Basque music
Encyclopedia
The strict classification of Basque music remains a controversial issue, complicated in part by the growing diversification of such music, but by and large it is made in the Basque Country
, it reflects traits related to that society/tradition and it is devised by people from the Basque Country.
Basque traditional music is a product of the region's historic development and its geographical location between the Cantabrian mountain range
, the Ebro
river and the Pyrenees
. Because this area is open to the wider world, for example through international pilgrimage on the Way of St James, many feel that it should not be considered as having evolved in isolation.
or tabor pipe in widespread use in Europe ultimately resulted in two specific instruments in the Basque Country
: the txistu
and the xirula
. Accordingly, different instruments may have evolved out of one, such as Navarre
se dulzaina
and Soule
tin txanbela, with slight differences between them.
Most of the instruments that have been taken up in rural and folk circles do not go back more than six centuries, some having been introduced as late as the 19th century, such as trikitixa
or txistu, as we know it today (at any rate, the latter results from a long evolution). Most Basque instruments originated outside the Basque Country and became popular in the territory at some stage (but the txalaparta
is not one of these).
Some traditional Basque instruments are the following:
, and its literature was first recorded in writing in the 16th century. There are ballads dating from the 15th century that have been passed from parents to children by word of mouth, e.g. Ozaze Jaurgainian from Soule
, which relates events six centuries ago and has come down to us in different versions (the best known was popularized by Benito Lertxundi
), or Alostorrea, from Biscay
. These ballads were crafted and spread by minstrels or bertsolari
s, were kept in popular memory, and were transmitted in the so-called kopla zaharrak, sets of poems with a characteristic rhythmic pattern that could be sung: this is similar to traditional practices elsewhere in Europe
. So, for example, the first work of literature in Basque Linguæ Vasconum Primitiæ (1545) by Bernard Etxepare
shows long verses that, while deceptively fashioned in metres resembling those used in Romance poetry, follow an internal rhythmic pattern similar to a kopla, so they can be popularly sung. Even today, it is not unusual to see groups of people marching around a town at some local festival singing and asking the neighbours for a food, drink or money donation, while the most famous celebrations following this pattern across the whole Basque Country may be those taking place on Christmas Eve (Olentzero
) and the Saint Agatha's Eve, with singers dressing up in traditional costumes.
It follows that traditional singing is closely related to bertsolari
s, improvising bards, who even nowadays hold an important status in Basque culture. They voice the people's concerns by means of a formal tradition coming from the people (tunes, linguistic devices), and act as their spokespersons. A considerable corpus of traditional songs was gathered by Resurrección María de Azkue
and Aita Donostia
, two religious scholars interested in Basque folk culture, at the turn of the 20th century; and also later on, in Cancionero popular vasco (1918) and Euskal Eres-Sorta. Cancionero Vasco (1922), to mention but a few works. In the present day, the band Hiru Truku (comprising the celebrated musicians Joseba Tapia, Ruper Ordorika and Bixente Martinez) has chosen several ancient songs from all over the Basque Country
, updated the music brilliantly and released them in a number of albums. Another current long-standing and renowned group who elaborate on traditional songs is Oskorri: The band set about singing traditional songs in public performances previously handing out to the audience a repertoire bill including the lyrics and encouraging them to sing along. The band has launched a couple of albums of this kind so far and performed on various tours to public acclaim, becoming especially popular with middle-aged parents.
A key figure bridging the old singing tradition of Soule
and the folk song revival of the 20th century should be noted here, Pierre Bordazaharre (1907–1979), aka Etxahun Iruri. A xirula
player and singer, he collected old songs and fashioned new ones, which eventually caught on and spread, take for instance, Agur Xiberoa. He also contributed to new pastoral
plays in the tradition of Soule, reshaping the pastoral and adding new topics.
There is also a tradition of choral
music all over the Basque Country. Church choirs were set up in some towns to meet the religious musical needs. Yet at the turn of the 20th century some ensembles became established outside the ecclesiastical context, e.g. the Sociedad Coral de Bilbao
(founded in 1886), Orfeón Donostiarra
(founded in 1897) or the Coral Santa Cecilia from Donostia (founded in 1928). Later on, other ensembles were formed, such as Oldarra Abesbatza from Biarritz
(founded in 1947), made up of men and sometimes putting on performances as an ochote (see below), or the reputed Coral Andra Mari from Errenteria
, established in 1966, featuring Basque folk music and Aita Donostia's several scores. Nowadays many minor choral ensembles, largely offering the Basque folk repertoire, dot the Basque territory. Interestingly, in Bayonne
and Donostia a cheerful informal initiative has grown popular with amateurs in the late noughties, who meet once a month and go bar hopping around the streets of the respective Old Quarters while singing traditional songs.
Another Basque choral phenomenon is represented by the so-called ochotes, which became popular in the 1930s in the Bilbao
region: Eight men with deep voices, with a marked taste for local and folk subjects, singing in Spanish and Basque. The may stem from summer ecclesiastic seminaries and they thrived on the warm atmosphere of the bars after the work shift was over). Eventually a branch of this genre evolved out into bilbainadas (up to the 1960s, nowadays much in decay).
has been home to various notable composers, writing mainly in the 20th century. Much in step with the artistic trends of the first half of the century (painting,...), some of them developed a liking for Basque
customs, manners and subjects.
(1936-1937 in the Basque territory), headway made in the Basque culture in the pre-war period ground to a halt: Fear grew amidst harsh repression, famine became an overriding concern, and former cultural figures died or ran for their lives to exile. As an individual singing figure of the 40s, 50s and 60s, Luis Mariano
and his powerful tenor voice should be highlighted. Born in Irun and moving in his 20s to Bordeaux
, he jumped onto the Spanish and international scene with lighthearted songs in Spanish and French (and, occasionally, in Basque). After the hardest post-war years had gone by, the younger generation set about putting together duos and small musical groups in Gipuzkoa and Biscay
, who gradually began singing original tunes in Basque. Notable bands from the 60s include Urretxindorrak, Enarak, Soroak and Estitxu (female singer born to fleeing parents near Bayonne). These new bands sought to take advantage of the regime's increasing liberalization, despite the fact that major obstacles that still hindered cultural activity associated with anything Basque. Cultural and political awareness, social rebelliousness and an urge for action cropped up in succeeding generations, resulting in a new left-leaning Basque nationalist movement.
Some people from the southern Basque Country fled the territory to the Northern Basque Country
and sought refuge. They left their imprint in the traditional Basque society from the Northern Basque Country, contributing to giving rise to cultural and political awareness. In this respect, Mixel Labeguerie should be noted, who worked and lived in Kanbo
, its mayor for more than a decade (1965–1980), Councillor General of the department and a founder of Basque nationalist movement Enbata (he walked out later). He had a musical education, soaked up the new European musical trends, e.g. Brassens
, folk music from England and France, and released an album in 1961 with songs that struck a chord, such as Gu gira Euskadiko, Primaderako liliak, etc. He was to have influence on the new artistic Basque group "Ez dok amairu" put together in 1965, largely made up of folk singer-songwriters concerned with Basque culture: Benito Lertxundi
, Mikel Laboa
(popular song "Txoriak txori"), Xabier Lete, Lourdes Iriondo, etc. Lourdes Iriondo took to singing accompanied on a guitar for the first time in Basque music, a fact that came in for much criticism on the grounds that the instrument was alien to the own culture. "Ez dok amairu" broke up in 1972 and its members took up separate paths that eventually have confirmed some of them as acclaimed and key folk Basque singers up to the 2000s. Along the lines of singer-songwriter style, in a context of social and political unrest, it is worth mentioning Guk, Larralde eta Etxamendi or the beloved duo Pantxoa eta Peio from the Northern Basque Country, who provide the musical background for the 70s period of struggle, repression and turmoil. Especially in the provinces of Álava
and Navarre
, Enrike Zelaia (Altsasu) and Gorka Knörr struck a chord with a more folkloric and nuanced approach.
Meanwhile, new and more urban style musical ensembles and bands sprang up in the 70s, performing first to other's songs of the time at summer local festivities. Yet they gradually developed their own repertoire fashioned in line with the Basque revival and activism (special focus on the lyrics) and ongoing Western musical trends, e.g. folk (Gwendal for one), progressive rock (Pink Floyd
,...). As regards choral bands, Mocedades
from Bilbao
should be highlighted, founded in 1967 initially by Amaya Uranga
and two sisters of her. They soon gained public notability by ranking second at the 1973 Eurovision Song Contest
. That very year in the same city the prolific Oskorri band (see above) got together featuring folk music, launching first album in 1976, where they paid homage to poet Gabriel Aresti, while in the Northern Basque Country Michel Ducau and Anje Duhalde teamed up and put together the first Basque rock band: The celebrated and politically engagé Errobi, releasing album Errobi (1975) to critic and public acclaim, Bizi bizian ensued. The group disbanded (not definitely) in 1979.
Beginning at the mid-60s, Imanol Larzabal led a solo career as a singer/songwriter, featuring a deep voice as well as a socially committed and poetic subjects, with the collaboration of domestic and foreign poets and singers. He went through a short period in prison and came back from exile in 1977. Friend of his and son of emigrant Soule
tin parents, Niko Etxart
came back to the Basque Country from Paris with brand-new ideas about music in 1972, so turning into a forerunner of Basque rock music (Euskal Rock&Roll released in 1979) alongside the band Errobi, while especially in the traditional Northern Basque Country some lashed out at his looks, manners and music. He alternately performed onstage in "verbenas" (dancing music in local festivities) with the band Minxoriak up to the late 80s. In the area of Mutriku
, Itoiz
, a milestone in Basque folk-pop music, was formed in 1978, with Juan Carlos Perez as its lead vocalist and frontman, releasing that very year the critically acclaimed album Itoiz, which contained such poignant tracks as Hilzori, Lau teilatu etc. Akin ensemble Haizea
delivered a couple of good LPs in this period.
Up to that point, Basque music bands from the Southern Basque Country
resorted to labels from Spain to record and release their works. Yet at the end of the 70s and notably early in the 80s new regional labels arose (Xoxoa, Soñua...), providing a springboard for small bands that previously found it difficult to see their works published. At the same time, a whole network of youth squats, the gaztetxes, sprang up all over the Basque Country, so furnishing small bands with premises to rehearse and a venue to stage concerts, in a way that a younger disaffected and unruly generation stemming from urban sprawls and towns could find an outlet to voice its protest along the lines of a punk outlook ("do it yourself"). 1984 is the year for the outbreak of punk rock or so-called Basque Radical Rock
or Rock Radical Vasco in Spanish.
Some popular bands jumping into the rock scene of the time were Zarama and Eskorbuto
from Santurtzi
, rocky Barricada
and whimsical Tijuana in Blue from Pamplona
, La Polla Records
from Agurain
, Kortatu
and Baldin Bada from Irun
, Hertzainak, Cicatriz and Potato from Vitoria-Gasteiz
, Jotakie, RIP
, Naste Borraste, MCD, BAP, Zer Bizio, Delirium Tremens, etc. Most of the times Spanish language was used, sometimes Basque, while other times bands were bilingual. This new musical trend clashed with the previous singer-songwriter tradition (generation gap), so much so that both were linked to different degrees to the leftist and Basque nationalist movement. Meanwhile, Itoiz
kept its low-profile musical path switching to pop in the accomplished album Musikaz blai (three more LP albums followed), featuring internationally acclaimed songs like To Alice, As Noites da Radio Lisboa or the catchy Marea gora.
Other bands of the late 80s stack to a different path, gentle and even naïve, using Spanish-language lyrics and along the lines of a pop tradition, take for instance, Duncan Dhu
(with leading figure Mikel Erentxun
), 21 Japonesas or Sanchis y Jocano, bands from the area of Donostia. Duncan Dhu especially attained big levels of popularity on the Spanish and international pop scene, giving rise to a tradition in ensuing years that was to be called "Donosti Sound" (Le Mans, La Oreja de Van Gogh
,...).
In 1990, Basque-language public radio station Euskadi Gaztea was born, intending to target the youth in a young, dynamic and informal manner, besides adding information, dealing with subjects Basque young people may be interested in and encouraging Basque groups. Basque music definitely opened its mind to trends all over the world. The flagship Basque rock band Kortatu
broke up in 1988 (live album Azken guda dantza), and soon after brothers Muguruza put together project Negu Gorriak
. They showed a different outlook compared to previous band Kortatu: The new band sang entirely in Basque, their approach was more hedonistic and showed a taste for rap, an attitude displayed in a video clip (Radio Rahim) that conjures up American hip-hop manners. Punk
style fell much in decay, while reggae as well as hardcore took over, e.g. Anestesia, Etsaiak, Sociedad Alkoholika, Su Ta Gar (heavy
), etc. M-ak launched its best album Barkatu ama to critical acclaim, featuring styles ranging from hardcore to gentle tracks.
Early in the 90s, younger generations took up folk again, finding a public that was eager to listen to milder tunes in Basque, e.g. Sorotan Bele, Mikel Markez, etc. Trikitixa
schools finally bore fruit in the 90s: The novelties brought about by Tapia eta Leturia and Kepa Junkera
confirmed them as folk references in the Basque Country and abroad, following that novel trikitixa duos tried new ways, sometimes setting up bands by adding bass guitar and drums to the set pair of diatonic button accordion
and tambourine
, e.g. Maixa eta Ixiar, Alaitz eta Maider, Gozategi. They usually offered a cheerful repertoire, with Gozategi's song Nirekin ("Emoixtaxux muxutxuek...") hitting the summer charts in 2000 beyond language boundaries.
Rock band Hertzainak disbanded in 1993, while its members followed their own projects. Controversial singer Gari started up a solo and very personal career with some accomplished songs, while Josu Zabala collaborates with other singers and group projects of some bertsolari
s, e.g. original brass band Karidadeko Benta (first album 2003). Power pop
band Urtz, formed in 1988, dealt with personal stories that slightly differed from the still prevailing protest topics and harsh language of the late 80s, besides featuring an unprecedented chorus line that delivered some charming, upbeat and catchy songs. The band broke up in the early 2000s. In step with the hardcore tradition, the band Berri Txarrak
from Lekunberri got together in 1994, releasing various albums (latest album Jaio. Musika. Hil -2005-) and touring on Europe, where they come in for good reviews and gradually get a reputation that earned them performances and collaborations with important figures of indie rock
all over the world. The band PiLT (Mungia
), who showed a taste for metal and hard sounds (Clawfinger
, Soundgarden
), jumped into spotlight in 1995 after winning the bootleg contest "Gaztea Sariak" granted by radio station Euskadi Gaztea, while the definite hit came in 1996 with single Hil da jainkoa, earning them widespread recognition. Likewise heavy metal
band Latzen came to public prominence after winning with the popular ballad Laztana the 1997 edition of the "Gaztea Sariak".
The bands Skalariak (1994) and Betagarri (1992) took over the ska tradition, offering boogie inciting and swinging live concerts. In step with other multicultural experiences, such as Fermin Muguruza
from Negu Gorriak
or festive Joxe Ripiau to highlight but a few, in 2003 members of Etsaiak put together Pin pan pun band, a band with good connections in Latin America, releasing in 2005 the DVD Kuba-Mexiko Rock Tour 04, which bore witness to their experience and live powerful concerts. Etsaiak joined together again in 2008 (launched album Apurtu arte). The band hailing from Zarautz
Delorean does electronic&rock with enthralling and trance raising live performances. Other rock bands on the rise in 2008: Surfing Kaos (Donostia), We Are Standard (Getxo
), Kaotiko (Agurain
), The Uskis (Elantxobe
), Atom Rhumba (Bilbao
), Ken 7 (Gernika), Capsula (Bilbao
)...
Doctor Deseo was set up in Bilbao
in 1986, releasing thereafter various albums during a period that spans more than 20 years. They deal with everyday and personal subjects in a rather poetic manner. Fito y los Fitipaldis (Bilbao) was formed in 1998 by Platero y Tú
's frontman Fito Cabrales, comprising a variety of styles ranging soul, blues, swing, flamenco, tex-mex or Hawaiian guitars. The project kicked off with A puerta cerrada (40,000 albums sold so far) and grew steadily in popularity, one of the latest hit song being Rojitas las orejas.
In Donostia, youths from university gathered together in the mid-90s to rehearse. Yet they were in need of a singer for the band, so they fixed up a casting meeting with Amaia Montero
that resulted in the creation of La Oreja de Van Gogh
, who after launching album Dile al sol took off boosted by Amaia's mighty voice and catchy soft tunes trimmed with beautiful arrangements. New hit songs and albums followed.
The singer-songwriter
approach that waned in the late 80s shows presently a sound condition in the Basque scene, with some very outstanding figures, like poignant Anari
, renowned for her intense, heartbreaking voice and songs, who is now taking off (live recording Anari Kafe Antzokian Zuzenean released in 2008). Other singer-songwriters include Petti, from Bera (Navarre
), with four albums published up to 2008, or the bertsolari
Mikel Urdangarin, featuring somewhat melancholic songs often accompanied on string and brass instruments. Following the folk and singer-songwriter tradition, Jabier Muguruza (born 1960) took up a solo career in 1994 after quitting other projects (Les Mecaniciens,...). He sets about composing and performing intimate, mild songs with strong broody and literary lyrics. Meanwhile, some renowned figures of Basque folk music have kept on performing and creating, e.g. Benito Lertxundi
, Mikel Laboa
(died in December 2008) or Oskorri
(fresh album Banda band in 2007, about to celebrate the ensemble's 35 anniversary).
In the Northern Basque Country, the festive band Sustraia attained great popularity after 15 years on the road, while the death (January 2009) of charismatic frontman Patrick Mixelena, aka Mixu, made the group's future uncertain. The ensemble Bidaia, i.e. the couple Mixel Ducau and Caroline Phillips, offers gentle and elaborate folk music, while percussionist Benat Achiary
(born 1947) provides an experimental approach, often featuring improvised passages in his performances (several albums released in the 90s). Amaia Zubiria (born 1947 in Zubieta -Gipuzkoa-), who has occasionally collaborated with him, holds a long and prolific career in the Basque song panorama: She came to the spotlight with progressive-folk group Haizea, having published some solo albums since and featuring a very pure mezzo-soprano voice. Her latest work is the album Nabil (2008).
Basque Country (historical territory)
The Basque Country is the name given to the home of the Basque people in the western Pyrenees that spans the border between France and Spain on the Atlantic coast....
, it reflects traits related to that society/tradition and it is devised by people from the Basque Country.
Traditional music
Cantabrian Mountains
The Cantabrian Mountains or Cantabrian Range are one of the main systems of mountain ranges in Spain.They extend for more than approximately 180 miles across northern Spain, from the western limit of the Pyrenees to the edges of the Galician Massif close to Galicia, along the coast of the...
, the Ebro
Ebro
The Ebro or Ebre is one of the most important rivers in the Iberian Peninsula. It is the biggest river by discharge volume in Spain.The Ebro flows through the following cities:*Reinosa in Cantabria.*Miranda de Ebro in Castile and León....
river and the Pyrenees
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
. Because this area is open to the wider world, for example through international pilgrimage on the Way of St James, many feel that it should not be considered as having evolved in isolation.
Instruments
Folk instruments widespread in Europe ceased to be used in some places at some point of history and only remained in specific areas, where they took hold and adopted features and a character associated with the region, e.g. the three-hole pipeThree-hole pipe
The three-hole pipe, also commonly known as Tabor pipe is a wind instrument designed to be played by one hand, leaving the other hand free to play a tabor drum, bell, psalterium or tambourin à cordes, bones, triangle or other percussive instrument....
or tabor pipe in widespread use in Europe ultimately resulted in two specific instruments in the Basque Country
Basque Country (historical territory)
The Basque Country is the name given to the home of the Basque people in the western Pyrenees that spans the border between France and Spain on the Atlantic coast....
: the txistu
Txistu
The txistu or chistu is a kind of fipple flute that became a symbol for the Basque folk revival. The name may stem from the general Basque word ziztu "to whistle" with palatalisation of the z...
and the xirula
Xirula
The xirula xülüla in Zuberoan Basque; Gascon: flabuta; French: galoubet) is a small three hole flute usually made of wood akin to the Basque txistu or three-hole pipe, but more high pitched and strident, tuned to C and an octave higher than the silbote. The sound that flows from the flute has often...
. Accordingly, different instruments may have evolved out of one, such as Navarre
Navarre
Navarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France...
se dulzaina
Dulzaina
The dulzaina or dolçaina is a Spanish double reed instrument in the oboe family. It has a conical shape and is the equivalent of the Breton bombarde....
and Soule
Soule
Soule is a former viscounty and French province and part of the present day Pyrénées-Atlantiques département...
tin txanbela, with slight differences between them.
Most of the instruments that have been taken up in rural and folk circles do not go back more than six centuries, some having been introduced as late as the 19th century, such as trikitixa
Trikitixa
The trikiti , trikitixa or eskusoinu txiki is a two-row Basque diatonic button accordion with right-hand rows keyed a fifth apart and twelve unisonoric bass buttons...
or txistu, as we know it today (at any rate, the latter results from a long evolution). Most Basque instruments originated outside the Basque Country and became popular in the territory at some stage (but the txalaparta
Txalaparta
The txalaparta is a specialized Basque music device of wood or stone, similar to Romanian toacă. In Basque, zalaparta means "racket", while in the nearby areas of Navarre "txalaparta" has been attested as meaning the trot of the horse, a sense closely related to the sound of the...
is not one of these).
Some traditional Basque instruments are the following:
- AlbokaAlbokaThe alboka is a double hornpipe or clarinet native to the Basque Country.Although the alboka is a woodwind instrument, its name is derived from the Arabic "al-bûq"...
, a difficult double clarinet played in a circular breathing technique similar to that used for the Sardinian launeddasLauneddasThe launeddas is a typical Sardinian woodwind instrument, consisting of three pipes. It is polyphonic and played using circular breathing. An ancient instrument, dating back to at least the 8th century BC, launeddas are still played during religious ceremonies and dances...
. - TxalapartaTxalapartaThe txalaparta is a specialized Basque music device of wood or stone, similar to Romanian toacă. In Basque, zalaparta means "racket", while in the nearby areas of Navarre "txalaparta" has been attested as meaning the trot of the horse, a sense closely related to the sound of the...
, a wooden xylophone-like percussion instrument for two players. - KirikoketaKirikoketaThe kirikoketa is a specialized Basque music wooden device akin to the txalaparta and closely related to working activities. It is classified as an idiophone...
, a wooden percussion device akin to the txalaparta associated with the ciderCiderCider or cyder is a fermented alcoholic beverage made from apple juice. Cider varies in alcohol content from 2% abv to 8.5% abv or more in traditional English ciders. In some regions, such as Germany and America, cider may be termed "apple wine"...
making process. - Toberak, a percussion instrument made of horizontal metal bars.
- TxistuTxistuThe txistu or chistu is a kind of fipple flute that became a symbol for the Basque folk revival. The name may stem from the general Basque word ziztu "to whistle" with palatalisation of the z...
, a local pipe. - DrumDrumThe drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
, called danbolin, and usually accompanying the txistu. - Atabal, a double sided flat drum played together with aerophones.
- XirulaXirulaThe xirula xülüla in Zuberoan Basque; Gascon: flabuta; French: galoubet) is a small three hole flute usually made of wood akin to the Basque txistu or three-hole pipe, but more high pitched and strident, tuned to C and an octave higher than the silbote. The sound that flows from the flute has often...
, a three-hole flute, shorter and more high-pitched than txistu. - Ttun-ttunPsalterium (instrument)A psalterium , or tambourin à cordes, is a stringed musical instrument, the name of which means the same thing as the one of psaltery. In specific usage, this name denotes a form of long psaltery that is tuned to provide drone chords. Sometimes called a string drum, it is usually used as rhythm...
, a vertical stringed drum played usually together with the xirula. - TrikitixaTrikitixaThe trikiti , trikitixa or eskusoinu txiki is a two-row Basque diatonic button accordion with right-hand rows keyed a fifth apart and twelve unisonoric bass buttons...
or eskusoinua, a lively diatonic button accordionDiatonic button accordionA diatonic button accordion or melodeon is a type of button accordion where the melody-side keyboard is limited to the notes of diatonic scales in a small number of keys...
. - Tambourine, usually played together with the trikitixaTrikitixaThe trikiti , trikitixa or eskusoinu txiki is a two-row Basque diatonic button accordion with right-hand rows keyed a fifth apart and twelve unisonoric bass buttons...
. - DulzainaDulzainaThe dulzaina or dolçaina is a Spanish double reed instrument in the oboe family. It has a conical shape and is the equivalent of the Breton bombarde....
, a Navarre based pipe belonging to the shawmShawmThe shawm was a medieval and Renaissance musical instrument of the woodwind family made in Europe from the 12th century until the 17th century. It was developed from the oriental zurna and is the predecessor of the modern oboe. The body of the shawm was usually turned from a single piece of wood,...
family. - Blowing hornBlowing hornThe blowing horn or winding horn is a sound device by and large shaped like a horn or actually a cattle or other animal horn arranged to blow from a hole in the pointed end of it...
, an instrument made of ox horn.
Singing tradition
The Basque people are especially given to singing. Basque language has stuck to the oral tradition stronger than Romance languagesRomance languages
The Romance languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family, more precisely of the Italic languages subfamily, comprising all the languages that descend from Vulgar Latin, the language of ancient Rome...
, and its literature was first recorded in writing in the 16th century. There are ballads dating from the 15th century that have been passed from parents to children by word of mouth, e.g. Ozaze Jaurgainian from Soule
Soule
Soule is a former viscounty and French province and part of the present day Pyrénées-Atlantiques département...
, which relates events six centuries ago and has come down to us in different versions (the best known was popularized by Benito Lertxundi
Benito Lertxundi
Benito Lertxundi is a Basque singer-songwriter born in Orio in 1942 . He is an acclaimed and veteran figure in Basque music, who spearheaded with other key figures its revival in the 1960s and following years, showing an especial commitment to Basque culture and matters in general.-Discography:*...
), or Alostorrea, from Biscay
Biscay
Biscay is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lord of Biscay. Its capital city is Bilbao...
. These ballads were crafted and spread by minstrels or bertsolari
Bertsolari
A bertsolari is a singer of bertso, a musical verse in Basque tradition. The bertolaris are often found in pairs, in which a topic is sung extemporaneously in verses alternatively, but they can stage solo or group verse sessions too. It is usually sung to a slow tempo with long or short verses and...
s, were kept in popular memory, and were transmitted in the so-called kopla zaharrak, sets of poems with a characteristic rhythmic pattern that could be sung: this is similar to traditional practices elsewhere in Europe
Oral-Formulaic Composition
The theory of oral-formulaic composition originated in the scholarly study of epic poetry, being developed in the second quarter of the twentieth century...
. So, for example, the first work of literature in Basque Linguæ Vasconum Primitiæ (1545) by Bernard Etxepare
Bernard Etxepare
Bernard Etxepare was a Basque writer of the 16th century, most famous for a collection of poems titled Linguæ Vasconum Primitiæ he published in 1545, the first book to be published in the Basque language....
shows long verses that, while deceptively fashioned in metres resembling those used in Romance poetry, follow an internal rhythmic pattern similar to a kopla, so they can be popularly sung. Even today, it is not unusual to see groups of people marching around a town at some local festival singing and asking the neighbours for a food, drink or money donation, while the most famous celebrations following this pattern across the whole Basque Country may be those taking place on Christmas Eve (Olentzero
Olentzero
Olentzero is a Basque Christmas tradition. According to Basque traditions Olentzero comes to town late at night on the 24th of December to drop off presents for children...
) and the Saint Agatha's Eve, with singers dressing up in traditional costumes.
Bertsolari
A bertsolari is a singer of bertso, a musical verse in Basque tradition. The bertolaris are often found in pairs, in which a topic is sung extemporaneously in verses alternatively, but they can stage solo or group verse sessions too. It is usually sung to a slow tempo with long or short verses and...
s, improvising bards, who even nowadays hold an important status in Basque culture. They voice the people's concerns by means of a formal tradition coming from the people (tunes, linguistic devices), and act as their spokespersons. A considerable corpus of traditional songs was gathered by Resurrección María de Azkue
Resurrección María de Azkue
Resurrección María de Azkue was an influential Basque priest, musician, poet, writer, sailor and academic. He made several made several major contributions to the study of the Basque language and was the first head of the Euskaltzaindia, the Academy of the Basque Language...
and Aita Donostia
Aita Donostia
José Gonzalo Zulaica , better known by his pen name Aita Donostia , was a Basque musicologist and composer.From 1936 to 1943 he was in exile in France.His most popular work is the Basque Preludes, a set of fifteen piano...
, two religious scholars interested in Basque folk culture, at the turn of the 20th century; and also later on, in Cancionero popular vasco (1918) and Euskal Eres-Sorta. Cancionero Vasco (1922), to mention but a few works. In the present day, the band Hiru Truku (comprising the celebrated musicians Joseba Tapia, Ruper Ordorika and Bixente Martinez) has chosen several ancient songs from all over the Basque Country
Basque Country (historical territory)
The Basque Country is the name given to the home of the Basque people in the western Pyrenees that spans the border between France and Spain on the Atlantic coast....
, updated the music brilliantly and released them in a number of albums. Another current long-standing and renowned group who elaborate on traditional songs is Oskorri: The band set about singing traditional songs in public performances previously handing out to the audience a repertoire bill including the lyrics and encouraging them to sing along. The band has launched a couple of albums of this kind so far and performed on various tours to public acclaim, becoming especially popular with middle-aged parents.
A key figure bridging the old singing tradition of Soule
Soule
Soule is a former viscounty and French province and part of the present day Pyrénées-Atlantiques département...
and the folk song revival of the 20th century should be noted here, Pierre Bordazaharre (1907–1979), aka Etxahun Iruri. A xirula
Xirula
The xirula xülüla in Zuberoan Basque; Gascon: flabuta; French: galoubet) is a small three hole flute usually made of wood akin to the Basque txistu or three-hole pipe, but more high pitched and strident, tuned to C and an octave higher than the silbote. The sound that flows from the flute has often...
player and singer, he collected old songs and fashioned new ones, which eventually caught on and spread, take for instance, Agur Xiberoa. He also contributed to new pastoral
Pastoral (theatre of Soule)
The pastoral is a traditional kind of play from the Basque Country held in the region of Soule , France. It features a set range of characters and acts repeated on all pieces...
plays in the tradition of Soule, reshaping the pastoral and adding new topics.
There is also a tradition of choral
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
music all over the Basque Country. Church choirs were set up in some towns to meet the religious musical needs. Yet at the turn of the 20th century some ensembles became established outside the ecclesiastical context, e.g. the Sociedad Coral de Bilbao
Sociedad Coral de Bilbao
The Bilbao Choral Society is an association devoted to fostering musical activity. Founded in 1886 under the name "Orfeón Bilbaíno", the Bilbao Choir is a non-profit cultural association declared "of General Interest" by the Basque Autonomous Government...
(founded in 1886), Orfeón Donostiarra
Orfeón Donostiarra
The Orfeón Donostiarra is a concert choir based in San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain.-History:The choir was formed in 1897 in San Sebastián. The first music directors were Oñate, Luzuriaga and Esnaola. In June 1906 the group was awarded the Gran Prix of Paris. The next music director was Juan...
(founded in 1897) or the Coral Santa Cecilia from Donostia (founded in 1928). Later on, other ensembles were formed, such as Oldarra Abesbatza from Biarritz
Biarritz
Biarritz is a city which lies on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast, in south-western France. It is a luxurious seaside town and is popular with tourists and surfers....
(founded in 1947), made up of men and sometimes putting on performances as an ochote (see below), or the reputed Coral Andra Mari from Errenteria
Errenteria
Errenteria is a town located in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Autonomous Community, North of Spain, near the French border. The river Oiartzun cuts its way through the town, one that has undergone severe pollution up to recent times on its lower...
, established in 1966, featuring Basque folk music and Aita Donostia's several scores. Nowadays many minor choral ensembles, largely offering the Basque folk repertoire, dot the Basque territory. Interestingly, in Bayonne
Bayonne
Bayonne is a city and commune in south-western France at the confluence of the Nive and Adour rivers, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, of which it is a sub-prefecture...
and Donostia a cheerful informal initiative has grown popular with amateurs in the late noughties, who meet once a month and go bar hopping around the streets of the respective Old Quarters while singing traditional songs.
Another Basque choral phenomenon is represented by the so-called ochotes, which became popular in the 1930s in the Bilbao
Bilbao
Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...
region: Eight men with deep voices, with a marked taste for local and folk subjects, singing in Spanish and Basque. The may stem from summer ecclesiastic seminaries and they thrived on the warm atmosphere of the bars after the work shift was over). Eventually a branch of this genre evolved out into bilbainadas (up to the 1960s, nowadays much in decay).
Composers
The Basque CountryBasque Country (historical territory)
The Basque Country is the name given to the home of the Basque people in the western Pyrenees that spans the border between France and Spain on the Atlantic coast....
has been home to various notable composers, writing mainly in the 20th century. Much in step with the artistic trends of the first half of the century (painting,...), some of them developed a liking for Basque
Basque people
The Basques as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country , a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.The Basques are known in the...
customs, manners and subjects.
- Juan de AnchietaJuan de AnchietaJuan de Anchieta was a leading Spanish Basque composer of the Renaissance, at the Royal Court Chaplaincy in Granada of Queen Isabel I of Castile.-History:...
(1462–1523): Composer of the Renaissance hailing from the area of AzpeitiaAzpeitiaAzpeitia is a town and municipality within the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country of Spain, located on the Urola river a few kilometres east of Azkoitia. Its population is 13,708 . It is located 16 miles southwest of Donostia/San Sebastián.Azpeitia is the birth place of Ignatius of Loyola...
. - Santiago de Herdoiza (DurangoDurangoDurango officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is located in Northwest Mexico. With a population of 1,632,934, it has Mexico's second-lowest population density, after Baja...
, c. 1700) - Juan Crisostomo ArriagaJuan Crisóstomo ArriagaJuan Crisóstomo Jacobo Antonio de Arriaga y Balzola was a Spanish composer. He was nicknamed the "Spanish Mozart" after he died, because, like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, he was also a child prodigy and an accomplished composer who died young...
(BilbaoBilbaoBilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...
, 1806 - ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, 1826) - Jose Maria UsandizagaJose Maria UsandizagaJosé María Usandizaga was a Spanish Basque composer.A native of San Sebastián, Usandizaga began his musical studies in his hometown before moving to the Schola Cantorum in Paris. There, he was a composition pupil of Vincent d'Indy, and he took piano lessons from Gabriel Grovlez...
(Donostia/San Sebastian, 1887–1915): He is considered along with J. Guridi the father of Basque opera. He drew up orchestral and chamber pieces, like the celebrated Cuarteto de cuerda en Sol, Op. 31, shifting to elaborate zarzuelaZarzuelaZarzuela is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular song, as well as dance...
as well as operaOperaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
works at the end of his life (Mendi-Mendiyan, 1910: Las Golondrinas, 1914). He had his increasingly successful career cut short by an early death. - Jesus Guridi (Vitoria-GasteizVitoria-GasteizVitoria-Gasteiz is the capital city of the province of Álava and of the autonomous community of the Basque Country in northern Spain with a population of 235,661 people. It is the second largest Basque city...
, 1881 - Madrid, 1961): Himself a friend of Usandizaga, whom he met in Paris while attending the Schola CantorumSchola CantorumThe Schola Cantorum de Paris is a private music school in Paris. It was founded in 1894 by Charles Bordes, Alexandre Guilmant and Vincent d'Indy as a counterbalance to the Paris Conservatoire's emphasis on opera...
, he was appointed manager of BilbaoBilbaoBilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...
's Sociedad Coral choir in 1912. Influenced by Wagner and musicians of the Late Romanticism, he found inspiration and phrases for his compositions in Basque folklore. His rich musical education enabled him to deal with different types of music, e.g. zarzuelaZarzuelaZarzuela is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular song, as well as dance...
, opera, compositions for choir as well as religious pieces for organ. Some acclaimed works include El caserío (1926), Diez melodías vascas (1940), La meiga (1929), Seis canciones castellanas (1939) and Sinfonía pirenaica (1945). - Nemesio Otaño (AzkoitiaAzkoitiaAzkoitia is a town located in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Autonomous Community of Basque Country, in the northern Spain...
, 1880 - San SebastianSan SebastiánDonostia-San Sebastián is a city and municipality located in the north of Spain, in the coast of the Bay of Biscay and 20 km away from the French border. The city is the capital of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. The municipality’s population is 186,122 , and its...
, 1956 ): Composer, organist and musicologist. One of the most important figures in 20th century Spanish music history. Director of the Royal Conservatory of Madrid between 1939 and 1956. Among his most known works is 'Saint Ignatius March' ('Marcha de San Ignacio'), the saint patron of Biscay and Guipuscoa. In 1894 studied in the Colegio Preceptoría de Baliarrain, in which he composed two of his first Letanías and a Zortziko for piano; he was then only fourteen years old, but already played the organ in the school Parish. In 1896 he joined the Society of Jesus and began his ecclesiastical studies along with the music classes. In 1911 he founded the Schola Cantorum at Comillas: His performances in plainsong and polyphony were highly influential. His works range from popular sacred songs (e.g. Estrella hermosa, Anima Christi, Baldako) to large-scale choral pieces. - Pablo SorozabalPablo SorozábalPablo Sorozábal Mariezcurrena was a Basque-Spanish composer.Trained in San Sebastián, Madrid and Leipzig; then in Berlin, where he preferred Friedrich Koch as composition teacher to Arnold Schönberg, whose theories he disliked. It was in Germany that he made his conducting debut, and the rostrum...
(Donostia/San Sebastian, 1897 - MadridMadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, 1988) - Maurice RavelMaurice RavelJoseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
(ZiburuCiboureCiboure is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France.It lies across the river Nivelle from the harbour of Saint-Jean-de-Luz....
, 1875 - ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, 1937): Basque born French composer and arranger. - Carmelo Bernaola (OtxandioOtxandioOtxandio is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of Basque Country, northern Spain.Athletic Bilbao left-back Koikili Lertxundi was born in Otxandio.-External links:*...
, 1929 - MadridMadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, 2002) - Francisco Escudero (Donostia/San Sebastian, 1912–2002), composer of ZigorZigor (opera)Zigor: , is the first opera in four acts written by Francisco Escudero in the year 1962, commissioned by the Bilbao Association of Friends of the Opera Its libretto , written by Manuel Lecuona and Escudero himself in Basque, is based on the plot of Jose Zincunegui.Zigor was interpreted...
and Gernika)Gernika (opera)Gernika is Francisco Escudero's second opera, written in 1985. in 1962. The libretto was written by Escudero himself and based on an idea for a plot by Luis Iriondo.The opera consists of four acts, and is about 2 hours long...
, operas with Basque librettos - Sebastian IradierSebastián IradierSebastián Iradier Salaverri , a.k.a. Sebastián Yradier, was a Spanish Basque composer.Iradier was born in Lanciego, in the province of Álava. His publisher in Paris urged him to "universalize" his name, from Iradier to Yradier...
(LanciegoLanciegoLanciego is a town and municipality located in the province of Álava, in the Basque Country, northern Spain. The municipality of Lanciego in Rioja Alavesa consists of three towns: Lanciego, Assa and Viñaspre...
, 1809 - Vitoria-GasteizVitoria-GasteizVitoria-Gasteiz is the capital city of the province of Álava and of the autonomous community of the Basque Country in northern Spain with a population of 235,661 people. It is the second largest Basque city...
, 1865)
Basque musical revival
In the wake of the Civil WarSpanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
(1936-1937 in the Basque territory), headway made in the Basque culture in the pre-war period ground to a halt: Fear grew amidst harsh repression, famine became an overriding concern, and former cultural figures died or ran for their lives to exile. As an individual singing figure of the 40s, 50s and 60s, Luis Mariano
Luis Mariano
Mariano Eusebio González y García aka Luis Mariano was a popular tenor of Spanish Basque origin who achieved celebrity in 1946 with « La belle de Cadix » an operetta by Francis Lopez...
and his powerful tenor voice should be highlighted. Born in Irun and moving in his 20s to Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
, he jumped onto the Spanish and international scene with lighthearted songs in Spanish and French (and, occasionally, in Basque). After the hardest post-war years had gone by, the younger generation set about putting together duos and small musical groups in Gipuzkoa and Biscay
Biscay
Biscay is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lord of Biscay. Its capital city is Bilbao...
, who gradually began singing original tunes in Basque. Notable bands from the 60s include Urretxindorrak, Enarak, Soroak and Estitxu (female singer born to fleeing parents near Bayonne). These new bands sought to take advantage of the regime's increasing liberalization, despite the fact that major obstacles that still hindered cultural activity associated with anything Basque. Cultural and political awareness, social rebelliousness and an urge for action cropped up in succeeding generations, resulting in a new left-leaning Basque nationalist movement.
Some people from the southern Basque Country fled the territory to the Northern Basque Country
Northern Basque Country
The French Basque Country or Northern Basque Country situated within the western part of the French department of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques constitutes the north-eastern part of the Basque Country....
and sought refuge. They left their imprint in the traditional Basque society from the Northern Basque Country, contributing to giving rise to cultural and political awareness. In this respect, Mixel Labeguerie should be noted, who worked and lived in Kanbo
Cambo-les-Bains
Cambo-les-Bains is a town in the traditional Basque province of Labourd, now in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France.-People:...
, its mayor for more than a decade (1965–1980), Councillor General of the department and a founder of Basque nationalist movement Enbata (he walked out later). He had a musical education, soaked up the new European musical trends, e.g. Brassens
Georges Brassens
Georges Brassens , 22 October 1921 – 29 October 1981), was a French singer-songwriter and poet.Brassens was born in Sète, a town in southern France near Montpellier...
, folk music from England and France, and released an album in 1961 with songs that struck a chord, such as Gu gira Euskadiko, Primaderako liliak, etc. He was to have influence on the new artistic Basque group "Ez dok amairu" put together in 1965, largely made up of folk singer-songwriters concerned with Basque culture: Benito Lertxundi
Benito Lertxundi
Benito Lertxundi is a Basque singer-songwriter born in Orio in 1942 . He is an acclaimed and veteran figure in Basque music, who spearheaded with other key figures its revival in the 1960s and following years, showing an especial commitment to Basque culture and matters in general.-Discography:*...
, Mikel Laboa
Mikel Laboa
Mikel Laboa Mancisidor was one of the Basque Country's most important singer-songwriters.Considered the patriarch of Basque music, his music has had an influence on younger generations...
(popular song "Txoriak txori"), Xabier Lete, Lourdes Iriondo, etc. Lourdes Iriondo took to singing accompanied on a guitar for the first time in Basque music, a fact that came in for much criticism on the grounds that the instrument was alien to the own culture. "Ez dok amairu" broke up in 1972 and its members took up separate paths that eventually have confirmed some of them as acclaimed and key folk Basque singers up to the 2000s. Along the lines of singer-songwriter style, in a context of social and political unrest, it is worth mentioning Guk, Larralde eta Etxamendi or the beloved duo Pantxoa eta Peio from the Northern Basque Country, who provide the musical background for the 70s period of struggle, repression and turmoil. Especially in the provinces of Álava
Álava
Álava is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lord of Álava. Its capital city is Vitoria-Gasteiz which is also the capital of the autonomous community...
and Navarre
Navarre
Navarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France...
, Enrike Zelaia (Altsasu) and Gorka Knörr struck a chord with a more folkloric and nuanced approach.
Meanwhile, new and more urban style musical ensembles and bands sprang up in the 70s, performing first to other's songs of the time at summer local festivities. Yet they gradually developed their own repertoire fashioned in line with the Basque revival and activism (special focus on the lyrics) and ongoing Western musical trends, e.g. folk (Gwendal for one), progressive rock (Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
,...). As regards choral bands, Mocedades
Mocedades
Mocedades is a Spanish singing group from the Basque Country, probably best known for representing Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1973 with the song "Eres Tú"...
from Bilbao
Bilbao
Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...
should be highlighted, founded in 1967 initially by Amaya Uranga
Amaya Uranga
Amaya Uranga Amezaga is a Spanish singer, best known for the fifteen years she spent as a member of the Basque folk/pop sextet Mocedades. She is a cousin of director Pablo Berger.-Biography:...
and two sisters of her. They soon gained public notability by ranking second at the 1973 Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
. That very year in the same city the prolific Oskorri band (see above) got together featuring folk music, launching first album in 1976, where they paid homage to poet Gabriel Aresti, while in the Northern Basque Country Michel Ducau and Anje Duhalde teamed up and put together the first Basque rock band: The celebrated and politically engagé Errobi, releasing album Errobi (1975) to critic and public acclaim, Bizi bizian ensued. The group disbanded (not definitely) in 1979.
Soule
Soule is a former viscounty and French province and part of the present day Pyrénées-Atlantiques département...
tin parents, Niko Etxart
Niko Etxart
Niko Etxart is a Basque singer-songwriter and musician born in 1953 in Altzürükü, Soule . He's widely reputed in the Basque area for being a forerunner of Basque rock and bridging the gap between Basque old tradition and modern music trends.-Early life:Niko Etxart was born in Aussurucq. When he was...
came back to the Basque Country from Paris with brand-new ideas about music in 1972, so turning into a forerunner of Basque rock music (Euskal Rock&Roll released in 1979) alongside the band Errobi, while especially in the traditional Northern Basque Country some lashed out at his looks, manners and music. He alternately performed onstage in "verbenas" (dancing music in local festivities) with the band Minxoriak up to the late 80s. In the area of Mutriku
Mutriku
Mutriku is a town located in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Autonomous Community of Basque Country in northern Spain. It is the site of the world's first multi-turbine breakwater wave power station, inaugurated July 8, 2011....
, Itoiz
Itoiz
Itoiz was the name of a Basque music band from the coastal towns of Mutriku and Ondarroa, started off in 1978 and disbanded in 1988. Born in turmoil times for the Basque Country , Itoiz stems from a dancing music band called Indar Trabes , which performed mainly in evening festivities of towns...
, a milestone in Basque folk-pop music, was formed in 1978, with Juan Carlos Perez as its lead vocalist and frontman, releasing that very year the critically acclaimed album Itoiz, which contained such poignant tracks as Hilzori, Lau teilatu etc. Akin ensemble Haizea
Haizea
Haizea is a Basque band. Their music has been categorised as psychedelic rock, progressive rock and folk-rock.They released two records, Haizea and Hontz Gaua ....
delivered a couple of good LPs in this period.
Up to that point, Basque music bands from the Southern Basque Country
Southern Basque Country
The Southern Basque Country is a term used to refer to the Basque territories within Spain as a unified whole.It does not exist as a political unit but includes the three provinces and two enclaves of the Basque Autonomous Community in the west, as well as the Chartered Community of Navarre to...
resorted to labels from Spain to record and release their works. Yet at the end of the 70s and notably early in the 80s new regional labels arose (Xoxoa, Soñua...), providing a springboard for small bands that previously found it difficult to see their works published. At the same time, a whole network of youth squats, the gaztetxes, sprang up all over the Basque Country, so furnishing small bands with premises to rehearse and a venue to stage concerts, in a way that a younger disaffected and unruly generation stemming from urban sprawls and towns could find an outlet to voice its protest along the lines of a punk outlook ("do it yourself"). 1984 is the year for the outbreak of punk rock or so-called Basque Radical Rock
Basque Radical Rock
Basque Radical Rock, was a musical movement born in the Southern Basque Country at the beginning of the 1980s and, although there was no specific event, it is considered to have ended in the last years of the decade...
or Rock Radical Vasco in Spanish.
Eskorbuto
Eskorbuto was a punk band from Santurtzi which formed in 1980. They have been one of the most influential bands for Spanish and Latin American punk rock. They are known for their strong attitude and crude lyrics. They were one of the first bands to perform punk with lyrics in Spanish...
from Santurtzi
Santurtzi
Santurtzi is a port town in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, Spain. It is located in the Bilbao Abra bay, near the mouth of the Nervión river, on its left bank, 14km downriver from Bilbao and forms part of the Greater Bilbao agglomeration...
, rocky Barricada
Barricada
Barricada is a navarrese hard rock band created in 1982 near the area of Pamplona/Iruñea.The band members are Enrique Villareal as bassist and vocalist, Javier Hernandez guitarist and vocalist, Alfredo Piedrafita as guitarist and Ibon Sagarra on drums...
and whimsical Tijuana in Blue from Pamplona
Pamplona
Pamplona is the historial capital city of Navarre, in Spain, and of the former kingdom of Navarre.The city is famous worldwide for the San Fermín festival, from July 6 to 14, in which the running of the bulls is one of the main attractions...
, La Polla Records
La Polla Records
La Polla Records is a Spanish punk rock band. They were formed in 1979 in Salvatierra/Agurain, a small town in the Basque Country . Its founders were Evaristo Páramos, Maleguin, Txarly and Sume...
from Agurain
Salvatierra/Agurain
Salvatierra in Spanish and Agurain in Basque , it is a town and municipality located in the province of Álava in the Basque Autonomous Community, northern Spain. The municipality, numbering 4,407 inhabitants , is in turn the head town of the district or Cuadrilla of Salvatierra...
, Kortatu
Kortatu
Kortatu was a ska punk band from the Basque Country formed in Irun in the summer of 1984.Kortatu was born in the context of the first democracy years in Spain since 1936. They had a big significance for left-wing basque nationalism as precursors of a new wave of music: Basque Radical Rock...
and Baldin Bada from Irun
Irun
Irun is a town of the Bidasoa-Txingudi region in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain...
, Hertzainak, Cicatriz and Potato from Vitoria-Gasteiz
Vitoria-Gasteiz
Vitoria-Gasteiz is the capital city of the province of Álava and of the autonomous community of the Basque Country in northern Spain with a population of 235,661 people. It is the second largest Basque city...
, Jotakie, RIP
RIP (band)
RIP was a punk rock group from Mondragón, Basque Country , and were part of the Basque Radical Rock musical movement in the early 1980s.- Personal :* Karlos "Mahoma" : vocals* Yul: guitar* Portu : bass guitar* Txerra: drums...
, Naste Borraste, MCD, BAP, Zer Bizio, Delirium Tremens, etc. Most of the times Spanish language was used, sometimes Basque, while other times bands were bilingual. This new musical trend clashed with the previous singer-songwriter tradition (generation gap), so much so that both were linked to different degrees to the leftist and Basque nationalist movement. Meanwhile, Itoiz
Itoiz
Itoiz was the name of a Basque music band from the coastal towns of Mutriku and Ondarroa, started off in 1978 and disbanded in 1988. Born in turmoil times for the Basque Country , Itoiz stems from a dancing music band called Indar Trabes , which performed mainly in evening festivities of towns...
kept its low-profile musical path switching to pop in the accomplished album Musikaz blai (three more LP albums followed), featuring internationally acclaimed songs like To Alice, As Noites da Radio Lisboa or the catchy Marea gora.
Other bands of the late 80s stack to a different path, gentle and even naïve, using Spanish-language lyrics and along the lines of a pop tradition, take for instance, Duncan Dhu
Duncan Dhu
Duncan Dhu was a Spanish group created in San Sebastián, Spain in 1984. Its original members were Mikel Erentxun , Diego Vasallo and Juan Ramón Viles ....
(with leading figure Mikel Erentxun
Mikel Erentxun
Mikel Erentxun is a Spanish Rock en Español singer. Formerly with the group Duncan Dhu, he started his solo career in 1992. He has released six albums as a solo artist and has covered The Smiths' song, "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out", as "Esta luz nunca se apagará", as well as...
), 21 Japonesas or Sanchis y Jocano, bands from the area of Donostia. Duncan Dhu especially attained big levels of popularity on the Spanish and international pop scene, giving rise to a tradition in ensuing years that was to be called "Donosti Sound" (Le Mans, La Oreja de Van Gogh
La Oreja de Van Gogh
La Oreja de Van Gogh is a Latin Grammy-winning and Grammy-nominated Spanish pop band from Donostia-San Sebastian. The name of the band refers to the famous post-impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh who cut off the lobe of his own ear...
,...).
Current popular music
Kortatu
Kortatu was a ska punk band from the Basque Country formed in Irun in the summer of 1984.Kortatu was born in the context of the first democracy years in Spain since 1936. They had a big significance for left-wing basque nationalism as precursors of a new wave of music: Basque Radical Rock...
broke up in 1988 (live album Azken guda dantza), and soon after brothers Muguruza put together project Negu Gorriak
Negu Gorriak
Negu Gorriak were an underground Basque Crossover group. Their musical style combines various styles of rock music such as hardcore punk, hip-hop, ska, and reggae, although it is impossible to separate the band from its political ideology and its identification with the Basque Country and its...
. They showed a different outlook compared to previous band Kortatu: The new band sang entirely in Basque, their approach was more hedonistic and showed a taste for rap, an attitude displayed in a video clip (Radio Rahim) that conjures up American hip-hop manners. Punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
style fell much in decay, while reggae as well as hardcore took over, e.g. Anestesia, Etsaiak, Sociedad Alkoholika, Su Ta Gar (heavy
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
), etc. M-ak launched its best album Barkatu ama to critical acclaim, featuring styles ranging from hardcore to gentle tracks.
Trikitixa
The trikiti , trikitixa or eskusoinu txiki is a two-row Basque diatonic button accordion with right-hand rows keyed a fifth apart and twelve unisonoric bass buttons...
schools finally bore fruit in the 90s: The novelties brought about by Tapia eta Leturia and Kepa Junkera
Kepa Junkera
Kepa Junkera is a Basque musician and composer. A master of the trikitixa, the diatonic accordion, he has recorded more than 10 albums...
confirmed them as folk references in the Basque Country and abroad, following that novel trikitixa duos tried new ways, sometimes setting up bands by adding bass guitar and drums to the set pair of diatonic button accordion
Diatonic button accordion
A diatonic button accordion or melodeon is a type of button accordion where the melody-side keyboard is limited to the notes of diatonic scales in a small number of keys...
and tambourine
Tambourine
The tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
, e.g. Maixa eta Ixiar, Alaitz eta Maider, Gozategi. They usually offered a cheerful repertoire, with Gozategi's song Nirekin ("Emoixtaxux muxutxuek...") hitting the summer charts in 2000 beyond language boundaries.
Rock band Hertzainak disbanded in 1993, while its members followed their own projects. Controversial singer Gari started up a solo and very personal career with some accomplished songs, while Josu Zabala collaborates with other singers and group projects of some bertsolari
Bertsolari
A bertsolari is a singer of bertso, a musical verse in Basque tradition. The bertolaris are often found in pairs, in which a topic is sung extemporaneously in verses alternatively, but they can stage solo or group verse sessions too. It is usually sung to a slow tempo with long or short verses and...
s, e.g. original brass band Karidadeko Benta (first album 2003). Power pop
Power pop
Power pop is a popular musical genre that draws its inspiration from 1960s British and American pop and rock music. It typically incorporates a combination of musical devices such as strong melodies, crisp vocal harmonies, economical arrangements, and prominent guitar riffs. Instrumental solos are...
band Urtz, formed in 1988, dealt with personal stories that slightly differed from the still prevailing protest topics and harsh language of the late 80s, besides featuring an unprecedented chorus line that delivered some charming, upbeat and catchy songs. The band broke up in the early 2000s. In step with the hardcore tradition, the band Berri Txarrak
Berri Txarrak
Berri Txarrak is a Basque rock power trio whose songs are sung in Basque. It was founded in 1994 in Lekunberri, Navarre, Spain.-History:...
from Lekunberri got together in 1994, releasing various albums (latest album Jaio. Musika. Hil -2005-) and touring on Europe, where they come in for good reviews and gradually get a reputation that earned them performances and collaborations with important figures of indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
all over the world. The band PiLT (Mungia
Mungia
Mungia is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the Basque Country of northern Spain. Thetown has 15,000 inhabitants.-Geography:...
), who showed a taste for metal and hard sounds (Clawfinger
Clawfinger
Clawfinger is a rap metal band from Sweden and was one of the earliest bands to adopt this sound. Clawfinger is known for aggressive but melodic music and tackling political and anti-racist themes in their songs.-Band history:...
, Soundgarden
Soundgarden
Soundgarden is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984 by singer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto...
), jumped into spotlight in 1995 after winning the bootleg contest "Gaztea Sariak" granted by radio station Euskadi Gaztea, while the definite hit came in 1996 with single Hil da jainkoa, earning them widespread recognition. Likewise heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band Latzen came to public prominence after winning with the popular ballad Laztana the 1997 edition of the "Gaztea Sariak".
The bands Skalariak (1994) and Betagarri (1992) took over the ska tradition, offering boogie inciting and swinging live concerts. In step with other multicultural experiences, such as Fermin Muguruza
Fermin Muguruza
Fermin Muguruza is a Basque rock musician, singer, songwriter, producer, record label manager, and co-founder for the ska punk band Kortatu, active from 1983 to 1988, and for the crossover group Negu Gorriak, active from 1990 to 1996.He is the brother of musicians Iñigo Muguruza and Jabier...
from Negu Gorriak
Negu Gorriak
Negu Gorriak were an underground Basque Crossover group. Their musical style combines various styles of rock music such as hardcore punk, hip-hop, ska, and reggae, although it is impossible to separate the band from its political ideology and its identification with the Basque Country and its...
or festive Joxe Ripiau to highlight but a few, in 2003 members of Etsaiak put together Pin pan pun band, a band with good connections in Latin America, releasing in 2005 the DVD Kuba-Mexiko Rock Tour 04, which bore witness to their experience and live powerful concerts. Etsaiak joined together again in 2008 (launched album Apurtu arte). The band hailing from Zarautz
Zarautz
Zarautz is a coastal town located in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country, northern Spain.The town is a popular tourist destination with the population swelling from its usual 22,812 to around 60,000 in summer. The Palace of Narros, located adjacent to Zarautz's 2.8 km long beach,...
Delorean does electronic&rock with enthralling and trance raising live performances. Other rock bands on the rise in 2008: Surfing Kaos (Donostia), We Are Standard (Getxo
Getxo
Getxo is a town located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in the north of Spain.It is part of the metropolitan area of Bilbao , and has about 83,000 inhabitants...
), Kaotiko (Agurain
Salvatierra/Agurain
Salvatierra in Spanish and Agurain in Basque , it is a town and municipality located in the province of Álava in the Basque Autonomous Community, northern Spain. The municipality, numbering 4,407 inhabitants , is in turn the head town of the district or Cuadrilla of Salvatierra...
), The Uskis (Elantxobe
Elantxobe
Elantxobe is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, northern Spain.-External links:*...
), Atom Rhumba (Bilbao
Bilbao
Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...
), Ken 7 (Gernika), Capsula (Bilbao
Bilbao
Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...
)...
Doctor Deseo was set up in Bilbao
Bilbao
Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...
in 1986, releasing thereafter various albums during a period that spans more than 20 years. They deal with everyday and personal subjects in a rather poetic manner. Fito y los Fitipaldis (Bilbao) was formed in 1998 by Platero y Tú
Platero y Tú
Platero y Tú was a Spanish rock band founded in Bilbao in the 1980s, and disbanded in 2001. Their lyrics speak mainly of drugs, bar issues and love, and their style, being mainly influenced by bands like Status Quo or Leño, and guitarists like John Fogerty from Creedence Clearwater Revival, broke...
's frontman Fito Cabrales, comprising a variety of styles ranging soul, blues, swing, flamenco, tex-mex or Hawaiian guitars. The project kicked off with A puerta cerrada (40,000 albums sold so far) and grew steadily in popularity, one of the latest hit song being Rojitas las orejas.
Amaia Montero
Amaia Montero Saldías , also known as the original vocalist of La Oreja de Van Gogh between 1996 and 2007, is a singer/songwriter from Basque Country, Spain. Including her work with the band, Montero has sold more than 7 million albums worldwide.-Background:Amaia Montero is the daughter of José...
that resulted in the creation of La Oreja de Van Gogh
La Oreja de Van Gogh
La Oreja de Van Gogh is a Latin Grammy-winning and Grammy-nominated Spanish pop band from Donostia-San Sebastian. The name of the band refers to the famous post-impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh who cut off the lobe of his own ear...
, who after launching album Dile al sol took off boosted by Amaia's mighty voice and catchy soft tunes trimmed with beautiful arrangements. New hit songs and albums followed.
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
approach that waned in the late 80s shows presently a sound condition in the Basque scene, with some very outstanding figures, like poignant Anari
Anari (musician)
Anari is a Basque singer/songwriter. She released her first album in 1997 and has established herself as an important reference point in the Basque music scene...
, renowned for her intense, heartbreaking voice and songs, who is now taking off (live recording Anari Kafe Antzokian Zuzenean released in 2008). Other singer-songwriters include Petti, from Bera (Navarre
Navarre
Navarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France...
), with four albums published up to 2008, or the bertsolari
Bertsolari
A bertsolari is a singer of bertso, a musical verse in Basque tradition. The bertolaris are often found in pairs, in which a topic is sung extemporaneously in verses alternatively, but they can stage solo or group verse sessions too. It is usually sung to a slow tempo with long or short verses and...
Mikel Urdangarin, featuring somewhat melancholic songs often accompanied on string and brass instruments. Following the folk and singer-songwriter tradition, Jabier Muguruza (born 1960) took up a solo career in 1994 after quitting other projects (Les Mecaniciens,...). He sets about composing and performing intimate, mild songs with strong broody and literary lyrics. Meanwhile, some renowned figures of Basque folk music have kept on performing and creating, e.g. Benito Lertxundi
Benito Lertxundi
Benito Lertxundi is a Basque singer-songwriter born in Orio in 1942 . He is an acclaimed and veteran figure in Basque music, who spearheaded with other key figures its revival in the 1960s and following years, showing an especial commitment to Basque culture and matters in general.-Discography:*...
, Mikel Laboa
Mikel Laboa
Mikel Laboa Mancisidor was one of the Basque Country's most important singer-songwriters.Considered the patriarch of Basque music, his music has had an influence on younger generations...
(died in December 2008) or Oskorri
Oskorri
Oskorri is a folk band formed in the Basque Country in 1971. It is one of the most renowned folk groups in the Basque Country, with songs such as Euskal Herrian Euskaraz becoming popular in the region...
(fresh album Banda band in 2007, about to celebrate the ensemble's 35 anniversary).
In the Northern Basque Country, the festive band Sustraia attained great popularity after 15 years on the road, while the death (January 2009) of charismatic frontman Patrick Mixelena, aka Mixu, made the group's future uncertain. The ensemble Bidaia, i.e. the couple Mixel Ducau and Caroline Phillips, offers gentle and elaborate folk music, while percussionist Benat Achiary
Benat Achiary
Beñat Achiary is a Basque vocal improviser who lives in southern France.He has released three songs from Gherasim Luca's "heroes-limite" on his CD "Seven Circles for Peter", released by German label FMP in 2004.-External links:****...
(born 1947) provides an experimental approach, often featuring improvised passages in his performances (several albums released in the 90s). Amaia Zubiria (born 1947 in Zubieta -Gipuzkoa-), who has occasionally collaborated with him, holds a long and prolific career in the Basque song panorama: She came to the spotlight with progressive-folk group Haizea, having published some solo albums since and featuring a very pure mezzo-soprano voice. Her latest work is the album Nabil (2008).
Samples
External links
- Basque Music and Art (Buber's Basque Page)
- http://www.badok.info/Badok, information on Basque music run by the daily newspaper BerriaBerriaBerria is the only newspaper published wholly in the Basque language and which can be read in the entirety of the Basque country. It was created after the closure of the previous Basque language newspaper, Egunkaria, by the Spanish government, after being accused of having ties with ETA...
]