“Music is about making people happy.” This was the motto of Christian Duro, clarinet and bombard player, who died this Sunday, November 3, at his home in Glomel, at the age of 77. With his disappearance, the entire Fisel country and more broadly traditional Breton music has lost a great memory-bearer and “a real talent”, underlines Dominique Jouve, renowned musician from the Fisel country, who was one of his students. .
Author of texts for Erik Marchand
Born in 1947 in Glomel, Christian comes from a family of traditional musicians from Kreiz Breizh. Julien, his father, was also a treujenn-gaol bell ringer
. Endowed with a “quite exceptional” voice, Catherine, her mother, practiced Breton singing. “It was André Le Mercier, a teacher in Glomel and an activist for Breton culture, who developed Christian’s vocation,” says Dominique Jouve. Quickly spotted for his ease in learning and interpreting oral music in his own way, he was given a bombarde around the age of 10. »
By following the musical developments of his time, he has preserved a local and astonishing style.
In the 1980s, Christian was asked to take part in the revival of the traditional clarinet. Facilitating workshops, music lessons, fest-noz, sharing your heritage with students, etc. “Christian was a humble man, always available to transmit.” His perfect knowledge of the Breton language will allow him to write a multitude of texts for different performers, in particular the singer Erik Marchand.
An amazing and very free game
Singer, ringer and storyteller of family tradition in Fisel country, Christian will have left numerous audio recordings captured in the studio or live. “By following the musical developments of his time, he has preserved a local and astonishing style,” expresses the team of the Tamm-Kreiz site, observatory of the fest-noz in Brittany. An observation supported by Dominique Jouve: “His unpredictable play was very free, and even unpredictable. He had an ability to make tunes his own like I have rarely heard. »
His two sons, in turn, followed in his musical wake. Gaël, author, composer and performer of French songs, is today at the head of the contemporary music festival Kreizh Y Fest, which takes place every year in May in Glomel.
* Nickname for the clarinet in Breton.
