GALICIAN MUSIC LARK CAMP 2010 SELECTED BY XABIER BLANCO
O meu rio Douro Fernando V. de Sousa. Portugal
GALICIA Galicia is an autonomous community and historic region in northwest Spain, with the status of a historic nationality, and descends from one of the first kingdoms of Europe, [2] the Kingdom of Galicia. It is constituted under the Galician Statute of Autonomy of 1981. Its component provinces are A Coruña, Lugo, Ourense and Pontevedra. It is bordered by Portugal to the south, the Spanish regions of Castile and León and Asturias to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Bay of Biscay to the north. Besidess its continental territory, Galicia includes the archipelagos of Cíes, Ons, Sálvora, as well as Cortegada Island, the Malveiras Islands, Sisargas Islands, and Arousa Island. Galicia has roughly 2.78 million inhabitants as of 2008, with the largest concentration in two coastal areas, from Ferrol to A Coruña in the northwest from Vilagarcía to Vigo on the southwest. The capital is Santiago de Compostela, in the province of A Coruña. Vigo, in the province of Pontevedra, is the most populous city, with 297,332 inhabitants (INE 2009). Galicia has its own historic language, Galician, more closely related to Portuguese than Spanish, and sharing a common Galician Portuguese root language with the former in the Middle Ages. Some authors even consider present day Galician and Portuguese to be dialects of a single language, [3] but the prevailing view, endorsed by the Galician Language Institute is that differences, especially in phonology and vocabulary, are large enough to make them two separate languages. [4] Inevitably, the distinction is reinforced by the political border. Galicia has two official languages: Galician (Galician: Galego) and Spanish (known in Spain as castellano, "Castilian"). Galician is recognized in the Statute of Autonomy of Galicia as the lingua propia (a term comparable to "mother language") of Galicia. Galician is closely related to Portuguese. Both descend from a Romance language of the Middle Ages now referred to as Galician Portuguese. The independence of Portugal since the late Middle Ages has favored the divergence of the Galician and Portuguese languages. The two languages maintain an 85% mutual intelligibility. [34] The official Galician language has been standardized by the Real Academia Galega on the basiss of literary tradition. Although there are local dialects, Galician media conform to this standard form, which is also used in primary, secondary, and university education. There are more than three million Galician speakers in the world, [34] placing Galician just barely among the 150 most widely spoken languages on earth.
Music has always played an intrinsic role in the history of Galicia. Over the centuries, the various waves of migration and invasions have brought with them musical influences from all over Europe; indeed, the bagpipe was probably brought to Galicia in the 5th century with Swebian migration. Since the Middle Ages, the Camino de Santiago, which leads pilgrims and travellers from all over Europe to the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, has represented a magnificent means of cultural exchange. Indeed, even the symbol worn by pilgrims, the scallop shell, constitutes the most basic of instruments in traditional Galician music. Over the centuries, Galicia s traditional music has played a key role in creating the identity of its people. Instruments and songs were carefully passed down from generation to generation in order to keep this legacy intact. Today, Galicia s music is thriving thanks to an autochthonous industry that enjoys steady and sustained growth. New groups and bands are constantly appearing and finding a niche on the market.today, traditional music forms the mainstay of our music industry, although it is accompanied by a number of other styles. Indeed, we are currently witnessing the consolidation of an extraordinary wealth of musical genres: Galicia boasts consolidated groups and bands in all areas and contemporary styles. In addition, a growing number of musicians are opting to write their lyrics in the Galician language. Following the cultural splendour of the medieval era, Galicia was plunged into a period characterised by a socio economic isolation that would lead to an essentially inward looking musical tradition. The early troubadours would eventually give way to the minstrels, lay musicians who composed and played the music that accompanied the guild dances and processions that made their way around the towns during the major festivities that took place during the course of the year. The bagpipes, drums and tambourine whose origins lie in medieval times were unquestionably the favourite instruments of these musicians, marking the consolidation of the instruments used in traditional Galician music groups. The musicians of the day were employed by the guilds and associations. They became professionals who in many cases passed on their art to their sons, thereby creating authentic musical dynasties. The presence of pipers accompanied by a percussionist at the countryside religious festivities known as romerías immortalised them as the most famous Galician musical icon of all time. Other musical professionals included the blind, wandering minstrels, the heirs of the early troubadours. They are responsible for passing down an ample repertoire of romances and other activities such as improvised songs and puppet shows. It is also thanks to them that the tradition of the hurdygurdy has lasted a thousand years. The activity of this farming based society was organised in accordance with the seasons. A large number of agricultural tasks, ranging from the sowing of the seeds to the harvest and painstaking handcrafted production processes were all accompanied by traditional songs.
Indeed, some of the oldest and quaintest musical legacies that remain today include the songs that accompanied the reaping, harvesting or ploughing of the fields together with a number of ancient romances transporting us back in time to the roots of our popular music. In the villages, the country folk would gather for celebrations such as fias, ruadas, seráns or palavilas, all accompanied by songs played on the tambourine and adufe (a square shaped medieval instrument of Moorish origin). Dancing formed an essential part of these celebrations, and the most popular were muiñeiras and viras (Xotas). Galicia s musical heritage remained relatively unchanged through the centuries, gradually incorporating new rhythms and instruments such as the violin or the requinta (recorder). The social change that accompanied industrialisation and the birth of the liberal state in the 19th century led to a process of globalisation in which a new generation of instruments, musical groups and rhythms jeopardised the survival of traditional popular music. Music bands, accordions and dances with a single partner such as the waltz, mazurka or polka became part of popular musical culture despite the outcry from the Church, which considered them immoral and sinful, as well as from regionalist movements, which classified them as foreign. The movement to recover traditional customs and culture led by regionalism fought to recover, classify and disseminate the popular music heritage in order to guarantee its survival and rightful position. Leading academic Romance composers such as Marcial del Adalid incorporated traditional popular music into their compositions, putting poems from the Literary Resurgence movement to music. Adalid was behind the Cantares viejos y nuevos de Galicia (Old and New Songs of Galicia) (1877), which contains both popular canticles and Galician melodies he composed. Galician musical nationalism based on the use of material from popular music reached its heyday in the late 19th century at the hands of three leading composers and choir directors: Chané, Xoán Montes and Pascual Veiga, who wrote the Galician national anthem. By the end of the century, the folklorism that sought to define the essence of popular music was attempting to systematise its compilations of popular music material. Authors such José Inzenga or Casto Sampedro amassed large collections, whilst others such as Perfecto Feijóo travelled from village to village, attending the local romerías in search of musical material that could be used as the basis for staged performances that reflected traditional Galician aesthetics. In this respect, mention must be made of the groundbreaking choir Aires da Terra, founded in Pontevedra in 1883 by Feijóo himself, and which was the first to dress as Galician country folk. It would be followed by many others throughout Galicia, such Toxos e Frores in Ferrol, Cantigas da Terra in A Coruña or De Ruada in Ourense.