo Zapoppin’.
[20] Fisherman's Friends is a male vocal group from Port Isaac specialising in the sea shanty repertoire.
There are many other brass and silver bands in Cornwall, particularly in the former mining areas: St Dennis and Camborne are notable examples.
