Xeremia
Encyclopedia
Balearic Islands
The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.The four largest islands are: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain with Palma as the capital...
. It consists of a bag made of skin (or modern synthetic materials), known as a sac or sarró which retains the air, a blowpipe (bufador), a melody pipe or chanter (grall), and several, generally three, drones (bordones). The primary drone (roncón) sounds a tonic note, but the other drones are sometimes simply false drones for ornamentation.
The xeremia has a distinctively bright and piercing sound, which has traditionally accompanied festivals and other activities in the islands throughout history.
Name
The name xeremía (plural xeremíes) is of French origin. The Old French word chalemie over time became charemie. This is related to the influence of OccitaniaOccitania
Occitania , also sometimes lo País d'Òc, "the Oc Country"), is the region in southern Europe where Occitan was historically the main language spoken, and where it is sometimes still used, for the most part as a second language...
during the Kingdom of Aragon
Aragon
Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...
- as Catalán was quite strong from the year 531 A.D. to approximately 1131 A.D., as the Occitan cultural centre expanded through the means of minstrels and bards, throughout the territory that would later be known as Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
.
The instrument's name may be used in the singular or in the plural and has several variants, depending on the location. In the Balearic Islands
Balearic Islands
The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.The four largest islands are: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain with Palma as the capital...
it is called xeremía, xirimia, xeremíes o xirimíes while in Catalonia it is known as sac de gemecs.
History
The first reliable evidence of bagpipes in the Iberian Peninsula dates to the Middle AgesMiddle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. The Arabs knew and played bagpipes. The first written reference dates to the 9th century, in a letter from San Jeroni a Dárdano:
The influence of the court of Aragon and particularly that of Catalonia in the Balearic Islands and the cultural exchanges on both sides of the Pyrenees
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
together with Catalan hegemony in Occitania
Occitania
Occitania , also sometimes lo País d'Òc, "the Oc Country"), is the region in southern Europe where Occitan was historically the main language spoken, and where it is sometimes still used, for the most part as a second language...
, which had been a strong cultural center, caused an increase the number of bards and minstrels increased. In 1209 there was a massive migration of bards and minstrels fleeing Occitania, due to repression by the northern French monarchs, encouraged by pope Innocent III. Bagpipes became prominent in those areas where the courts of Aragon and Catalonia had influence.
When James I the Conqueror, conquered Mallorca and Ibiza
Ibiza
Ibiza or Eivissa is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea 79 km off the coast of the city of Valencia in Spain. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, an autonomous community of Spain. With Formentera, it is one of the two Pine Islands or Pityuses. Its largest cities are Ibiza...
and repopulated those lands with his vassals of Catalan origin, they brought the bagpipes with them: the sac de gemecs, from which the Mallorcan xeremia (xeremia mallorquina) is derived.
In the archive of the Crown of Aragon
Crown of Aragon
The Crown of Aragon Corona d'Aragón Corona d'Aragó Corona Aragonum controlling a large portion of the present-day eastern Spain and southeastern France, as well as some of the major islands and mainland possessions stretching across the Mediterranean as far as Greece...
there is a document from the year 1343 that names one Joan Mascum, bagpipe minstrel to the king, from Mallorca in reference to king Jaime III. Further, it is known that the minstrels of the king of Mallorca brought to the court of Pedro IV
Peter IV of Aragon
Peter IV, , called el Cerimoniós or el del punyalet , was the King of Aragon, King of Sardinia and Corsica , King of Valencia , and Count of Barcelona Peter IV, (Balaguer, September 5, 1319 – Barcelona, January 6, 1387), called el Cerimoniós ("the Ceremonious") or el del punyalet ("the one...
the ceremonial playing of the bagpipe through the city of Tortosa
Tortosa
-External links:* *** * * *...
in the year 1353. There are further reports that bagpipers from a variety of nations would congregate together, especially during Lent
Lent
In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...
.
Similar pipes are attested in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
as early as 1119, and in Valencia in 1258. Reports state that a procession of San Dionisio contained "two trumpeters, two tabalers, and bagpipe." After 1335, there are frequent mentions of the xeremia in records. Following this period, the pipes became even more widespread, becoming popular among shepherds and beggars, although in a primitive form.
During the reign of Alfonso V
Alfonso V of Aragon
Alfonso the Magnanimous KG was the King of Aragon , Valencia , Majorca, Sardinia and Corsica , and Sicily and Count of Barcelona from 1416 and King of Naples from 1442 until his death...
of Aragón and IV of Catalonia, called The Magnanimous the instrument spread, along with other cultural trappings, to the kingdom's possessions in the Mediterranean. Reports from 1420 indicate that the court of Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
included players of the xalamias.
It is in the 19th century that the instrument was modified, becoming more like the xeremia we know today. The evolution of other instruments had marginalized the bagpipes, whose range was only a single octave. As it was difficult to modernize the pipes, they remained a simple and primitive instrument. Though it faded from popularity in other Catalan territories, this was not the case in the Baleares where isolation and a predominantly rural population preserved the instrument within the culture.
The xeremía, close relative of the sac de gemecs, maintains its popularity in the culture of the Baleares even as native bagpiping traditions across Europe went into decline. At the end of the 20th century, several folkloric and cultural groups were working for the instrument's continued survival and expansion.
The evolution of the xeremía may be divided into two periods. Between the 12th and 16th centuries conviven instrumentos con trompa o sin ella. From the 16th century onwards its form resembled that of the modern variant, with the drones atop the instrument. The direct relation between this pipe and the sac de gemecs is still reflected in that the only major difference between the two pipes is that all the drones of the sac de gemecs sound, whereas two of the three xeremia drones are often dummy drones for aesthetic purposes, with only one of the three actually functional.
La cobla
Flabiol
The flabiol , also known as flaviol, flubiol or fabirol, is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes. It is one of the 12 instruments of the cobla...
(regional tabor pipe) and drum.
Coblas may take the form of:
- Media cobla ("half cobla"): these are composed of one xeremia and one flabiolFlabiolThe flabiol , also known as flaviol, flubiol or fabirol, is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes. It is one of the 12 instruments of the cobla...
with drum. This form of cobla is very popular in the Balearic Islands and Catalonia. The xeremia and flabiol play the melody in unison with the flabiol accompanying himself on the drum.
- Tres cuartos de cobla ("three-quarter cobla"): composed of a sac de gemecs, tarota, a flabiol and a tamboret played by three musicians (as the flabiol and tamboril are played by the same musician), thus the term "three-quarter", which appears to have its origins amongst medieval minstrel groups. En el siglo XVIII las coblas de ministrils were formed with a flabiol and drum, tarota, and a xeremia, and had an important role in popular festivals. The drum established the rhythm, the bagpipe played the melody and drones, the flabiol copied the melody, and the tarota played a similar melody an octave lower than the pipes and flabiol.
Repertoire
Given the long history of the instrument, the repertoire of the xeremia is likewise wide, even more so in the context of the colla.There are two distinct period of xeremia repertoire: during the first transmission of tunes was "closed", with each pair of pipers maintaining a fixed repertoire and without introducing new pieces, which also impeded other pipers from adopting their own, to the degree that pipers would refuse to play in front of other collas, in order to prevent their songs from being copied. This period caused the wide divergence of musical styles between communities of pipers. The second period is defined by the diffusion and learning of these same tunes.
There are pieces documented shortly following the conquest of the island by the kingdom of Aragón such as the danzas de los cossiers de Montuïri
Montuïri
Montuiri is municipality in central Majorca, one of the Balearic Islands, Spain. It is a small town built on a hill. -Photo gallery:...
, Algaida
Algaida
Algaida is a municipality on the Spanish Balearic island of Majorca. It has an area of 89.70 km² with 4,528 inhabitants .-Geography:...
, Manacor
Manacor
Manacor is a town and municipality on the Mediterranean island of Majorca, part of the Spanish autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. It is one of the biggest municipalities in Majorca. It has tourist areas like Porto Cristo, site of the famous Caves of Drach, and Calas de Mallorca. Manacor...
and Pollença
Pollença
Pollença is a town and municipality situated in the far north corner of the island of Majorca, near Cap de Formentor and Alcúdia. It lies about 6 km west of its port, Port de Pollença.-History:...
or the Cavallets danced in Felanitx
Felanitx
Felanitx is a municipality in the Spanish autonomous community of the Balearic Islands, located in the southeast of Majorca, 48 kilometres from the capital Palma....
, Pollença
Pollença
Pollença is a town and municipality situated in the far north corner of the island of Majorca, near Cap de Formentor and Alcúdia. It lies about 6 km west of its port, Port de Pollença.-History:...
and Artà
Artà
Artà is one of the 53 independent municipalities on the Spanish Balearic island of Majorca. The small town of the same name is the administrative seat of this municipality in the region of Llevant.- Population :...
. There are also the dances of Sant Joan Pelós (or Sant Joan Pelut), the Moratons, the Indis and the Balls de Cintes, these last of which have almost disappeared. Along with these, there are other tunes such as jota
Jota (music)
The jota is a genre of music and the associated dance known throughout Spain, most likely originating in Aragon. It varies by region, having a characteristic form in Valencia, Aragon, Castile, Navarra, Cantabria, Asturias, Galicia and Murcia. Being a visual representation, the jota is danced and...
s and bolero
Bolero
Bolero is a form of slow-tempo Latin music and its associated dance and song. There are Spanish and Cuban forms which are both significant and which have separate origins.The term is also used for some art music...
s such as pasodoble
Pasodoble
Pasodoble is a typical dance from Spain march-like musical style as well as the corresponding dance style danced by a couple. It is the type of music typically played in bullfights during the bullfighters' entrance to the ring or during the passes just before the kill...
s, rumba
Rumba
Rumba is a family of percussive rhythms, song and dance that originated in Cuba as a combination of the musical traditions of Africans brought to Cuba as slaves and Spanish colonizers. The name derives from the Cuban Spanish word rumbo which means "party" or "spree". It is secular, with no...
s, waltz
Waltz
The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...
es, etc.
Cultural aspects
The term "xeremia" has a role in the popular speech of Majorca. Several phrases and proverbs refer to the instrument:- Content com unes xeremies - Happy as a bagpipe
- Plorar com unes xeremies - To cry like a bagpipe
- Dits, dits, que vent no en falta - Fingers, fingers, may you not lack for wind
- Riure-se´n des Sant i ses xeremies - To laugh at the saint and the bagpipe
- Mes inflat que unes xeremies - More swollen than a bagpipe