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Cornish Tunes For Cornish Pipers

Bagpipes have been part of Cornish folklore since time immemorial but the Celtic revival of the twentieth century has encouraged use of the instrument both ceremonially and as a sympathetic medium for our traditional music. This is especially the case for older tunes which have that modal feel and  a resonance with the musical traditions of our fellow Celts in Brittany.  Some of these tunes together with more modern compositions for Cornish pipers can be found on the following pages.

Sadly the instruments referred to in the texts of the Cornish mystery plays and represented on the medieval bench ends would seem to have lost out to other musical fashions at some time in the seventeenth century and no examples are known to have survived.This has the advantage of encouraging creativity, however, both in the reconstruction of Cornish pipes and the use of other instruments as eminently suitable alternatives. 

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Pipes for Cornish Pipers

Cornish tunes 

Cornish pipes: origins

Revival Timeline

Gallery of Pipers

Links and references