Kan ha diskan en Pays vannetais

 

KAN HA DISKAN EN PAYS VANNETAIS

KAN HA DISKAN IN THE  COUNTRY  OF VANNES

Arfolk, ?, TH 704

Kan ha diskan is a Breton expression to designate the action of singing in pair. It could translate as ''call/singing and respond''. When two singers are involved the second singer (the diskaner) sings the end of a line with the leading singer; then the leading singer the kaner) sings the end of the line with the diskaner and so on. It is called ''tuilage'' in French (tiling) This is the way it is done generally in Brittany except in the country of Vannes. There that technique is not used; the two singers never sing together. Another characteristic of traditional way of singing around Vannes is that several singers repond to the leading singer as it is the case here.
The area where the local dialect is spoken( gwenedeg in Breton) is quite large. The repertoire perfomed here comes from the Southern part near the Bay of Quiberon (Carnac, Plouharnel).
These singers formed a band called An Trouzerion (meaning ''the noise-makers'') and recorded three albums, this one being the first. Five singers (all males) lead the dances each in turn. The oldest of them was Job Kerlagad. Others were quite young at the time. There were seven of them all together.
The dances are : laride, en dro (an dro), trikott which is a mix between en dro and hanter-dro, hanter-dro and kas-abarh another form of en dro. All were traditionally danced in circle with everybody who would like to join in. Now it is quite different in modern festoù-noz.
There is one song to listen to performed in the same way (A4).
Jorj Belz, one of the diskanerion, wrote the introductory text in Gwenedeg and French and he insisted on the fact that this language is in danger since nothing is done at state level to organize courses in primary schools and the fact that of course all the big media are in French. He says that a dance song sung in Breton in a non-Breton environment (meaning that doesn't understand it) is a dead song even though it is possible to dance to it. So he urged the young generation to pick it up before it is too late.  Gwenedeg is still alive but for how long ? (the same question applies to the other Breton dialects).
Arfolk was created in Lorient in 1967 but was bought by the Coop Breizh in 1985.

Lyrics in Breton with translation available.

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