Ow Styrya Ilow Kernewek
Defining Cornish Music

Defining Cornish-ness is an age-old challenge – what makes a person (or a piece of music for that matter) Cornish for one person, might not be what makes it Cornish for another. Part of our aim is to represent the breadth and depth of music that is part of Cornish culture, so we’ve carefully considered how wide to cast our net of what to include in an archive of Cornish music. It can be quite the conundrum – consider for example, a piece of music written about Cornwall – but not by a Cornish person? Or, to take the opposite example, written by a Cornish person – but with nothing particularly “Cornish” about the music?

We’ve put our heads together and decided to include music that is, or has been: popular in Cornwall, impactful in Cornwall, written in Cornwall, written about Cornwall, inspired by Cornwall – thus aiming to include individuals, traditions and and compositions that express, reflect and celebrate Cornwall and our distinctive identity.

Most recent articles:
St Dennis Band Contest, 1908 to 1922
Contesting   The first St Dennis Brass Band Contest for which information has been found was in 1908 when it was said that it was held “in a field within the village”.   1908 The West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser stated, “St Dennis Brass Band: Grand Brass Band Contest will
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This song seems to have started out life as a Naval song under the name of “The Robber's Retreat” at the beginning of the 20th century. It was first recorded in Cadgwith as “The Robber’s Retreat” on a wax cylinder probably during the winter of 1931/32 by American Folk Song
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Morgannow - Cornish Shanties Project. Shanties lend themselves well to being sung in Cornish and are a wonderful way to enjoy the sound and feel of language whether or not you have any previous knowledge. In 2019 Lowender Peran set up an outreach project "Morgannow" to share these songs with
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