Fortunes de Mer

The group Fortunes de Mer revives the songs of traditional sailors, collected along the coasts of the English Channel: Songs of work, Songs to dance to, sailors’ complaints… often collected along the coasts of France and dating mainly from the late 19th century. 

This choice of repertoire stands out from the vast majority of sailors’ songs that are heard in abundance in maritime festivals and, on the other hand, renews itself in the anthologies published for many years by the magazine, “Le Chasse Marée.”

The group was born in 2004 from the meeting of the two “Etiennes”, Etienne Delahousse and Etienne Miossec, and their desire to sing together a traditional maritime repertoire.

Since 2004 the group “Fortunes de Mer” has sung in many maritime festivals recognised in Brittany, Brest, Paimpol, Ploumanach, Binic, Vannes, Saint-Cast, Saint-Suliac, Dahouet, Erquy, Le Légué… but also in Sète, Saint-Jean de Monts… not to mention the Festival du Pêcheur in Martinique or Saint-Jean Port Joli in Quebec.

It has not proved possible to find anywhere where the group’s CDs may be purchased at this time. A link has therefore been provided to their discography, as recorded in their website.