Gwenno's Tir Ha Mor
I started writing this about a month ago... it hasn't dated much, but I think I just wasn't sure how to finish it.
We play music league in work, and the theme for this week was a sea or nautical themed song. I wanted to submit Gwenno's Tir Ha Mor, but I chickened out (the title means Land and Sea, and I worried it wasn't enough sea).
But I read about the song and looked up the lyrics. Gwenno's music in general is heavily inspired by Celtic languages and culture - I first got into her through her Welsh language album, Yr Dydd Olaf. I can't speak Welsh, but I was born and grew up in Wales so I have an interest in following and supporting the Welsh language music scene (which has been kicking off the past couple of years!) Since then, she's released a Cornish album, a Welsh/Cornish album, and a Welsh/Cornish/English album.
Tir Ha Mor is from Le Kov, her Cornish language album. "As one of the language’s few fluent speakers, Gwenno felt a duty to make her second album entirely in Cornish: to create a document of a living language, explore her identity and the endless creative possibilities of a tongue that has a very small surviving artistic output, despite having been around for at least 15 centuries."
From wikipedia:
Cornish became extinct as a living community language in Cornwall by the end of the 18th century; knowledge of Cornish persisted within some families and individuals. A revival started in the early 20th century, and in 2010 UNESCO reclassified the language as critically endangered, stating that its former classification of the language as extinct was no longer accurate. The language has a growing number of second-language speakers, and a very small number of families now raise children to speak revived Cornish as a first language.
Tir Ha Mor is inspired by a Cornish abstract painter Peter Lanyon. He learned to glide in his 30s in order to see the landscape from above, which informed his paintings.
The Road to St Ives, 1938 - Peter Lanyon
After learning to glide he then ended up dying in a gliding accident - what a life...
Here's another painting of his. I couldn't find that many online when I searched.
