Galician Folk Music — An Overview

Richness, variety, heterodoxy. Learning from the old layers of folk music.

  • event type:WOMEX 14 Conference
  • date:23 Oct 2014
  • time:11:00 - 11:45
  • city/area:Santiago de Compostela, Galicia
  • venue:Conference Room 2 Cidade da Cultura
  • country:Spain
  • event posted by:Piranha Arts

Presented by:

- Sergio de la Ossa (Spain)
researcher/teacher, aCentral Folque, Hungary

In this session I will present a general description of Galician Folk Music, focusing mainly on folksong and shifting quickly from the most common repertoire to singular features in respect to melody, rhythm, form, etc. We will listen to examples of vocal repertoire with modal scales and aksak rhythms, exploring the presence of strong melodic variation in old muiñeiras, non-tempered intonation, heterophony and ornamentation.

The presentation will end with an overview of significant genres (besides the omnipresent muiñeiras and xotas), such as the improvisative regueifa and brindos (duel-songs performed at weddings), and notes on the relation between music and dance (with video recordings), and music and poetry.

The session will conclude with a short discussion about the adoption or non-adoption of several of these musical elements by the revival movement that started in the ‘70s and perspectives for the near future.

(Photo: Veronika Gergely)