Georges Cochevelou

Georges Cochevelou (1889–1974) was a French luthier and initiated the origin of the revival of the Celtic harp in Brittany in the 1950s with his harpist son Alan Stivell.

Biography

Georges (Jord or Jorj in Breton) Cochevelou was born on May 16, 1889 in the Rue Vercingétorix (Vercingétorix Street) of the 14th arrondissement of Paris. His father was a native of Nouec Vihan in Gourin, and his mother of Pontivy. Georges was baptised in Vannetais territory in the south of Brittany, after which his family moved away from Paris.^[1] He was raised for some years by his maternal grandmother in Moustoir-Ac, and lived in Morbihan until he was around thirty years old. He was raised as a speaker of Gwenedeg (French: vannetais).

As a soldier in World War I, he was wounded and taken prisoner in Germany in 1917. At the time of the Armistice of 11 November 1918, he was in Poland, where he studied Polish and Russian. After the war, he worked as a banker, administrator and translator, but his real passions were within the arts. The astignomètre, was a winner in the competition Lépine for its eclectic works (the astignomètre, an ophthalmological device, for example), created a lamp of lounge (sold by Lancel, French leatherware), built furniture like a real cabinet maker (French polish, marquetry), painted paintings in an original technique "of watercolor in the oil" on panels of hardboard painted in white shown at an exhibition of independents at the academy of Raymond Duncan).

Brittany was not then a primary interest but he followed from afar its cultural influences and in the 1930s frequented the Breton circles of Paris. On August 1, 1932, he married Fanny-Julienne Dobroushkess, native of Baltic states, from which from her father, Hain-Woulf Dobroushkess, tailor by trade, had emigrated. Of this union was born a son, Jean, in December, 1935. On the eve of the Second World War, Georges was fifty years old. Although he was over the age limit for his rank (spare captain) and not mobilizable, he considered it his duty to answer the call and was allocated to the east army to Épinal and to Saint-Dié. His wife and her son joined him in the spring of 1940. Their second child Yves was born on May 18, 1940 in Épinal, a few days before the German offensive. At the beginning of June, the east army affects its fold. The family begins a trip of week before being welcomed in a family near Villeneuve-sur-Lot. Georges eventually finds an employment to Châtel-Guyon where the family lives until autumn 1945.^[2]

On January 6, 1944, Alan Cochevelou, the future Alan Stivell, was born. A short time later, the family settled down in Paris. At that time he became an English translator and contract employee for the Ministry of Finance where he did translations of English, Russian, Polish, Spanish. Fanny collaborated in the secretarial department of the civic and social Feminine Union, in 25 kick of Valois. Cochevelou lived in five in a small apartment on the boulevard of Belleville. They then lived on Rue Marne, then in Vincennes. Georges had adopted the ideas appropriate to a certain right bourgeoisie, although he and his family had relatively low incomes.^[3] His wife Fanny encouraged him to resume contact with his family that remained in Brittany.

Gradually, Georges became interested again in Brittany and in the Breton movement, of which he had never completely lost sight. One of his passions was in cabinetmaking -- he made furniture and musical instruments. Furthermore he played the piano, the transverse flute and the oboe. He tried to recreate a Celtic harp, an instrument forgotten in the end of the Middle Ages, when the Duchy of Brittany lost its independence. He thought of it more and more seriously in the years 1946-1951, multiplying meetings and document retrievals, until it ended in the manufacturing of a prototype based on personal plans. At the age of sixty three, he conjugates ambition, passion, perfectionism, for this work which began in April, 1952 - in the evening and the weekends - and one year lasts. Until the realization of his dream at the beginning of the 50s, after fifteen years of maturation he began to create a "magic and completed harp" according to his son. He creates, in April, 1953, "Telenn gentañ", a model of harp equipped with nylon ropes. This work is the outcome of diverse researches and calculations.

The sound of this harp, as well as the various performances and the recitals of his son Alan, create an enthusiasm such as the revival of the instrument in Brittany is acquired from the 50's. In 1959, he harmonized and arranged the pieces of the first record of his son Alan. He produced about twenty copies which will be bought by the Celtic circles of Saint-Malo, Pontivy, Redon. In 1964, he creates an instrument inspired by the Irish harp of the 15th century or the 16th century, equipped with metallic ropes which gave him a tone evoking the twelve stringed guitar or zither.

Jord died on December 20, 1974 in Saint-Mandé (Val-de-Marne). In 1976, Alan dedicated him his album Trema'n Inis ("Towards the island") to Georges. His wife died on September 26, 2005 in Limeil-Brévannes (Val-de-Marne) at the age of hundred and two years. Alan payed tribute to her with the song Over there, over there on the album Explores in 2006. Both rest in the cemetery of Gourin, as per the wishes of Georges.

Family tree

References

1. ↑ Péron, Goulven (June 2010). "Les Cochevelou et la renaissance de la musique celtique" (PDF). Kaier ar Poher (29). p. 60. Retrieved 2014-12-22. 
2. ↑ Laurent Bourdelas, Alan Stivell, Le Télégramme Editions, 2012, p. 19
3. ↑ Laurent Bourdelas, Alan Stivell, Le Télégramme Editions, 2012, p. 22
4. ↑ http://illus-tree.voila.net/stivell/pafg02.htm