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''Excalibur'' is a three-part "Celtic rock opera" written and directed by Breton folk-rock musician Alan Simon, the first part of which premiered in 1998, and was released as an album in the following year under the French title ''Excalibur, La légende des Celtes''. Its success in France led to two more albums and two novels. In 2009 a spectacular adaptation combining material from the first two albums was performed in Germany under the English title ''Excalibur: the Celtic Rock Opera'', with great success. It was extended with material from the third album in 2011. ==The Excalibur trilogy== The first part of an intended trilogy, ''Excalibur, La légende des Celtes'' blended musical styles and was performed by Roger Hodgson (Supertramp), Fairport Convention, Dan Ar Braz, Tri Yann, Angelo Branduardi, Didier Lockwood, Gabriel Yacoub. The story is based on the legend of King Arthur. Narration is led by Merlin.〔Elizabeth Sherr Sklar, Donald L. Hoffman, ''King Arthur in popular culture'', McFarland, 2002, p.151.〕 It is structured as a series of songs and instrumental interludes linked by narration, covering the birth of Arthur, the creation of Excalibur, his victory over the pagans, the rebellion of Morgana and Mordred, the search for the Holy Grail, and Arthur's final defeat and trip to Avalon. Most songs are sung in English, though some are in French and the central song, representing the triumph of Arthur and creation of Camelot, is an arrangement of a traditional Breton language folk song. A voice-over narrates events in French. Within weeks, the album went gold in France (Top 10). Five concert performances took place between October 1999 and June 2000, including one at Paris-Bercy. A live recording, released as ''Excalibur, le concert mythique'' ("Excalibur, the legendary concert") (CD and DVD) was recorded at the first concert in Rennes, October 12, 1999. In 2007 Simon released the second part of Excalibur, ''Excalibur II, l'anneau des Celtes'' ("Excalibur II: The Celtic Ring") with contributions from Jon Anderson (Yes), Alan Parsons, Barclay James Harvest, Maddy Prior, Jacqui McShee, John Wetton (King Crimson / Asia), Justin Hayward (The Moody Blues), Flook, Karan Casey, Fairport Convention, Andreas Vollenweider and Martin Barre. The second part creates a mytho-history of the time before Arthur, describing the birth of Merlin after the loss of the happy land of Anwynn, portrayed as a physical fusion of Britain and Ireland. The emergence of the "Formeriis", demonic barbarians from the earth, violates the perfection of Anwynn. Various Celtic mythical figures are introduced, including Lugh, Bran and Saint Brendan. Merlin and Uther Pendragon struggle to restore order and defeat the Formeriis invasion of Anwynn.〔Exaclibur II, liner notes.〕 It is sung entirely in English. The third part of the trilogy, "The Origins", was released in early 2012. According to Simon, it describes the origins of the proto-human "Formeriis", in his own take on Celtic myth.〔(Simon's Excalibur trilogy website )〕 Like the second part, it is sung in English interspersed with incantatory fragments of Gaelic, Brythonic and wordless chanting. Simon has also written two novels on the story, ''Excalibur, le cercle de Dragon'' (Excalibur, the circle of Dragon), was released in March 2008. A second volume was published in October 2009 called ''Excalibur, la prophétie de Merlin'' (Excalibur, The prophecy of Merlin). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Excalibur (rock opera)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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