Traditional music of Galicia, Cantabria and Asturias
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Northwest Iberian folk music is a traditional highly distinctive folk style, located along Spain's north-west Atlantic coast, mostly Galicia and Asturias, that has some similarities with the neighbouring area of Cantabria. The music is characterized by the use of bagpipes.
History
It has long been thought that Galician and Asturian music might owe their roots to the ancient Celtic history of the region, in which it was presumed that some of this ancient influence had survived despite the long evolution of the local musical traditions since then, including centuries of Roman and Germanic influences. Whether or not this is the case, much modern commercial Galician and Asturian traditional and
Celtic culture is known to have extended over a large part of the Iberian Peninsula as early as 600BC. During the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, the
In 810, it was claimed that the remains of
Like the earlier periods, little is known about musical traditions from this era. Just a few manuscripts from the time are known, such as those by the 13th-century poet and musician
Revival
The Galician folk revival drew on early 20th century performers like Perfecto Feijoo, a bagpipe 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 performers, and played in influential bands like Milladoiro.
During the regime of Francisco Franco, honest displays of folk life were appropriated for politicised spectacles of patriotism, causing a sharp decline in the popularity of the traditional styles in favour of modern music. When Franco's regime ended in 1975, Galician and Asturian music experienced a strong revival and recordings flourished. The establishment of 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 Garceiras, 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 and 1990s, some Galician and Asturian performers began to win fame within Spain and the international Celtic folk scene. Galician musicians of this period 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. The appearance of Fía na Roca, (that means "Spin in the spinning wheel") was undoubtedly one of the key events of the Galician musical scene in the 90's. Fía na Roca was also the name of their debut album released in 1993. Its mixture of tradition and modernity led BBC to choose the music of this album as the soundtrack of the TV program that broadcast the Galician image to Europe in the 1993 Xacobeo Celebration (Santiago de Compostela's Holy Year).
It was
Other modern Galician bagpipe players include Xosé Manuel Budiño and Susana Seivane. Seivane is especially notable as the first major female player, paving the way for many more women in a previously male-dominated field. Galicia's most popular singers are also mostly female, including Uxía, Sonia Lebedynski and Mercedes Peón.
A revival of traditional Asturian music also occurred during this period. Artists such as the popular bagpiper
Present
In current times, the most traditional forms of traditional music have their audience, as well as the variations that emerged in the 80s and 90s. In recent years, new trends have also emerged that mix traditional Galician music with electronics. The first hit song that mixes Galician traditional music with electronics dates back to 1978, when the group Son Lalín launched their version of Muiñeira de Chantada, created by the producer Gustavo Ramudo.[1] Nowadays Mercedes Peón and Baiuca stand out.
Traditional instruments
Traditional instruments in Galicia, Asturias and Cantabria include the well-known
Wind instruments
Folk wind instruments of the area include the Cantabrian
String instruments
Plucked
Percussion
Percussion instruments include the tamboril, a
Gaita
The term
Records show that the gaita was already common in the 13th century but suffered a decline in popularity in the 17th and 18th centuries until the 19th century renaissance of the instrument. The early 20th century saw another decline. Then, beginning in about the 1970s, a roots revival heralded another rebirth. 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.
In the 18th century, an important teaching school 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 best-known modern Asturian player 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.
Traditional use include both solo performances or with a snare-drum known as tamboril (a wooden natural-skinned drum with gut snares), and the
Galician bagpipes come in three main varieties, though there are exceptions and unique instruments. These include the tumbal (B-flat), grileira (D) and redonda (C). Asturian bagpipes are usually played along with a tambor (snare drum). Asturian bagpipes usually have only one drone and follow a different fingering pattern.
Description
The player inflates the bag using his mouth through a tube fitted with a non-return valve. Air is driven into the chanter (Galician: punteiro; Asturian: punteru) with the left arm controlling the pressure inside the bag. 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 bagpipes 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. This two extra drones are placed by the right arm of the player.
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 (in the Galician fingering pattern) progressively opening holes creates the
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 muiñeira, found in both Asturias and Galicia, a sprightly 6/8 rhythm. Other 6/8 Galician tunes use different steps; they include the carballesa, ribeirana, redonda, chouteira and contrapaso.
The
The foliada is a joyful 3/4 jota-type song, often played at romerías (community gatherings at a local shrine).
Songs
The oldest and best-known form of Galician music is the
Alalás are
Marching tunes (Galician:
Other Asturian dances include saltón, diana, respingu, pericote, fandango, pasodoble, marcha procesional, rebudixu, corri-corri, baile de los pollos, giraldilla and xiringüelu.
Dances
Baile is the term for social dances, though there are also
Popular artists
- Luar na Lubre
- Milladoiro
- Carlos Núñez
- Treixadura
- Rosa Cedrón
- Malvela
- A Roda
- Fuxan Os Ventos
- Xabier Díaz
- Berrogüetto
- SonDeSeu
- Susana Seivane
- Cristina Pato
- Baiuca
- Mercedes Peón
- Tanxugueiras
- Rodrigo Cuevas
Festivals
References
- ^ "Porqué Se Llamaron "Son Lalín"". 22 February 2020.
- Cronshaw, Andrew. "Celtic Iberia". 2001. In Mathieson, Kenny (Ed.), Celtic music, pp. 140–175. Backbeat Books. ISBN 0-87930-623-8