‍Joseph Mahé, Premier Collecteur De Musique Populaire De Haute Et De Basse-Bretagne   

‍Biographie, manuscrit et analyse. Collection Oral Heritage of Brittany, vol. 8    By Roland Becker Published by DASTUM 2017, 348 pages, French language text

‍I first discovered the work of Joseph Mahé through the Fest Noz group Koun and their 1995 recording An dro on the Keltia Musique label, which heavily featured tunes taken from this early collector’s manuscripts. Breton tunes from the 1700s, wow! I loved this recording, with the incomparably fine pistoñ (Breton oboe) sound of the late Josik Alot, and the uniquely Breton uilleann pipes of Pascal Martin. The CD booklet contained notes on Mahé’s work, which really fired my imagination and made me hungry for more. 

‍I wouldn’t get more, however, until 2017 when author, composer and musician Roland Becker released this comprehensive, in-depth analysis of Mahé including a massive section reproducing his musical manuscripts.

‍Becker is one of the most fascinating characters in the Breton scene, producing exquisite recordings such as Kof A Kof with accordionist RégisHuiban, and numerous other projects that display a sometimes fantastical conceptual  imagination exceeded only by his virtuosic musicality. As an author he is the real deal when it comes to writing about Breton  music, and this lovely book is no exception. 

‍Priest, theologian, historian, and ethnomusicologist before his time, Joseph Mahé (1760-1831) is the definitive Morbihan scholar of the first third of the 19th century. In 1825 he published the Essay on the Antiquities of the Department of Morbihan, in which he notably presented “popular songs of Morbihan” in the form of 40 tunes noted and with commentary. 120 years later the Mahé manuscript in which his entire collection appears was discovered; 285 tunes collected before 1825.

‍Roland Becker has chosen to present, for the first time, this collection in its entirety, reproducing the original notations of the tunes. He also offers us new insights into the life of Joseph Mahé as well as a musical analysis of the collected material.

‍~ Fañch

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