The Celtic Legacy of the Gaita in Galician Music
Xosé Lois Foxo, Director, Real Banda-Escuela de Ourense
Abstract
The paper focuses on the traditional music of Galicia with special emphasis on the gaita, or bagpipe, its persistence throughout the centuries as a symbol for the region, and its strong similarities with the instruments of Celtic regions such as Scotland, Brittany and Ireland. Samples of musical melodies from Galicia are included and compared to these areas, and their similarities are discussed.
Keywords
Galician music, bagpipe, gaita, percussion instruments, musical genres, Celticity.
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[ HTML -822k- | PDF -4.1mb- | 52 pages, 29 figures, 12 music clips ]
Table of Contents
- 1. Introduction
- 2. The Bagpipe as a Symbol of Brotherhood among Celtic Regions
- 3. The Origin of the Galician Bagpipe
- 4. Iconography
- 5. Classification of the Bagpipes in Western Europe
- 6. Classification of Bagpipes in Eastern Europe
- 7. Etymology of the Word Gaita
- 8. Historical Review
- 9. Union and Guild Galician Bagpipers
- 10. The Gaita as a Symbol of Galicia
- 11. Description of the Gaita
- 12. Tonalities
- 13. Generalities
- 14. Percussion Instruments in Galician Folk Music
- 15. Galician Music Genres
- 16. Similarities among the Traditional Melodies of Galicia, Brittany, Scotland, and Ireland
- 17. Conclusions
- Acknowledgments
- Bibliography
