Music of Galicia, Cantabria and Asturias
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Template:Galicianmusic The Spanish regions of Galicia, Asturias and Cantabria are clustered together in the northern part of the country. The traditional musics of these areas are most closely related to those of Castille and northern Portugal, though characterized by features including extensive use of bagpipes. Much of what can be said about Galician and Asturian folk music also applies to the closely related Trás-os-Montes region of Portugal.
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History
In recent times, however, many Galician folk musicians have considered Galician music to be at least partially “Celtic” in origin, and whether or not this is the case much modern Galician folk and folk-rock is strongly influenced by Irish and Scottish traditions. Certainly, Galicia is nowadays a strong player on the international Celtic folk scene; and as a result, elements of the pre-industrial Galician tradition have become integrated into the modern Celtic folk repertoire and style. Many, however, claim that the "Celtic" appellation is merely a marketing tag, such as Susana Seivane, a Galician gaiteira, who said "I think (the 'Celtic' moniker is) a label, to sell more. What we do is Galician music".
The ancestors of the Celts lived in Spain after about 600 BC, arriving from the area around the upper Danube and Rhine rivers. Little is known about the population that existed there before then. During the 1st century, the Roman Empire conquered all of modern Spain and Portugal. The Latin language came to dominate the region, and is the ancestor of all the Spanish and Portuguese dialects. With the exception of Basque, all the other regional languages died out. The departure of the Romans in the 5th century led to the invasion by the Germanic Suevi people in the northwest, who left little cultural impact. By the 8th century, the Moors controlled southern Iberia, but never conquered the north, which was the Kingdom of Asturias.
In 810, it was claimed that the remains of Saint James, one of the apostles, had been found in Galicia. The site, which soon became known as Santiago de Compostela, was the premier pilgrimage destination in the European Middle Ages and served as a rallying point for Christians to defend the area against the Moors. This had a monumental effect on the folk culture of the area, as the pilgrims brought with them elements, including musical instruments and styles, from as far afield as Scandinavia.
However, little is known about musical traditions from this era. A few manuscripts are known, such as those by the 13th century poet and musician Martín Codax, which indicate that some distinctive elements of modern music, such as the bagpipes, were common by then.
Revival
The Galician folk revival drew on early 20th century performers like Perfecto Feijoo, a gateiro and hurdy-gurdy player. The first commercial recording of Galician music had come in 1904, by a corale called Aires d'a Terra from Pontevedra. The middle of the century saw the rise of Ricardo Portela, who inspired many of the revivalist's performers, and played in influential bands like Milladoiro.
During the regime of Francisco Franco, Galician folk music was suppressed, or forced to adopt lyrics with little for most listeners to connect to. Honest displays of folk life were replaced with rehearsed spectacles of patriotism, leading to a decline in popularity for traditional styles. The appropriation and sanitization of folk culture for the authorities led to a perception that folk music was folklorico. In the late 1970s, recordings of Galician gaita began in earnest following the death of Franco in 1975, as well as the Festival Internacional Do Mundo Celta (1977), which helped establish some Galician bands. Aspiring performers began working with bands like Os Areeiras, Os Rosales, Os Campaneiros and Os Irmáns Graceiras, learning the folk styles; others went to the renowned workshop of Antón Corral at the Universidade Popular de Vigo. Some of these musicians then formed their own bands, like Milladoiro.
In the 1980s, some famous performers began to emerge from the Galician (and Asturian) music scene. The included Uxía, a singer originally with the band Na Lúa, whose 1995 album Estou Vivindo No Ceo and a subsequent collaboration with Sudanese singer Rasha, gained her an international following.
It was Carlos Nuñez, however, who has done the most to popularize Galician traditions. His 1996 A Irmandade Das Estrelas sold more than 100,000 copies and saw major media buzz, partially due to the collaboration with well-known foreign musicians like La Vieja Trova Santiaguera, The Chieftains and Ry Cooder. His follow-up, Os Amores Libres, included more fusions with flamenco, Celtic music (especially Breton) and Berber music.
Other modern Galician gaiteru include Xosé Manuel Bundiño and Susana Seivane. Seivane is especially notable as the first major female gaiteiras, paving the way for many more women in the previously male-dominated field. Galicia's most popular singers are also mostly female, including Uxía, Mari Luz Cristóbal Caunedo, Sonia Lebedynski and Mercedes Peón.
Traditional instruments
Traditional instruments in Galicia include the well-known gaita, a kind of bagpipe, as well as an array of percussion and wind instruments.
Wind instruments
Folk wind instrument of the area include the pito, a kind of conival-bored whistle with seven holes in the front and one in the back, which is played in a similar manner to the gaita punteiro. While it was traditionally made in E-flat, the instrument has been revitalized by Antón Corral, who makes them in D. A transverse flute with six holes is called a requinta; it is similar to fife. It is usually in G, or sometimes a high C. Other wind instruments include chifre, ocarina and the imported clarinet and accordion.
String instruments
Though string instruments are common in most of Spain and Portugal, they were not found in Galician or Asturian folk music until recent years, when guitars, bouzoukis and mandolins were brought to the area. Though Spanish Gypsies are known throughout Spain for guitar-dominated flamenco music, there is little such tradition in Galicia or Asturias; however, modern guitarists like Xesús Pimentel often use strong flamenco influences in their sound. The fiddle has a longer tradition in the area than any other instrument, common since the early 20th century, when blind fiddlers travelled to fairs to play traditional and self-composed songs, as well as pieces by composers like Sarasate. The hurdy gurdy (zanfona) was played in the area for many years, but had mostly died out by the middle of the 20th century before being revived by the likes Faustino Santalices and Xosé Lois Rivas. Though the instrument is now more closely associated with French music, the first recordings of the hurdy gurdy were by Galician Perfecto Feijoo in 1904. A harp had been used in the Middle Ages, but was not revived until the 1970s, when Emilio Cao used the instrument to accompany his compositions. Modern harpists have been encouraged by the use of the Celtic harp in Scotland, Ireland and Brittany, and include Quico Comesaña and Rodrigo Romaní.
Percussion
Percussion instruments in Galicia include the tamboril, a snare drum that hangs from the players belt and is played with two sticks. It is small, natural-skinned and features snares made usually of gut. Along with the bombo, a bass drum played with one stick, the tambori is typically found as accompaniment to the gaita. The pandeiro (Asturian: panderu) drum is double-headed and square, smiliar to the Portuguese adufe, and usually has some beans that rattle inside it. It is often played alongside the pandeireta, a large tambourine, in small groups or by a single female singer. A pair of vieira shells rubbed together are called cunchas, and are used to accompany dancing, while strips wof wood held between the fingers are called tarrañolas (Asturian: tejoletas). There is also an instrument made from a pole with a frame on the top adorned with tambourine rattles, the charrasco, which is played by rubbing a string along the pole with a stick. Other percussion instruments include the canaveira and carraca.
Gaita
Main article: Gaita
The bagpipe is associated most closely with the Celtic traditions of Scotland and other countries, but is actually found throughout Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, and India, including Catalonia, Majorca, Leon, Aragon, Huesca, Zamora and Trás-os-Montes. The gaita is, however, a far more integral part of folk traditions in Northern Spain than in these other regions. The term gaita can refer to a variety of different pipes in different areas of Spain and Portugal.
The gaita is a bagpipe, and it is the primary instrument used in both Galician and Asturian folk music. The instrument was common and popular by the 15th century, followed by a decline until the 19th century renaissance of the instrument. The early 20th century saw another decline. Then, beginning in about the 1970s, a roots revival that heralded another renaissance for the gaita, partially sparked by the death of Francisco Franco, who had suppressed regional identities. The folk revival may have peaked in the late 1990s, with the release of acclaimed albums by Galician Carlos Núñez (A Irmandade Das Estrelas) and Asturian Hevia (Tierra De Nadie). Both releases broke records, and Tierra De Nadie sold more than a million copies, outselling any other Spanish record of any genre in the country's history.
In the 18th century, an important school for teaching the gaita was opened in Asturias, created by José Remis Vega. Musicians of that era included the legendary Ramón García Tuero, while the 20th century produced performers like Vega's son, José Remis Ovalle and José Antonio García Suárez. The most well-known modern Asturian gaiteru is Hevia, whose 1998 Tierra De Nadie was a landmark recording that smashes record sales and became the darling of the Spanish music media. Other modern performers and bands include Tejedor and Xuacu Amieva.
The gaita's traditional use include both solo performances or with a kind of drum called the tamboril, (a wooden natural-skinned drum with gut snares), and the bombo, a bass drum.
Galician gaitas come in three main varieties, though there are exceptions and unique instruments. These include the tumbal (B-flat), grileira (D) and redonda (C). The Asturian gaita is usually played in a pareya, along with a tambor. The instrument usually has only one drone in Asturias.
Description
The player inflates the gaita using his mouth and a tube fitted with a non-return valve. The air is driven into the chanter (Galician: punteiro; Asturian: punteru) with his left arm. The chanter has a double reed similar to a shawm or oboe, and a conical bore with seven finger-holes on the front. The bass drone (ronco or roncón) is situated on the player's left shoulder and is pitched two octaves below the key note of the chanter; it has a single reed. Some gaita have up to two more drones, including the ronquillo or ronquilla, which sticks out from the bag and plays an octave above the ronco, or the smaller chillón.
The finger-holes include three for the left hand and four for the right, as well as one at the back for the left thumb. The chanter's tonic is played with the top six holes and the thumb hole covered by fingers. Starting at the bottom and progressively opening holes creates the diatonic octave. Using techniques like cross-fingering and half-holding, the chromatic scale can be created. With extra pressure on the bag, the reed can be played in a second octave, thus giving range of an octave and a half from tonic to top note. It is also possible to close the thumb hole with the little finger of the right hand, thus creating a semitone below the tonic.
Songs
Tunes using the gaita are usually songs, with the voice either accompanying the instrumentation or taking turns with it.
The most common type is the muiñeiro, found in both Asturias and Galicia, a sprightly 6/8 rhythm similar to jigs. Other 6/8 Galician tunes use different steps; they include the carballesa, ribeirana, redonda, chouteira and contrapaso.
The alborada is a usually instrumental tune, most often in 2/4, though sometimes 3/4, and is characterized by a series of descending turning phrases. It is used to begin a day's celebrations, and is played at sunrise.
The foliado is a joyful 3/4 song, often played at romerías, community gatherings at a local shrine.
Songs
The oldest and most well-known form of Galician music is the alalás, a form of chanting that has been associated with Galician nationalism. They share characteristics with Celtic nations as well as Castilian, German, Arab and other Mediterranean-area peoples. Their origin is shrouded in mystery, with some scholars asserting Gregorian chants as a major souce, while others point to Greek or Phoenician rowing songs called alelohuías.
Alalás are arhythmic and based on a single, short theme that repeats the melody, separated by instrumental bagpipes or a cappella vocals. Melodies are based on a continuous drone and are almost always diatonic. Over time, alalas have adapted to include choral polyphony which has added harmony and rhythms (most typically in 2/4 or 3/4 time) to the tradition. The melody is formed by repeating all of its notes. A unique characteristic of alalas is that the first cadence is also the last, and they end in an enlarged coda that fades into a sustained and undefined sound. In contrast to the typically slow alalá there are also swift songs called pandeirada.
Like in Galicia, the most common type of gaita tune in Asturias is the muiñeira, a 6/8 dance song similar to a jig. The 2/4 (or more rarely 3/4) alborado is also found in Asturias; the term signifies a song at or to the sunrise, and is played at the beginning of a day's festivities. Marching tunes called pasucáis are also known, as well as the Aragonese jota, here greatly modified from its original format.
Other Asturian dances include saltón, diana, respingu, pericote, fandangu, pasudoble, marcha procesional, rebudixu, corri-corri, baile de los pollos, giraldilla and xiringüelu.
Dances
Baile is the term for social dances, though there are also formation dances like danzas de palillos (stick dances), danzas de espadas (sword dances) and danzas de arcillos (dances with decorated arches). Other popular dance songs in the area include the jota, modified from its Aragonese origins, pasacorredoiras (pasacalles, Asturian: pasucáis), and the imported fandango, mazurka, polka, rumba and pasodoble.
References
- Cronshaw, Andrew. "Celtic Iberia". 2001. In Mathieson, Kenny (Ed.), Celtic music, pp. 140-175. Backbeat Books. ISBN 0-87930-623-8