Patrick Molard - The Waking Of The Bridegroom

(April 2008) 7 tracks: The Munro's Salute * The Waking Of The Bridegroom * Fhailt Na Misk * Clan Ranald's Salute * Sir Ewen Cameron Of Lochiel's Salute * A Prelude * Lament For The Only Son

Patrick Molard has played a large part during recent years in the revival of Breton culture and has performed on concert platforms throughout the world. In these recordings he demonstrates the scope of his pìobaireachd repertoire.

The Waking Of The Bridegroom (Dusgadh Fir Na Bainnse) is a collection of ceol mor. Having learnt under the renowned Bobs of Balmoral, this highly respected piper plays seven superb pieces.

Patrick Molard was born in Saint-Malo in North Brittany and started playing the pipes at the age of fourteen in his local bagad or Breton pipe band. Two years later, he joined the An Ere Pipe Band from Rennes under the direction of Jakez Pincet, his first Pìobaireachd instructor. He introduced Patrick to Bob Brown, one of the Queen's pipers at Balmoral Castle. Later, Patrick was sent to Aberdeen as a French assistant and studied the art of Ceòl Mòr both with Bob Brown and Bob Nicol. He learned around one hundred tunes from the Bobs of Balmoral.

In the 1970s, Patrick returned to Brittany and was involved in the revival of Breton music and culture, initiated by the celebrated Alan Stivell. Later he became a professional musician, touring all over Europe with different groups and playing the uilleann pipes. At the same time, he conducted a lot of research in his own country, collecting material from singers and players of the biniou and bombarde (traditional instruments used in Breton piping) and as a result accumulated a vast knowledge of the different facets of Celtic music which enabled him to win the coveted international MacAllan trophy in Lorient three times in succession.

He is a permanent teacher at the Music School of Carhaix (Finistère) and leads numerous seminars and workshops both in Brittany and abroad, notably Galicia and Asturias in North Spain.