Xeremia
The xeremía is a type of bagpipe native to the Balearic Islands.[1] 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.[2]
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 Occitania during the Kingdom of Aragon - 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.[2]
The instrument's name may be used in the singular or in the plural and has several variants, depnnnnnnnending on the location. In the Balearic Islands it is called xeremía, xirimia, xeremíes o xirimíes while in Catalonia it is known as sac de gemecs.[3]
History
The first reliable evidence of bagpipes in the Iberian Peninsula dates to the Middle Ages. The Arabs knew and played bagpipes. The first written reference dates to the 9th century, in a letter from San Jeroni a Dárdano: Template:Cita
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 together with Catalan hegemony in Occitania, 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 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 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 the ceremonial playing of the bagpipe through the city of Tortosa in the year 1353. There are further reports that bagpipers from a variety of nations would congregate, especially during Lent.
Similar pipes are attested in Barcelona 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 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 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.[4]
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
The xeremia is generally played within an ensemble known as the cobla de tres quartans, known popularly through the Ses Xeremíes. In actuality, this ensemble is usually abbreviated to a media copla ("half copla") or colla consisting of only a xeremia and a flabiol (regional tabor pipe) and drum.
Coblas may take the form of:
- Media cobla ("half cobla"): these are composed of one xeremia and one flabiol 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(talk) 23:04, 4 August 2012 (UTC)]]]]]]'''''''
- ^ *Genovart Espinosa, Antoni (2007-10). "Xeremies I Xeremiers A Mallorca". Sant Llorenç des Cardassar, Spain.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Unknown parameter|accennnnssdate=ignored (help) - ^ a b Breno (2002-03-02). "Xeremies mallorquina, un poco de lenguas, geografia e historia". Retrieved 2007-11-30.
- ^ Genovart Espinosa, Antoni (2007-10). "otros nombres de sano xeremia". Sant Llorenç des Cardassar, Spain. Retrieved 2007-11-29.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ *y Cucurull, Tomàs (2007). "Es sac de gemecs. El sac de gemecs" (año 2000 ed.). Sant Jaume dels Domenys, Cataluña, Spain. Retrieved 2007-11-28.