12/17/2025
The Biniou (& Other Bagpipes) in Brittany
The biniou kozh (meaning “old biniou”, but also called biniou bihan, "little biniou" or more typically today, simply biniou), is the iconic Breton mouth-blown bagpipe. It was historically used mainly in Lower (western) Brittany but today is used widely throughout Brittany and beyond. The biniou traditionally accompanies the bombard.
The veuze is the second native Breton bagpipe, closely related to the biniou and most likely its antecedent. Both the biniou and veuze are closely related to other bagpipes in the general region, specifically the gaitas from the ‘Celtic’ cultural areas of Galicia and Asturia in northern Spain. The biniou brazh is the Breton version of the Scottish Highland Pipes, adapted for use in the Bagad orchestras and elsewhere.
Role
The biniou typically accompanies the powerful Breton oboe, the bombard. The bombard calls, and the biniou responds. The bombard’s relatively stiff reed requires enough lip and breath support that a talabarder cannot play a lengthy, sustained melody line. The biniou plays the melody continuously, while the bombard takes breaks, establishing a call-and-response pattern
History
The presence of bagpipes in Brittany has been documented since at least the 15th century. Evidence of the biniou in its current form is first found at the end of the 18th century. It appears likely that the instrument is an evolution of an older indigenous bagpipe with a lower pitch, most likely the veuze or quite similar, but the precise origin of the biniou remains unknown. From the end of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the 19th century, the pairing of bombard and biniou, often called sonerion (in Breton) or sonneurs de couple (in French) today, became the main and unique use of these two instruments in Lower (western) Brittany. The paired instruments were used in almost the whole of Lower Brittany in the 19th century with the exception of its northern part, and were also used in the Loudéac region of Upper Brittany. In Cornouaille and Vannetais it reached a peak of popularity between the end of the 18th to the early 20th century. In Upper Brittany the veuze was predominant, although it is a solo instrument.
Until the end of the 19th century, the biniou/bombard couple was widely used in the countryside to accompany a wide variety of social activities. Originally, the two instruments were often accompanied by a drum. Many romantic writers called this trio "the National Breton Orchestra”, a concept consciously expressed in modern times by musician Roland Becker in his project of the same name. In the first part of the twentieth century, the number of players of bombards and biniou decreased significantly. In some parts of Brittany from the beginning of the 20th century onwards into the folk revival the most popular sonneurs de couple were the paired treujenn gaol clarinet and accompanying button accordion. Binious and bombards underwent a broad resurgence in the 1960s. The biniou then saw its form diversify - additional drones were sometimes added, and a diversity of scales and pitches came into fashion, in equal temperament or not.
The couple duo is now quite popular, the format notably popularized by the growth since the 1950s of Fest Noz (Night Party) events, which were typically animated at least in part by pairs of sonneurs, but also by musical competitions such as that at Gourin. The first competitions took place at the end of the nineteenth century, and many competitions were organized until the second world war. Subsequent to the war, the association Bodadeg Ar Sonerion created the championship of sonneurs in 1955, which has been held almost without interruption until today. Today, many sonneur-de-couple competitions occur throughout Brittany.
The biniou was inserted relatively late into the new multi-instrumental groups resulting from the Folk Revival in the 1970s, unlike other traditional instruments. In the Bagads, the biniou slowly appeared among the Scottish bagpipes (biniou braz) that dominate the orchestras. In the 1980s and 1990s, bands such as Gwerz and Ar Re Yaouank paved the way for a more crucial role for the biniou in mixed Fest Noz groups. Now it is used by many modern dance bands such as E-Leizh, War-Sav, Skeduz, Kentañ, and countless others.
The Instrument
The biniou consists of a sealed leather bag (sac'h) fed air by a small blow-pipe (sutell). This bag, placed under the left armpit of the player, lets out, under the pressure of the arm against the ribs, the air it contains via two other wooden pipes: on the one hand the chanter or levriad, which uses a double reed with a fingering scheme close to that of the bombard, and on the other hand, the drone with a single reed. Some modern binious have two drones, with the second, called the chanterelle, being typically tuned a fifth above the first. The levriad is very short, and plays at a pitch one octave above the bombard. The biniou is considered one of the highest-pitched wind instruments! The drone produces a note two octaves below that given by the tonic of the biniou - the note given by the levriad when the musician closes the first six holes.
Historically, differences in tuning were often associated with regional differences in style. For example, the Vannetais country was known to have lower-pitched instruments, contrasting with the relatively high pitches found in Upper Cornwall. The scale of the ancient binious was not equal-tempered, and despite some broader trends, most instruments in specific areas had distinctive ranges and tuning schemes distinguishing them from those from other regions. Although they played together, older bombard and biniou pairs also did not have matching scales. Bombards generally sounded closer to a major scale, while the biniou was close to the Phrygian mode with the second scale degree lowered by a semitone, making it a minor second above the tonic rather than a major second. Nowadays, some sonneurs still use specific historically-derived scales sometimes called "non-temperate" or "old ranges". In most cases, however, the bombard and the biniou have the same well-tempered scale and are in tune with themselves and each other, unlike historical instruments.
Modern Makers
In the recent past a number of makers provided decent quality binious, with two larger firms, Hervieux & Glet, and a workshop led by Jorj Botuha always available as predictable go-to resources, and a number of individual craftsmen also making good instruments. In the last decade many of these have passed away (Christian Besrechel) or retired (Jean-Luc Ollivier/Axone). Hervieux & Glet and Botuha both retired, passing the collective reins for both enterprises on to the next generation in the highly professional workshop of Tudual and Rozenn Hervieux. Eric Ollu makes fine instruments while Jil Lehart, currently concentrating on flutes, could probably be easily talked into making another biniou. There remains a plethora of lesser-known makers such as Rudy Le Doyen making binious as well.
Placard from the Breton instruments historical expo at Chateau Kerjean
Forzh Penaos, Trappes
Marcel Huard "Le Jouer de Cornemuse"
Jean Baron and Christian Anniex
Roland Becker’s ‘Orchestre National Breton’
Madeleine FIÉ-FIEUX (1897-1995) Biniou breton, 1947
Jean Baron and Christian Anniex
Kerjean exhibit, biniou and bombard ‘stage’
Boxwood biniou by Rudy Le Doyen
Incredible workmanship by Atelier Hervieux
Boxwood biniou & bombard by Jil Lehart
Biniou by Jorj Botuha - note the electrical tape on the levriad (chanter) to correct the intonation
Biniou & Bombard pair by Eric Ollu
Historical biniou at the Kerjean exhibit
