The Celtic countries are officially six in number: Scotland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Wales, Cornwall, and of course Brittany.

To these six countries are added Galicia, Asturias and Cantabria, all three in Spain, but also the Aosta Valley, in Italy.

More detailed information can be found on Wikipedia.

These Celtic countries find themselves in their music, celebrated by events such as the interceltic festival of Lorient. A few musical instruments are associated with Celtic music, like the bagpipe or the Celtic harp.

Another page is devoted to bagpipes.

Alan Stivell

The first name that comes to mind when talking about Celtic music is Alan Stivell, activist for Breton culture.

Alan Stivell's most famous song is "Tri Martolod"

Another well-known song by Alan Stivell is the South Armorican suite, of which it is not possible to translate the lyrics on a general public site... Here, a particular version, with the addition of French lyrics.

Tri Yann

The group Tri Yann ("the three Johns") is from Nantes. Their style is inspired by traditional Breton and Celtic music and songs.

Michao's mare is undoubtedly one of Tri Yann's most famous songs, although in fact it belongs to the traditional French repertoire and that it was taken over and rearranged by the band.

One of Tri Yann's most beautiful songs is "Si mort a mors" (if death has bitten), inspired by an anonymous Breton poem, written in French on the occasion of the funeral of Duchess Anne. The music is that of the traditional Irish song An Cailín Rua.

And to compare, the song An Cailín Rua.

Dances

Celtic music goes hand in hand with folk dances.

Breton dances

Dances by the Saint-Malo group Quic-en-Groigne.

Breton dance is very sporty. Here, the performance of Breton comedian Simon Cojean.

Breton folk dances are still as popular with the public as ever. It is not uncommon during a concert of Breton music to see the public spontaneously start dancing.

Irish dances

Irish dancing is also very popular. They are characterized above all by rapid movements of the legs, while the rest of the body, trunk and arms remain fixed and very rigid.

These dances were popularized by the show Riverdance.