DERIVAS / REPORT

Kernewek Harmony Group

Introducing Hireth, a new professional harmony group singing in Kernewek and performing original songs and reworking traditional material. In November 2024 four musicians met at Brisons Veor in Cape Cornwall for a two week residency to work on the songs that will launch the group in March 2025.

This report will give an insight into their time on the residency, and what’s coming next…

This showreel demonstrates some of the pieces reworked during the residency. These songs show the slower and softer side of the repertoire.

Morgan Farwel (0:00) A reworking of the popular song ‘Farewell Shanty’.

Hungan (0:56) Our version of the song ‘Lullaby’.

Golowys Woles (1:44) An arrangement of the hymn, ‘Lower Lights’, popular in Cornish repertoire.

These audio clips show the variety of arrangement ideas we came up with together. These are still a work in progress, and will likely involve drums and percussion in the final pieces.

Tri Marghek - A clip of our arrangement ideas for the Cornish song Three Knights.

An Awel May Kanas - A clip from an original work, based on a poem by Tim Saunders, that builds in epic chanting layers.

Our Reflections

Matthew Thomason

‘The residency was a brilliant and inspiring opportunity to work with new collaborators on a pioneering new project in the Cornish language. The setting was perfect for creating an immersive and open environment to work independently and collectively, and the project planning made the whole process productive and efficient. The facilitators created a welcoming and co-led environment, which supported the artists to work in a way which suited their working process.’

Anna Anise

‘The dedicated time and space to create and set intentions for this new and exciting project has been a one-of-a-kind experience. Brisons Veor provided the perfect backdrop to be inspired and explore various ideas and arrangements for this new collaboration. There’s a lot of potential to reach new audiences with Kernewek through this group!’

Daniel Woodfield

‘Time away from the hecticness of normal life was a blessing for this project considering its uniqueness and intricacies. An opportunity to test my vocal arranging for a professional context within Cornish music has long been on my to do list and a setting like Brisons Veor enabled us to express our creativity and utilise our collective skills.’

Mille Young

‘Inspired daily by the ever-changing scenes around us, Brisons Vear was the perfect setting to immerse ourselves in this writing retreat / residency. It was such a creatively empowering time, working with incredibly talented, highly skilled musicians and honing my arranging, recording and performing skills - all whilst surrounded by stunning seascapes and skies.’

Elizabeth Ellis

'Thank you so much for inviting me to be a part of your Cornish harmony singing residency. It was a great honour and pleasure to work so closely with you all, and it really is impressive just how much we achieved during those two weeks! I'm looking forward to hearing what happens next with your close harmony group!'

Behind the Scenes

A short video to show the process and the beautiful location of Brisons Veor, where we were able to bring this project to life.

  • Pronunciation workshops with Elizabeth

  • Sharing of vocal technique and warm ups

  • Learning traditional material in Cornish

  • Arranging material within our vision

  • Scoring and documenting pieces

  • The stunning Cape Cornwall coastline

  • Recording guide tracks

  • Translation sessions with Elizabeth

  • Exploring ideas and getting inspired!

YOU’RE INVITED

Thursday 6th March 7pm - St. Bartholomew’s, Lostwithiel

We’ll be premiering the works of our new group on the day after St. Pirans day, as part of an evening of music by artists exploring Kernewek in song. We hope you will be able to join us.

More details to come via email.