Three-hole flutes in the Basque Country

Straight single-handed flutes with mouthpiece are present in a number of places in Europe and America. They are flutes played with only one hand, usually the left, so they have a limited number of holes for fingering. While some have up to five holes (e.g. the flabiol from Catalonia), those with three holes are most common. For this reason, they are also known as ‘three-holed flutes’.

The three-hole flute has had a strong presence in all the regions of the Basque Country for many years, with differents, materials, ways of playing, styles and functions. Two are particularly well-known: the txistu and the xirula. Of these two types of flute, the txistu is the most widespread and the one with the most variants. Recently, the xirula has been very closely linked to the folklore of Soule (northern Basque Country), although since the 1970s it has seen a certain expansion in terms of both territory and use. Nowadays, the txistu and the xirula appear as differentiated, and that is how they are presented here. If we go back in time, however, there is not much difference seen the two instruments. Basically, both are three-hole flutes with mouthpiece of similar structures, ways of playing and functions, although they are used in two different areas within the tradition and have taken on their own character in many respects.

The main difference the txistus and the xirulas that are used nowadays lies in the of the pipes, at least in terms of their structure: the txistus are usually transposing instruments in the key of F or F#, while the xirulas are in the key of C (shorter tubes). Furthermore, a longer flute called the silbote was created around the academic txistu in the 18^th century. It is now a transposing instrument in the tonality of B or G¹. At the end of the 20^th century, the Grupo Experimental de Txistu of the Conservatoire of San Sebastian presented three-hole flutes in other tonalities: the txistu txiki (literally, ‘small txistu’ or txilibitu) in the high range and the txistu handi (‘large txistu’ or silbote handi) in the low range².

In 2014, the association Silboberri Elkartea presented the new txistu baxu (bass/lower txistu) in a concert in Durango; it is an octave lower than the standard one³.

Danbolinteroa (Pipe and tabor player)

Single-handed flutes with mouthpiece have another characteristic: as they are played with only one hand, the other (usually the right) is free to play a second instrument. This is also the case in most of the traditions that use this type of flute: the flute is usually accompanied by an instrument from the drum family (struck membranophones), but string drums and other instruments have also been used, mainly idiophones.

In the Basque Country, txistularis have manly used a membranophone, called ttunttun (wooden soundbox with strings [usually six] played with a drumstick) or tamboril (tabor), while xirularis used a string drum or salterio (psalter), also called ttunttun. There are also testimonies on the use of string drums in the southern Basque Country⁴, as well as castanets and other instruments, and since they have been accompanied by a tabor (atabal) it is quite common to see both flutes -the txistu and the xirula- being played without the ttunttun. Since polyphonic groups consisting of two txistus and an atabal or two txistus, silbote and atabal have become common since the 18^th century, it is more likely that whoever plays the second and third voices does not have an accompanying instrument.

The ttunttunes, of one type or another, are different instruments. Information on them can be found in other entries in this encyclopaedia. When we refer to three-hole flutes, however, and the fact that the performers play two instruments at the same time, it is impossible to define them properly without mentioning this point from the start.

Indeed, the tamboril and the txistu have often been considered a single instrument, just like the ttunttun and the xirula. So, the term txistulari that we use to designate these musicians has been applied relatively recently. The words tamboril and ttunttun or their musicians (tamborilero and ttunttunero) have been more frequent, both to the percussion instruments that mark the beat and to denominate -by metonymy- the musicians or performers that play them. Tamboril, ttunttun, tamborilero or ttunttunero are, therefore, words that are used, among other things, to people who play the three-hole flute and the tabor and, sometimes, the whole group of musicians⁵.

As well as these denominations, many variants have been used to designate these flutes, depending on the region and the era. In Humboldt’s texts from 1801, these flutes were called txilibituba in Basque and silbo in Spanish⁶. In contrast, in a book published in 1824 Juan Ignacio Iztueta uses the term danbolin to refer to the players of the two instruments, and when he wishes to differentiate them he uses the term txilibitu to speak of the flute and arratz to talk about the tabor⁷. Txuntxunero, txulubitari and txistu-jole are other s that have lasted to the present day to txistularis, together with xirulari, txirulari, txülülari or xirula jole, s from Zuberoa in the northern Basque Country. In the southern Basque Country, at least the 17^th and 20^th centuries, juglar (literally, ‘minstrel’) is clearly the most common in Spanish documents to talk of the txistulari (txistu player) or tamborilero (txistu and tabor player). In the lists of contracts with musicians for the festivity of San Fermín in Pamplona, for example, up to 1874 flute and tabor players were called juglares, and a more common word appears later -txuntxunero-, especially in the 20^th century.

THE TXISTU

Denominations

Although the most common for this three-hole flute is the txistu, it is apparently quite a recent term. Until the 19^th century there are no testimonies that indicate it was known under this . It seems to appear in some texts in Spanish in that century⁸, however. In Basque literature, the word txistu started to be used as such in the 1880s⁹, and its use spread quickly. In 1909 it appeared for the first time in the conditions for the competitive public examination to join the band of txistularis of Vitoria-Gasteiz. In contrast, the first reference in Donostia-San Sebastian was the one appointing Isidro Ansorena as “the first txistulari of our band of minstrels”¹⁰ in 1922. The txistularis' association set up in 1927 took on the official of Asociación de Txistularis del País Vasco, and the magazine it started to publish in 1928 was called Txistulari.

However, according to the references available up to the end of the 19^th century, it seems that the most commonly used terms were danbolin, ttunttun and their derivatives, or their equivalents in Spanish. We also see txilibitu and its derivative txulubita as s for the standard three-hole flute, although there are few examples. According to Sánchez Ekiza¹¹, the changes that occurred in the 18^th century would have an influence on the consideration that musicians had of themselves and their instruments. This led them, among other things, to differentiate the voices silbo 1º and silbo 2º, which could be a consequence of starting to play in groups of two or three voices and compose music. It could be thought that the new meaning of txistu came from the Spanish term silbo, as Iztueta mentioned that some of the tabor players in the 18^th and 19^th centuries preferred to highlight their status as ‘musicians’, giving priority to the flute over the tabor.

Scope

The txistu is surely the most extensively used instrument in the history of Basque popular music. An example is a list presented by Jesús Ramos, where around one thousand musicians who attended the festivities in Pamplona in the 18^th century appear¹²: most of them were txistularis from different Basque regions (mainly Gipuzkoa and Navarre).

Nowadays, there are txistularis in almost all the territories and regions of the Basque Country (except in Zuberoa, where there are xirularis). There is no up-to-date census of txistularis, although bearing in mind that the Association of Txistularis of the Basque Country (Euskal Herriko Txistulari Elkartea) has around 1,000 members and that many txistularis are not members of the association, we can say that there are thousands of txistularis in the Basque Country.

Construction and way of playing

All the variants of the txistu and the xirula have a similar structure. It is a straight three-hole flute played with one hand and has the holes in the lower part of the tube, two in front and one behind. At the top of the tube, when the player blows into the small nozzle an air current is sent to the sharp edge, enters into contact with it and makes the air inside the tube vibrate.

Although the tube of the txistu seems conical on the outside, it is cylindrical on the inside, as is the case of other common flutes.

The notes are created by fingering on the three holes, based on the range of harmonics provided by the tube. To complete the scale of the txistu, the first or basic harmonic (first record) is not usually used. As a result, and starting from the second harmonic, the third is created at just one fifth’s distance and, on the diatonic scale, the fingering of three holes is sufficient to give the four notes needed to complete the interval: you get the first note by covering all of them; by opening one, the second; opening two, the third, and opening all of them, the fourth. The fifth, however, is created by covering all the holes and changing the register, activating the third harmonic. As well as these complex positions, txistularis also obtain chromatic scales, covering or uncovering half of the holes, or covering the lower end of the tube with the little finger as required. In this way, the txistu can complete a diatonic and chromatic scale of two octaves.

Furthermore, while interpreting melodies with the txistu on one hand, the txistulari can create bases and rhythmical movements on the tabor hanging from his/her arm.

The tube of the txistu is usually made of wood, and according to the documentation that was always the case in the past. It seems that the most valued and common variety of local wood for making txistus has been box. However, this wood does not resist the passage of time very well and few ancient txistus have been conserved. This makes it very difficult to know, among other things, what kind of materials have been used to make them. In the 19^th century the use of ebony and African blackwood spread, hence the black colour we know today. Since the end of the 20^th century plastics have also been used, and metal txistus have also been produced.

The wooden tube is protected and decorated with metal rings. The mouthpiece and the covering of the mouthpiece tip are also made of metal. At the two ends it has wider strengthening rings and a ring attached to the metal reinforcement of the lower end. This serves to introduce the ring finger and to hold the instrument in position.

As well as wooden txistus, some made of bone have been found in the Basque Country. Mariano Barrenetxea compiled some very interesting information on the use of the bone txistu in Gorbeialdea:

“María Jesús Ingunza, a 90-year-old lady from the Baltzola de Dima neighbourhood, ed us a wooden txistu similar to the xirula, telling us that they had one completely made of bone in the past. She also said that the basket maker from the neighbourhood of Ziarrusta played a bone txistu similar to hers. […]

Eighty-year-old Leandro Lejarda from the Lexarda farmhouse in the Uribe neighbourhood, told us that Antonio Etxeberria, from the Zuloa farmhouse in Uribe, had two bone txistus (shorter than the present ones) and he sometimes played them both at the same time, making the first and the second voice:

"Txistu bi batera yoten zituen. Altue eta bajue eiteuen. Azurrezko txistuek ziren, baia gaurkoak baño arean laburtxoagoak. Ez dakit iru zulo edo, baia iru zulokoak ixango ziren, ze gaurkoen antzera yoten zituen" […]

The albokari J. M. Bilbao de Arratia (born in 1886) also told us that he had met a shepherd from Ubidia who said: “Saien isterreko kañadeagaz einde egoan azurrezko txistu ori, iru zulokoa zan, gaurko txistuen antzekoa; da polito yoteuen". […]

In 1959 J. Cruz Balda, from the village of Ezkurra in Navarre, told us that they had a bone txistu at home”.

(Barrenetxea, 1984, pp. 21-22)

Groups

Throughout history, the txistulari has tended to play on his/her own. Indeed, the biggest advantage of playing two instruments at the same time is probably that a solo musician makes up what has been called an orquesta mínima. However, and based on iconography from the 13^th century, txistularis or tamboriles have had a tendency -and the ability- to form groups with other musicians. Here are some of the group formats:

1. One player

1.1. Txistu and tabor

1.2. Txistu and ttunttun

1.3. Txistu and castanets

2. Two or more players

2.1. Txistu-tabor and tambourine

2.2. Txistu-tabor and atabal (another variety of tabor)

2.3. Two txistus and tabors (two voices)

2.4. Two txistus and tabors, and atabal

2.5. Txistu-tabor and rebec

2.6. Txistu-tabor and bagpipe

2.7. Two txistus and tabors (first and second voice), silbote (large txisu) and atabal.

This quartet, from the late 18^th century, is often called banda tradicional de txistularis¹³. It became very popular in the early 20^th century, often as an official group, and this is still the case today. In the southern Basque Country, most large municipal councils and deputations have had an official band of this type throughout the 20^th century, and most of the repertoire of txistularis has been composed and adapted for this kind of group. The concerts and music of the alardes (parades that celebrate a historic event, usually military) or large groups of txistularis are also based on the harmonic and musical functions of the traditional band of txistularis, or at least most of them.Bi txistu-danbolin (lehenengo ahotsa eta bigarrena), silbote edo txistu handia eta atabala.

HISTORy

Although there is considerable documentation on the history of this instrument there are major fluctuations at different periods in history. In many texts you can read that one of the instruments made of bone found in the cave at Isturits was a txilibitu (or prehistoric txistu), although it is difficult to consider this hypothesis as valid based on the knowledge available to us now. In 1921, the French researcher Emmanuel Passemard discovered some palaeolithic instruments in a cave at Laminazilo, including a piece of an instrument with three holes made from bone. Many have considered this instrument as the oldest txistu known (it could be 25,000 years old), although the bone is broken above the third hole and this is the only part that has been conserved. Therefore, it is not possible to know whether it was an instrument with three holes or more, nor whether it was a flute, as the mouthpiece was missing.

Up to the 16^th century, the documentation on straight single-handed flutes is very slight. The main source of information from previous centuries is iconography (images of altarpieces, statues, monuments and paintings), and hardly any musician of these characteristics appears in these until the 13^th century, neither in the Basque Country nor anywhere else¹⁴. In Europe, a miniature of the Cantigas de Santa María (Code of Alfonso X ‘the Wise’ of Castile) from the late 12^th century is considered the oldest image of its type by the experts. According to Father H. Olazarán, the oldest in the Basque Country is the small image seen on the frieze on the main façade of the Monastery of La Oliva in Carcastillo (Navarre)¹⁵.

We have very little evidence from the 14^th and 15^th centuries. There are mentions of ‘minstrels’ that the Monarchs of Navarre had in the Royal Court, although it is not always very clear that they are referring to tamborileros (txistu and tabor players). The doubts disappear when terms such as tamborín and juglar de tamborín appear in the 15^th century. For example, in 1413 there is a mention of “Bernart Dupont, juglar de tamborino” in the court of Carlos III¹⁶, or Johan Romeo and Johan de la Mota in the court of the Prince of Viana¹⁷.

s of this kind also started to appear outside the Court: compiled from the mediaeval records of Pamplona. Father Donostia makes a reference to “Bernat d’Oyon, Martín de Artajo from Lumbier and a certain Samuel, who seems Israeli from his ”¹⁸,and from documents in Tudela he found that on the Day of Corpus Christi in 1480 “Juan de Valero, tamborín” played in the procession, and that there were two tamborines on the following day.

From the 16^th century onwards references to these flute and tambor players started to appear with one or another throughout the Basque Country: in Tafalla from 1507, in Azpeitia from 1515, in Markina from 1519, in Hernani from 1531, in Balmaseda from 1549, in Portugalete from 1552, in Elgoibar from 1558, in Bilbao from 1560, in Lekeitio from 1571, etc.

All this indicates that, at least from the 13^th century onwards, the tamborilero and his music were deeply rooted in popular culture. This pair of instruments, widespread in almost all of Europe during the Renaissance, apparently lost ground from the 14th century onwards. It was maintained in other places (galoubet and tambourin in Provence; pipe and tabour in England; gaita and tamboril in León-Extremadura; flabiol i tamborí in Catalonia; etc.), although it took other directions in the Basque Country and, together with the image of the popular musician, the figure of the well-educated tamborilero of the official institutions was created.

Despite these ups and down, the txistulari appears as very closely linked to the society around him until the mid-20^th century. He participated in the life of the municipality with his music, in activities related to the world of work, festivities, dances, celebrations, etc. Father Donostia quotes many examples¹⁹:

-In coastal towns, the txistulari announced the arrival of whales to the local fishermen with his instrument.

-In Oiartzun, in 1749 the txistularis helped to encourage the workers building the town’s frontón (Basque pelota court) with their music.

-In Lekeitio there was a nine-month-long epidemic in 1573, so they contracted a txistulari to help the local people overcome their pain, sadness and worries.

-In weddings, the txistulari presided the procession in which the newly-weds carried the trousseau to the house where they would live: “In 1823 a French traveller said he had come across a procession that was going to a wedding, carrying a chirola and a drum; a calf that would later be sacrificed for the nuptial meal went ahead of them adorned with tapes and ribbons”.

-In the 18^th century in Baztan, a txistulari played for the townspeople when the Mayor reviewed the arms parade.

There are many examples we could quote that give us an idea of the social functions txistularis have carried out over the centuries, All of these, however, are based on data we have at present; the main function of these musicians has been to play music for people to dance to. Although other kinds of melodies are found in the repertoire of txistularis, the most common are music for dancing, popular pilgrimages, dances in town squares, ritual dances…

However, it has not always been plain sailing for the txistularis. Throughout history they have suffered prohibitions and sanctions imposed on them by the legal authorities and the Church. These prohibitions and sanctions were usually associated with dancing and festivities; the ‘official morality’ of each era has affected these musicians to the full. We will turn to Father Donostia again for some examples:

“Nowadays, the social status of the tamborilero is similar to that of any other good person, and it he is respected by everyone.” That was not always the case, however.

There was a note in El Guipuzcoano Instruido (San Sebastian, 1780, p. 91) saying: “Honorary officials. Ordinance, ing the Governing Board of the Council that no tamborilero who is presently one, or has been salaried before, should ever be admitted in any of the Republics as an active or passive voice in its elections, nor any drummer, butcher or town crier, not only of those who exercise such posts at the time of elections but also those who had been in the post in any previous period” (from 1760).

In Balmaseda they used to spend large sums of money to pay the atabalero (tabor player) because they had to bring them in from elsewhere “because the local people, considering it a low trade and opposed to the nobility of Biscay, did not want to do it” (Martin de los Heros. Historia de Valmaseda).

The author of the book Respuesta Satisfactoria says this when referring to the tamborilero: “… indeed, who is this [person] to merit respect or make someone observe the law? To start, he is the lowest of the low…” (“Satisfactory answer of the College of Missionaries of N. P. San Francisco of the noble town of Zarauz / to the printed question and verdicts…”, by Reverend Father Francisco Antonio de Palacios. Pamplona, 1791, p. 21).

This low esteem in which the tamborilero was held was extended to his family members. For example, we know that Comm was once refused to the son of a tamborilero. For a tamborilero who did not want to leave his trade or, even worse, destroy his instruments so as not to leave the slightest doubt as to his desire to give it up, there were censors and confessors who refused him absolution and did not allow him to celebrate Easter, for example. Some of these confessors demanded that the instruments be burned. We know this from a survey made in 1820 by Father Ignacio de Aldecoa, a member of the Franciscan monastery of Zarautz. The problem having been transferred to Pamplona, Don Juan José Fernández repealed the resolution, imposing the usual doctrine that gave legitimacy to the trade (unpublished).

This low esteem for the tamborilero is backed up by the fact that agotes (people separated from the townsfolk and scorned) could be tamborileros, although they were forbidden to dance and play with their fellow citizens. (See Florencio Idoate, “Agotes en los valles de Roncal y Baztán”, Rev. Príncipe de Viana, vol. IX, 1948, Pamplona, p. 402).”

(Donostia, 1952, p. 65)

Continuing with the writings of Father Donostia, in the trial of witches by the Holy Inquisition held in Hondarribia in 1611 an informer called Isabel de Arano said she had seen “Inesa de Gaxen, a Frenchwoman who was the wife of Pedro de Sanza, playing a tambolin”. According to the documents of the inquisitor Pierre de Lancre, music with txistus, tabors, psalters or violins was widespread in witches’ covens, and this is the first known reference to a female tamborilera as part of a witch-hunt. We do not know exactly why she was accused and why they acted against her, probably because women were forbidden from playing the txistu and the tabor, or because playing them was a sin, or for both reasons.

In any case, it was not all rejection, prohibition and punishment. As Carmen Rodríguez Suso points out: “Father Palacios, who was generally against dancing, defined an initial difference tamborileros in 1791 by saying that ‘if their trade were reduced to playing reveilles at dawn or accompanying Lady Justice, that is fine; but music for dancing, and dancing of that kind, cannot be permitted’”²⁰. The fame of txistularis or tamborileros varied depending on the functions they carried out. Rodríguez Suso differentiates three types of tamborileros: first, the self-employed tamborilero, who mainly played in dances and private festivities. He could be contracted in one place or another for a specific festivity and was generally seen with misgivings by the civil and religious authorities. Second, the ‘ordinary’ tamborilero, of lower status, who offered his services to play in popular pilgrimages, weddings and celebrations, taverns…; poor and peripatetic, he was usually considered dangerous by the authorities. Third, the salaried tamborilero, the elite of the trade, mainly contracted by the civil authorities. His connections with them and a daily wage gave him stability, a better reputation and other advantages, including easier access to new repertoires by being able to create relationships with musicians of higher social standing.

By the 16^th century salaried tamborileros were quite common in many places, and in the 18^th century many of them had regular contracts; in the following centuries the figure of the municipal tamborilero was created.

Furthermore, the 18^th century was the era of the Enlightenment, an intellectual and cultural movement that had a big impact on the Basque Country and led to the creation of the Real Sociedad Bascongada de Amigos del País. Without breaking the separation the common people and the aristocracy, enlightened approaches were oriented towards popular culture and renewed the relationship through the prevailing passion for pedagogy. It is well-known that great importance was given to music, and the Real Seminario de Bergara paid special attention to dantzaris and txistularis²¹. Xabier Maria Munibe, Count of Peñaflorida, taught the tamborilero of Azkoitia to play the zortzikos and contra dances composed by him (Xabier Maria Munibe can be considered the first known composer of pieces for the txistu)²². The figure of Baltasar Manteli, a tamborilero from Vitoria, also appears very closely linked to the Sociedad Bascongada de Amigos del País. In the words of Father Donostia, Manteli could play variations on the theme Oh cara armonia from Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute by playing two txistus at the same time.

The txistularis, thanks to enlightened patrons, started to educate themselves and learn new techniques and repertoires, so we can even talk of virtuosity among the new elites of the 18^th century. Jose Ignazio Ansorena also mentions another variable²³ that could have had an impact on the promotion of the txistu by enlightened people in the Basque Country. At that time, in which the music of the tamborileros was on the point of disappearing in several places in Europe, it became well-known among the French aristocracy at the end of the 16^th century. Composers close to the Court sought sources of inspiration in the flute-tabor players from Provence and Occitania, and ended up creating a musical genre called tambourin. That would undoubtedly have an influence on the improved reputation of the musicians, and it likely that this had something to do with the attitude n by enlightened Basques towards the txistu, as they had always looked to France until then.

In the 18^th century, therefore, there was a minor revolution among the tamborileros: the salaried tamborilero, as well as being the municipal txistulari, was becoming an educated one. They started to play in two voices (which surely influenced the way they played the instruments) and towards the end of the century the third voice (the silbote) started to appear. They also extended the new repertoires with fashionable contra dances, contra passes and fashionable minuets, waltzes and zortzikos. In the 19^th century, the criticisms and condemnations of Iztueta of these tamborileros in his defence of ancient dances and traditions are well-known and significant:

Dambolin oec beren eguinquizun gucietan, emandiote, jaiot errico soñu gogoangarriac urruñaturic, erbesteetako naspillatuac jotceari. / Alboradac ematera dijoatcenean, ixil ixilic aurqueztuco dirade eche atarian: non asico duten Inglaterraco minue, edo mindue, eta bucatuko dute, Franciako balsaquin edo atsaquin. Oec, eta oquerreco dantza Turquiacoen soñuac dirade, oraingo damboliñac darabiltzatenac gora ta bera, atcera ta aurrera, cearca ta saiesca, zuzenca ta oquerca, amilca ta cilipurdica, eta norc daqui nola?.

(Iztueta, 1968, p. 110)

Esku dantza in the Plaza de los Fueros in Deba, around 1930. (Photo: EHTE)

The 19^th century was a confusing and complex time in the southern Basque Country, First, the phenomenon of ‘Frenchification’ and second, two Carlist Wars, the result being political and economic chaos. The tamborileros also suffered the consequences. While the war lasted (1808-1813) the festivity of San Fermín was not held in Pamplona, and only one bugle player was left in the city in 1813 to play the vespers²⁴ after the French surrendered. In Donostia-San Sebastian, the well-known tamborilero Pedro Latierro, a contemporary of Iztueta, said he was in favour of the constitutionalists (liberals) and when the monarchists assumed power in 1820 he was removed from his post for six years²⁵. The prohibitions for religious and moral reasons that already existed were joined by others of a political nature. In 1873 the recently-created municipal band of tamborileros in Vitoria-Gasteiz was disbanded (although it was reinstated three years later), and a councillor justified the measure as follows: “It is an inconceivable anachronism, they are public servants who do not contribute anything positive or entertaining and these decrepit reminiscences of absolutism are costly and even ridiculous in times of freedom.”²⁶

Among many ups and downs, however, the activity of the tamborileros saw a strong surge in the 19^th century. In 1816, with the festivity of San Fermín once again under way, eleven ‘minstrels’ played in Pamplona’s alongside five violinists and five dulzaina players. Orduña had a tamborilero who was a public employee from 1820, and Markina from 1828. Portugalete hired a second tamborilero in 1846, while Hernani contracted a silbo segundo in 1850 to form a band alongside the atabalero and the first txistu²⁷. As mentioned earlier, the first permanent contract was offered to tamborileros in Vitoria-Gasteiz in 1843, and after a break of three years they had a stable band of txistularis from 1873 onwards. Portugalete also hired a second tamborilero in 1846, followed by Beasain with two in 1866…

Txistularis from Villabona in 1910: the brothers Felipe, Bonifacio, Patxi and Basilio Laskurain Olano. (Photo: EHTE)

The txistularis of Irun in a municipal procession, around 1930: Máximo and Simón Zubeldia with txistu and tabor, and Paulino Berges with the tabor. (Photo: EHTE)

By the end of the 19^th century the process of institutionalization and instruction that started in the previous century had been consolidated, and the tamborileros had become txistularis. That era saw the arrival of well-known players: Pedro Latierro and Ignacio Ansola (the first of the Ansola dynasty) from Azpeitia, Antonio Gomendio from Portugalete, Francisco María Arzuaga ‘Txango’ (the txistulari of Bilbao) from Tolosa, José Miguel Jaurena from Gaztelu, Teodoro Erauskin, Fernando, Ignazio and Manuel Ansorena from Hernani, Eusebio Basurko from Mutriko, Romualdo Gotxikoa from Legutiano and many others, although special mention should be made of Manuel and Joxe Angel Dorremotz, a father and son from Almandoz, or Javier Etxeberria from Ezquíroz²⁸, as well as the institutional txistularis. This list highlights the long list of ttunttuneros who continued to enliven the dances and festivities of towns and villages with their music.

Javier Etxeberria, the ttunttunero from Ezquiroz. (Photo: EHTE)

Things evolved in the northern Basque Country in the 19^th century in an attempt to counteract the decline that Basque culture was suffering. Thanks to the efforts of Anton Abadia, they started to organise floral games in Urrugne in 1851 for celebrations that involved poetry competitions and pelota tournts. In 1879, the Asociación Euskara de Navarra, presided by Arturo Campión, got together with Anton Abadia so that the Floral Games could cross the border; they were held for the first time in the southern Basque country in Elizondo. A new section was added to the celebrations in those Floral Games in Elizondo at the of Arturo Campión: competitions involving popular musicians²⁹. Four tamborileros took part in that first competition, and the winner was Manuel Maltxo from Santesteban. From that moment onwards Floral Games also flourished in the southern Basque Country and became part of the programme of competitions involving txistularis or tamborileros. In 1881 they were held in Irun; in 1882 in Bilbao; in 1892 in San Sebastian; in 1896 in Arrasate (Mondragón); in 1899 in Aramaio; in 1901 in Azpeitia; in 1902 in Oñati… and many of them were also held in the 20th century under the of Euskal Jai or Fiestas Euskaras.

In the early 20^th century, the new Basque nationalism —as well as socialism— expanded rapidly in the southern Basque Country, especially in Álava, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, and it had a profound impact on txistularis from then on. In many cases, and from radically opposed political perspectives, the image of the txistulari was used as a symbol by people close to the Asociación Euskara de Navarra, by the nationalists themselves and by Spanish traditionalists (especially following the successes of Carlism), and also by the socialists on occasions, but to a lesser extent. Getting involved in political confrontation would bring serious problems for the txistu, but it also stimulated major initiatives that ended up being essential for the txistularis to reach the 21^st century revitalised. In 1918, the recently created Eusko Ikaskuntza (Society of Basque Studies), drew the following conclusion about popular music in its 1^st Congress:

6’gna. Baseŕitaren aŕtean gasterik asko dago txilibitua joten, erosteko ba’leuko, pozik ikasiko leukena. Duin diran gasteai txilibitua emon egin beaŕ litzakioe. Askotan oŕetariko gasteen batek eŕi aldien baten bere txilibituaz dantza-eraen bateri eutsen leyo ta beaŕ ba’da galtzen itxi ez. Aldundien lepotik emon beaŕ litzakez txilibituok.

(Dueñas, 2018)

Among many other problems, it appears that there were not many manufacturers of the txistu at that time, although the members of Eusko Ikaskuntza got it right when they went to the Ixkibo farmhouse in Arantza, and in 1919 they received the first collection of txistus from there: 8 boxwood instruments made by José Miguel Biurrunarena. Biurrunarea, Isidro Ansorena and above all Teodoro Larralde (who was also from Arantza) made hundreds of txistus for Eusko Ikaskuntza 1919 and 1936. The Association distributed them all over the Basque Country with the aim of revitalising the activity of the txistularis³⁰.

First general assembly of Euskal Herriko Txistulari Elkartea. Arrate, 20/09/1927. (Photo: EHTE)

In 1926 and 1927 a number of txistularis along the estuary of Bilbao got together to create an Association that would later extend to the whole of the Basque Country; its first promoter was Sandalio Tejada. They met every week in the El Perro bar in Bilbao with the idea of making contact with txistularis from all over the Basque Country: from Bilbao, Manuel and Joaquín Landaluze; Martín Elola from Begoña; Demetrio Garaizabal from Sestao; Luis López de Bergara from Portugalete; Segundo Atxurra from Algorta, Benito and Daniel Albeniz from Las Arenas… and Tejada himself. The Euskal Herriko Txistulari Elkartea was constituted on 20 September 1927 in its first assembly and celebration held in Arrate, attended by more than 100 txistularis. They appointed Eduardo Gorosarri as the first President of the Association and approved its initial statutes, setting up delegations in all the territories except the northern Basque Country.

In those statutes, article 2 summarised the objectives of the Association and also expressed the concerns and the main problems of txistularis at the time:

“Art. 2º The aims of the Association are artistic progress and the economic defence of txistularis in general by all means considered suitable, including the following: / Artistic progress: a) through the enrichment of the repertoire for the chistu; b) through advertising the practice of the chistu by creating classes to teach it: and c) through the consolidation of the post of municipal txistulari in all the municipal councils in the country. / The economic defence of chistularis: d) through their protection in cases where the intervention of the Association would be necessary: and through the creation of a Mutual Society for Chistularis.”

(Tejada, 1928)

Among the initiatives of Euskal Herriko Txistulari Elkartea, the first one worthy of mention is Txistulari³¹ magazine. Its first issue appeared in April 1928, not long after the Association was founded. Articles and other documents in the magazine covered themes related to the world of the txistu, and it also offered musical scores in each edition. It continues to be published, and is one of the oldest musical magazines in Spain -if not the oldest- and one of the first in Europe to be dedicated to a popular instrument. It has already published over 10,000 pages in scores alone.

Txistularis in Bilbao on 23 August 1958, entering the Gran Vía with parade music after a concert. (Photo: EHTE)

Parade of txistularis held in Bilbao on 17 August 1957. El Arenal park packed to the seams. (Photo: EHTE)

1928 and 1936 txistularis flourished thanks to the Euskal Herriko Txistulari Elkartea and coinciding with other events: the first methods emerged to learn to play the txistu (by Father Hilario Olazarán and Manuel Landaluze); a number of dance groups were set up, later to become pillars of the history of Basque folklore (Saski-Naski in San Sebastian and Euzko Pizkundea in Bilbao, for example); a number of championships for txistularis were held, as well as composition competitions for the instrument (the first was organised in 1931 by the association). This new way of training musicians became decisive in their musical activity in general, in particular in the alarde de txistularis.

Closing Alarde of the Basque Week in the Plaza de la Constitución in San Sebastian, 13/09/1959. Director: Isidro Ansorena. (Photo: EHTE)

Session of the txistu, alboka and tambourine academy of Bilbao, around 1957-58. On the right, teaching the class, Boni Fernández, one of the promoters of the academy together with Manuel Landaluze. (Photo: EHTE)

They would surely have got together before from time to time, but it seems that the assembly held in Arrate in September 1927 was the first time that so many txistularis played together. First in the pasacalle (parade music) and the procession, and later in the concert given in the portico of the church, around one hundred txistu and tabor players performed the short repertoire prepared by Gorosarri in three voices for the occasion: a solemn piece (alkate soinua) which the author titled Arrate. It consisted of an orripeko, an arin-arin and a pasacalle. According to the chronicles of the time, that meeting was a great success³², and this becomes clear when we see what happened afterwards. In the assemblies held in the following years it became quote common to play concerts and pasacalles in large groups, and some towns and cities soon started to organise this type of event annually, under the of alarde de txistularis.

Father Hilario Olazarán and Isidro Ansorena. (Photo: EHTE)

Txistularis in Pamplona, in the festivity of San Fermín in 1958. Heading the group, Poli Garay. (Photo: EHTE)

Txistularis from Pamplona (front) and Tolosa (back) in ceremonial dress in the procession on the Day of San Fermín. (July 7^th). (Photo: EHTE)

The first official txistu schools were set up at the time; this is the case of the municipal academy of txistu and dance of Donostia-San Sebastian, which was founded in 1929 with Isidro Ansorena as head of teaching the txistu. Groups of txistularis continued to form and consolidate: in 1929, for example, the complete band of txistularis of Bermeo was formed, followed by the band of the Diputación Foral (Territorial Administration) of Álava in 1935. In 1936, the Board of Euskal Herriko Txistulari Elkartea was in Pamplona with María Paz de Ciganda as President. They worked, among other things on creating a municipal group of txistularis and analysed the need to start txistu classes in the city’s Art School. However, those plans were cut short in July that year due to the putsch by the army in Pamplona.

The Civil War and the dictatorship that followed had a major impact on the world of the txistu. Among the txistularis who died we would mention Alejandro Lizaso from Rentería, and of those who had to go into exile, Sandalio Tejada; they are examples of the repression that many txistularis suffered. The txistularis' association was banned immediately and was forced to remain silent for many years. The edict that the new military governor of Estella issued and enforced in September 1936 could be considered a sign of the dark times that were on the horizon. This extract is from the book Navarra 1936. De la esperanza al terror, published in 1986 by Altaffaylla:

“In certain parts of the Basque provinces and in our dear Navarre the txistu and other instruments are used for dancing. In the Basque provinces it is all very well that they should continue with their patriarchal customs; in Estella that is an unknown and exotic plant imported by people whose identity is known to us. The cry of “Gora Euzkadi” is over, these are times of “VIVA ESPAÑA”. Consequently, whoever possesses these instruments must hand them over within 48 hours.”

(Sánchez Ekiza, 2005, pp. 246-247)

During the Civil War there were txistularis on both sides, and it seems that they even played on the battle front, the gudaris (Basque supporters of the Republic) on one side and the nacionales (supporters of General Franco) on the other. Over the next few years the sound of the txistu was not completely silenced in the Basque Country, but like other areas of society and life it suffered a brusque interruption.

However, the war had the occasional unexpected effect regarding the txistu. Many txistularis and dantzaris had to go into exile, and in 1937 the Eresoinka group was created on the initiative of the Basque Government under the direction of Gabriel Olaizola (from a family of txistularis) assisted by Narkis Diez de Ibarrondo, who had left his birthplace, Vitoria-Gasteiz. Narkis soon became one of the main drivers of the group Oldarra and did excellent work to foster the txistu among young people in Lapurdi (part of the northern Basque Country). A few txistularis had previously crossed the River Bidasoa into French territory, and it can be said that the txistu reached the northern Basque Country in 1936. Father Hilario Olazarán taught some young people to play the txistu when he was in Uztaritze, and one of them is considered the first txistulari in Lapurdi: the well-known singer Mixel Labeguerie.

Txistularis in front of the Basque Museum in Bayonne during the city’s festivities, as a prelude to the arrival of the local authorities and their counterparts from Pamplona. 17/07/1966. (Photo: EHTE)

From 1937 to 1955 those txistularis who were able to play continued to do so in the southern Basque Country. In Donostia-San Sebastian, for example, the new leaders set the municipal band of txistularis to work soon after the nationalists occupied the city, bringing back Secundino Martínez de Lecea, who had gone to the front with the Carlist militias. As Evaristo Goñi had gone to fight with the other side they called on his father Martin to take his place. In Pamplona, the municipal band was finally created in 1944, and in 1946 they were once again able to hold an alarde de txistularis in Donostia-San Sebastian.

In 1952 the txistularis obtained a permit to give a concert in Arrate. Coinciding with the 25^th anniversary of the creation of the txistularis' association, they held the first -almost improvised- meeting to get the association going again. In 1927 Tejada and the txistularis in the Bilbao area were the ones who gave the project a push, but on this occasion Isidro Ansorena and the txistularis of San Sebastian took over: Ansorena, Lucas Ganuza, Fernando Vidal, Manuel Galdona… In that political context it was difficult to draw up statutes that the authorities would approve, although they managed to get the Euskal Herriko Txistularien Elkartea association legalised and functioning again in 1955. They appointed Luis Urteaga as President and established a similar structure to the previous one. The renewed association started out with 450 members, and changed its registered address every two years (San Sebastian 1955-156; Bilbao 1957-1958; Vitoria-Gasteiz 1959-1960; Pamplona 1961-1962…). In the assembly held in Bilbao in 1956 the association reached 600 members; in 1960 the figure had risen to 1,460, and by 1969 it was 3,185.

The magazine Txistulari also returned with the association and, despite the difficulties encountered, the activities carried out prior to the Civil War were resumed. The first edition of the txistu band competition was held in Basauri in 1957 and from then on a championship was organised every year, in which we would highlight the children’s txistu championships that started in Zarautz in 1965. The composition competitions started up again in 1961, and the alardes grew quickly: according to information in Txistulari magazine at least five were organised in 1957, ten in 1958 and twenty-two in 1959 (one of them, the first in the festivity of San Fermín in Pamplona), while many others were held in the Bilbao area, particularly along the left bank of the estuary.

As for the educational sphere, what happened in Donostia-San Sebastian is worthy of mention. Until then, Isidro Ansorena had taught his txistu pupils in his home, but in 1950 the City Council officially appointed him as a txistu teacher in the municipal conservatoire³³. As a result, the teaching of a popular instrument made its entry into the range of subjects of a conservatoire for the first time in the Spanish State, and apparently also in western Europe. Later, with the rise of the txistu, schools and academies mushroomed: in 1957 the Txistu Academy of Bilbao was founded and Pamplona created one in 1958. The txistu also entered the conservatoire in Pamplona in 1961, and Bayonne and Vitoria-Gasteiz later followed suit. Isidro Ansorena, Boni Fernández, Polikarpo Garay and Félix Ascasso directed those schools in the main cities of the southern Basque Country, while in Bayonne that task fell to young Iñaki Urtizberea. Txistu schools started to establish themselves in many towns and villages towards the end of the 1960s and in the 1970s, with the main method used in these renovated schools being the new one by Isidro Ansorena: Txistu ots gozoa, nola…?³⁴.

Isidro Ansorena retired in 1962 at the age of 70, but he continued to play the instrument until 1972. He died in 1975, having established the basis for the new era in which the txistu would shine.

The txistu in the 20^th and 21^st centuries

Although it is necessary to consider the entire history of the txistu in order to understand its current situation, we consider the half-century from 1975 to the present day a contemporary era, as the events that occurred in the 1980s are directly related to the current situation.

When Franco’s dictatorship came to an end a period of great political and social change began in the Basque Country. As in the early 20^th century, the txistu was trapped in the middle of that era of change, caught up in debates by supporters of one ideology or another, and it received both praise and scorn because it was used as a symbol. As a consequence of that and many other factors, the growth the txistu had seen in the previous decade started to slow down and stabilise. In the case of Euskal Herriko Txistulari Elkartea, for example, although its membership was healthy (around 2,000 in the 1980s), the number later fell to more realistic levels and it was soon forced to find new ways of functioning. In 1982 it set up an office in Donostia-San Sebastian but moved to Rentería in 1988.

In 1968, when the Municipal Band of Txistularis of San Sebastian was heading for the Basilica of Santa María together with boys and girls who had just received their First Comm (apparently, the Day of Corpus Christi). From left to right: Javier Hernández, Fernando Bergara, José Antonio Altuna and Ramón Andueza. (Photo: EHTE)

There was a general fall off in many areas, especially in popular music. Since the early 20^th century accordions and municipal bands started occupying the place previously held by tamborileros in festivities and CDs and new amplifier s accentuated that decline by the end of the century. In some places the txistu maintained its traditional function linked to dancing, but in ever fewer locations, and the figure of the popular tamborilero almost disappeared in the 20^th century. Anjel Alduntzin in Leitza, Maurizio Elizalde in Baztan, Miguel Makuso in Malerreka… for many people, the last generation of popular tamborileros disappeared with them. At the other extreme, many municipal bands of txistularis also disappeared, and nowadays there are not many more than the four main cities of the southern Basque Country plus those of the Territorial Administration of Álava and the towns of Barakaldo, Tolosa and Errenteria.

In contrast, in the larger towns and cities the activity of the txistularis has continued successfully: in alardes, schools, dance groups and -above all- in local groups of txistularis that started to proliferate in the 1970s (many of them had their origins in dance groups). These are some of those groups: Lartaun (founded in Oiartzun 1961 and 1964), Ereintza (Errenteria, 1963), Ibai-Lorak (Zalla, 1965), Antxinako Ama (Zumarraga, 1967), Txistularis de Burlada (1969), Oberena (Pamplona, 1971), Olagain (Andoain, 1979), Danbolin (Basauri, 1985), Goiz-Deia (Legazpi, 1998), Jarraitzen Dugu (Muskiz, 1998), Jaizale (Durangaldea, 2005), Txirriskla (Astigarraga, 2006), Orai Bat eta Jo Txistua (Bayonne), Getxa Goi (Urduña), Txalkor (Azkoitia), Lankaietako Lagunak (Laudio), Txola (Sangüesa)… On many occasions, these groups took on the functions previously carried out by popular and municipal txistularis. Nowadays, these musicians still direct the dances, play the reveille during festivities or organise concerts and alardes in many towns and villages. In smaller towns or villages, although the figure of the tamborilero may have disappeared, it has sometimes been possible to maintain the presence of the txistu by organising at the valley level or forming smaller groups. In some cases the figure of the solo txistu player (or accompanied by a tabor player) has survived, for example the Larralde brothers in Baztan or Mintxo Garaikoetxea, who has visited a number of towns and villages in Navarre for years.

The Municipal Band of Txistularis of Vitoria-Gasteiz around 1990, together with horn players. (Photo: EHTE)

As well as the work of the groups of txistularis and the Association, the pillar of the situation that the txistu currently enjoys is the academic world. In this respect, the school of Donostia-San Sebastian was the starting point. Following the retirement of Isidro Ansorena, the direction of the Municipal Band of Txistularis of the city fell to Javier Hernández Arsuaga. In 1971 he presented the Grupo Experimental de Txistu with help from Maestro Francisco Escudero. That group, made up of municipal txistularis of San Sebastian and students from the city’s Conservatoire, started to explore and work on new repertoires and instruments³⁵. One of the members of that group was Jose Ignazio Ansorena, Isidro’s nephew, and around 1978 he took on the direction of the band of txistularis of Donostia-San Sebastian, as well as the txistu classes in the Conservatoire. By 1985 major changes had been made: on one hand, they established middle and higher grade txistu studies in the Municipal Conservatoire. Jose Ignazio Ansorena himself was the first to obtain the title of txistu teacher.

Municipal Band of Txistularis of San Sebastian in the 2^nd ‘Isidro Ansorena’ Competition of Txistulari Bands, in 1979. From left to right: Jose Ignazio Ansorena, José Antonio Altuna, Olegario Izagirre and Agustín Laskurain. (Photo: EHTE)

As a consequence of the above —or the needs it involved— they created, adapted or promoted new methods and repertoires for the txistu³⁶. They then explored the manufacture of txistus and the most significant consequence —more than the creation of the bass txistu and the txilibitu— was that they brought the dimensions of the txistu closer to current tuning standards. Under the direction of Ansorena, the manufacturer Jesús Segurola from Zumarraga presented a txistu in 1980 that could be played in the keys of F and F#, cutting the txistu in half and changing the part where the hand played. In particular, the txistus in F made it easier to play them alongside other instruments, and their use spread quickly.

Txistu handi (bass txistu) and Silbote handi (large txistu) made by Martín Rodríguez Miranda for the Grupo Experimental de Txistu (around 1974). (Photo: EHTE)

At that time major changes also took place in the band of txistularis: it was made up of four members (Jose Ignazio Ansorena, Joxan Altuna, Olegario Izagirre and Agustín Laskurain), and in 1982 they increased the number to eight. The young players Kepa de Miguel, Juantxo Vega, Juan Ramón López de Ullibarri and Javier Lera joined to create a new band with two first voices, two second voices, two silbotes and two tabors. This led to a change in the sound of the band, and the San Sebastian school was strengthened in the process.

In just a few years, txistularis from all over the Basque Country started to attend classes in the Conservatoire of San Sebastian, and they soon set up new methods and instruments in the middle grade conservatoires in the main cities.

General view of the concert to commemorate the 60^th anniversary of the bombing of Gernika. Under the direction of Juanjo Ocón, the txistularis of the Basque Country performed alongside brass and percussion instruments and eight choirs. Gernika, 26/04/1997. (Photo: EHTE)

The best-known example of the changes and advances that were taking place in the repertoire was, in all probability, the first work composed for txistu and symphony orchestra, the Concierto para txistu y orquesta by Tomás Aragüés; it was premiered in 1984.

In May 2002, Jose Ignazio Ansorena and the Symphony Orchestra of Euskadi played the Concierto para Txistu y Orquesta by Tomás Aragüés. In the photo, Ansorena dedicates Aragüés’ score to the audience. (Photo: EHTE)

Jose Ignazio Ansorena left the Conservatoire of Donostia-San Sebastian in the 1990s to dedicate himself full-time to the municipal band of txistularis (among many other occupations), but by then the seed sown by the school of Donostia-San Sebastian started to bear fruit and the txistularis continued to work in this direction until the second decade of the 21^st century.

In 2001, the Basque Government merged the three higher conservatoires (Donostia-San Sebastian, Bilbao and Vitoria-Gasteiz) into one and set up Musikene; since then, Aitor Amilibia has been the txistu teacher there. He had previously worked in the ‘Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga’ conservatoire in Bilbao, and since 1998 has been behind the Silboberri Association (initially called Berziztu), doing valuable work in the creation and dissemination of the contemporary txistu repertoire.

All these changes have also affected concerts and performances as well as txistu schools. More than increasing the number of alardes and mass concerts, they have been refined, adapting repertoires, working on the tuning of the instruments and, above, exploring the possibility of playing alongside other instruments. Nowadays it is quite common to see concerts with choir, organ, piano, brass quartet, marimba and other instruments and groups. Garikoitz Mendizabal, for example, continues to extend the repertoire for txistu and orchestra in his latest double CD, recorded in 2021 with the Symphony Orchestra of Euskadi.

40^th Concert of the Txistularis of Donostia-San Sebastian. 12/08/2017. (Photo: EHTE)

THE XIRULA

NAMES AND EXTENSION

The terms xirula, txirula and txülüla are used to this instrument. It is played in the north-eastern Basque Country, mainly in Zuberoa, where there are no festivities or dances without it. It was also used in Lower Navarre and in Lapurdi, in days gone by. In the 20^th century its use extended to the southern Basque Country, especially for dance groups, but exclusively linked to dances from Soule with a limited presence, as it continues to be quite an unknown instrument in that area. Indeed, the custom of calling any kind of flute a txirula has become very widespread (especially straight two-handed flutes), which indicates the general lack of knowledge about the instrument. To avoid confusion, we use the term xirula here for this instrument.

We call the musician who plays the xirula xirulari, txirulari or txülülari, even if s/he plays the xirula and the ttunttun. In France, they used the word tambourin, at least until the 19^th century, and equivalents in Basque would be tanborina, tanburina and danburia. This last variant appears in the Dictionnaire basque-français of Willem J. van Eys, but its definition does not mention the musician, it simply offers a description of the instrument. A similar situation occurs with the tabor, with a metonymy the denominations of the instrumentalist and the instrument.

EXECUTION AND PLAYING TECHNIQUE

The xirula, like the txistu, is a straight three-hole flute. The three holes are on the bottom side of the tube, two in front and one behind. It is shorter than the txistu and makes a higher-pitched sound, three and a half tones higher (in the key of C, approximately). This high-pitched tuning gives it a singular nature and great vitality. Furthermore, you can often hear two harmonics at the same time in a note, and its sound can be heard over the other instruments.

It also has differences of appearance and manufacture in comparison with the txistu. Apparently, the xirula has undergone very little change or evolution over time. It is made of boxwood in one piece (except the mouthpiece part). Sometimes the top and bottom ends are reinforced with leather, as they are the parts most likely to break due to a knock.

The xirula is played with just one hand (usually the left), while the other normally plays the ttunttun, which is different to the atabal (tabor) of the southern Basque Country. It is a struck cordophone, which is also classified among psalters or string drums, and is held against the body with the same arm as the one used to play the xirula. In this way, a single player can produce the melody, the background pedal note and the rhythm. With the usual fingering (covering and uncovering the holes completely, without using the hole on the lower end of the tube), a diatonic scale of up to twelve notes is obtained.

GROUPING

By the mid-20^th century the use of the ttunttun had been largely forgotten in Zuberoa and the most common group format was the xirulari playing the xirula and the atabal on his own. By the end of the century, however, the ttunttun came back strongly and it is now quite common to see soloists playing both instruments. In any event, xirularis have also formed groups with other instrumentalists. Historically, the most common format was a duo consisting of a rebec player and a xirulari with ttunttun. They were quite often joined by an atabalari (tabor player). Father Donostia said the following, quoting the words of E. Boucher:

E. B(oucher), speaking of the Basques in general and of the region of Lapurdi in particular, says: “L’orchestre… est composé pour l’ordinaire d’a violon ou d d’une flûte à trois trous (chirola) qui se joue d’une main, tandis que le musicien s’accompagne de l’autre sur a tambourin ou sur una espece de tympanon qu’il frappe avec a petit bâton pour marquer la mesure...”

(Donostia, 1952, p. 74)

In the 20^th century it has been played many times with the accordion (diatonic and chromatic) and is now used throughout the Basque Country in fanfares and brass band music composed for accordion and band instruments.

Jean Mixel Bedaxagar playing flute and ttun-ttuna in the 1985 Altzai Mascaradas. (Photo: JMBA)

HISTORY

Nowadays, the differences the txistu and the xirula are very evident and are well-defined. Each instrument has its own appearance, sound and dimensions, as does the ttunttun that accompanies it. In territorial terms, the use of each one is quite divided too. However, if we consult the historical documentation, it seems that such a difference did not exist in the past. The txilibitus or xirulas, accompanied by a string drum or ttunttun, were very prevalent until the 19^th century in both the northern and southern parts of the Basque Country.

According to Father Donostia³⁷, we find them in Tudela in the 16^th century³⁸ and in the 17^th they are mentioned more than once by musicians who played in the festivity of San Fermín in Pamplona, sometimes even indicating where they were from. Apparently, one of the dances that Martin de Gazolaz composed in 1640 was played with the ttunttun (the psalter is also mentioned), and the other with a chirimía (a type of woodwind instrument similar to an oboe). In 1641 and 1643, Martin and Joan de Martearena left Arizkun to play the ttunttun and the drum, and from Lower Navarre, Juan de Gorroz and Guillen de Garroch played the rebec and the ttunttun in a duo for the first time; the second time “Anton Gorri and compañeros” played two ttunttunes and a rebec and were accompanied by dantzaris. In 1697, the tamborilero Pedro de Echeverria and another six companions —players of tamboril, ttunttun and rabel (“julares, salterio y rabel”)— were present.

In the 18^th century, in the festivity of San Fermín in Pamplona Jesus Ramos³⁹ tells us that the most numerous musicians after the txistularis and tamboreros were xirularis with ttunttun or psalter, and there were many of them throughout the century. As Father Donostia notes, it is striking that there are none from Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa and Álava⁴⁰. In contrast, there are many from Navarre, most of them from the Baztan valley (Erratzu, Irurita, Berroeta and above all Arizkun), although there are also some from Valcarlos, Guésalaz and Malerreka and one from Petilla de Aragón. There are some musicians from Soule, although not many, and more from Lapurdi (from Bayonne and Saint Jean de Luz). The most striking thing is that most of these xirularis from Lower Navarre appear from time to time at the start of the century, and from 1740 onwards almost annually, generally made up of a group with rebec players and often more than one group.

Recent research by Xabier Itzaina casts some light on understanding why these instruments were used in the northern Basque Country until the 19^th century. In his analysis of the 17t^h and 18^th centuries he studied the archives in Saint Jean de Luz and Ziburu (Ciboure)⁴¹, and completed the data on the nearby localities. The life and preferred use of these instruments in this coastal region, taken as a sample, are very representative, as to a large extent they can be compared with those of the neighbourhood tamborileros in Gipuzkoa, although with certain differences.

Thanks to Itzaina’s research we know that almost all the ‘minstrels’ that the authorities of Saint Jean de Luz and Ciboure contracted until the 19^th century were tabor and violin or rebec players. During the 17^th and 18^th centuries, these musicians were contracted to play in events organised the evenings before saints’ days in the main popular festivities (some in Saint Jean de Luz, others in the Bixintxos festivity in Ciboure-Ziburu), then on the day itself and the following one. They also played in other festivities such as Corpus Christi or the Bestaberri celebrations (although in the latter tamborines are not always mentioned) and others⁴². It also seems that there was a custom in Saint Jean de Luz that the tabor and the rebec were played every week in the summer⁴³, at least during the 18^th century.

Outside these traditional festivities, in special official celebrations the tabor and the rebec were the main instruments: for example, in the events related to the monarchy such as weddings, births, military victories... From 1682 to 1784 Itzain counted 19 celebrations of this type, and in all of them tambourins et tambours and violons are included. Festivities were also organised when members of the French Court passed through towns and villages; thirteen of these celebrations were counted 1656 and 1784, and they all featured tambourins (a two-headed drum of Arabic origin, also called tambour de Basque) and rebec players. Apparently, when communal tasks had to be carried out it was also the custom to contract these musicians, for example, when roads had to be repaired or in the celebration held on June 30^th 1750 when the first stone was laid for the construction of the new dock in Ciboure.

In these coastal towns in Lapurdi many of the functions carried out by tabor and rebec players are well d: dances with bells (predecessor of the present-day danzas de cascarotes) organised by the authorities and groups of young men with tabor accompaniment, and also protocol dances such as the soka-dantza and others involving leaps and, naturally, the traditional dances in all festivities called le bal ordinaire, itinerant carnival dances organised for the collection, xaribaris and astolasterrak. Itzaina also mentions other special occasions celebrated with dances: apparently, although the Parliament of Paris prohibited it in 1547, in Lapurdi in the 16^th century they still conserved the tradition of dancing on the day that the seminarians offered the New Mass, and in 1679 there is evidence of this kind of testimony.

In the two centuries analysed, other instruments appear that fulfil these functions as well as the tabor, the rebec and the drum or atabal, although less frequently and generally with xirula, rebec and tabor players. Pipes and drums are often mentioned, especially when played by military personnel. In 1769 a viola player appears in S^t Jean; in 1730 and 1731 a basson (bassoon) strengthens the violin-tabor pair; in 1736 and 1737 an organist was also contracted to play the clavichord during the dance...

Ciboure and Saint Jean de Luz both had local tabor players, mentioned in documents as tambourin de la ville and other similar s, but it is clear that they often had to bring in musicians from nearby localities. If we look at their origins, it seems that they did not have to travel far (Uztaritze, Senpere, Milafranga, Bayonne...). This s that it was a deep-rooted tradition in the whole of Lapurdi. In some specific festivities and celebrations they apparently needed many musicians of this type, and there is a reference to looking for one in Lower Navarre. In the celebrations of the birth of the Dauphin of France in 1729, for example, they hired fourteen tambourins, two violin and four tabor players, although this only happened very rarely. In news about celebrations in towns in the interior of Lapurdi (Bestaberri, local festivities, dances, etc.), tambourins are mentioned in most cases: Makea, Haltsu, Itxasu, Hazparne, Bayonne, Bidarte, Getari, Uztaritze, Bastida, Akamarre, Hiriburu...

The xirula suffered a rapid decline in the 19^th century. According to Xabier Itzain, there are still references to the ttunttun on the coast in Lapurdi but, as the author says, it seems that the xirula was abandoned quite early on. Some photos from 1903 are mentioned in which the xirula is accompanied by tabors and diatonic accordions with a group of cascarot dancers⁴⁴. The decline came later inland, and in Hazparne the tabor and the rebec still appeared in the Tobera Mustrak in 1874.

In the Floral Games 1880 and 1890 there is a mention of the latest generation of xirularis from Lapurdi who dominated the jauzi-dantzas, although without the ttunttun: Jean Olhagaray (Uztaritze), Joseph Zubieta and Baptiste Dunat (Makea), Pierre Laxalde (Kanbo) and Pierre Sosaya (Hazparne)⁴⁵.

We do not have as much information on Lower Navarre as on Lapurdi, at least to date, but as we have seen in lists in Pamplona the tradition of the xirula and tabor players was quite long, and it is likely that the decline of the 19^th-20^th centuries reached there later than Lapurdi. Apparently, where it lasted longest was in Amiküze, and at the start of the 20^th century the well-known duo of Tikoi and Gattülü went from village to village in the valley to play the rebec and tabor in their festivities. In the 20^th century (after the Second World War) Pierre Lamaison from Saint-Palais played the xirula and the ttunttun.

Therefore, Zuberoa was the main (and almost only) refuge of the xirula and the ttunttun in the early 20^th century. However, people were also worried there because they saw the possibility of the ttun-ttun eventually disappearing. In that context, the competitions or prizes for xirularis organised in Atharratze on 27 April 1930 were important. The main organiser was Eugène Béguerie from Atharratze (the Director of the Basque Museum of Bayonne), and he was helped by Commander Boissel and the English researcher Violet Alford. To find judges, Béguerie carried out a survey to find out how many xirula players there were in Zuberoa, and the result is the following:

Dans les deux cantons de Tardets et Mauléon nous trouverons 3 ou 4 tchululari avec tambourin, déjà 3 se sont engagés á venir au concours, il n’y en a pas d’autres et notre concours vient au bon moment, car dans quelques temps cet instrument aurait disparu. Par contre nous avons une douzaine de jeunes gens, bons tchululari sans tambourin et connoisant bien les airs de danses de la Soule (sauts basques, airs de mascarade, etc.) et plusiers d’entr’eux viendront au concours dans l’espair de gagner un des quatre tambourins que nous mettons en prime.

(Itçaina, 2018b, p. 52)

Therefore, there were only three of four xirularis with ttunttun. Of the fifteen xirularis who entered the two competitions (one for xirularis with ttunttun and the other, xirularis without ttunttun) twelve must have appeared, but there were more.

Father Miguel Ángel Sagaseta⁴⁶ made a list of musicians from Baztan, Béarn and the northern Basque Country in which he cites the players in late 19^th century and early 20^th century. Jean-Michel Bedaxagar created a similar list of musicians from Soule⁴⁷. According to both lists, the xirula -with or without the ttunttun- continued to be most widespread popular instrument in Zuberoa in the 20^th century. Of the musicians from the 19^th century, two deserve special mention. One is the already mentioned Jean-Baptiste Gastellu-Etchegorry, from Gattülü in Domintxaine (1818-1885), who moved around the Amiküze area with the rebec player Ttikoi. According to Vogel, he achieved great success playing before Napoleon III in Biarritz. The other is undoubtedly Jantto Berho (Gotaine, 1851–Atharratze, 1912), who was probably the most famous musician in Zuberoa and played in other places on more than one occasion, for example in Pamplona.

Among the xirularis from Soule in the 20th century, these could be the most outstanding: Pierre Onnainty Lexarduart from Lakarri⁴⁸, who learned from Jean Jantto Berho and was able to play two xirulas at the same time. He was a firm defender of the ttunttun, which he always carried with him. He won the first prize for xirularis with ttunttun in the primas (competition) in Atharratze. The second was Xotal. Simon Patalagoiti (Ximun Xotal) was also from Lakarri⁴⁹, and Bedaxagar claims that he was well-known in Zuberoa for being an incredibly elegant xirulari (“harrigarriko txülülari elegantaren fama ützi du Züberoan”⁵⁰). Xotal was also a firm defender of the ttunttun, and many considered him the last ttunttunero until the new generations came along. After the First World War it seems that he started to play in masquerades. He was also present in Paris and Pamplona, playing the xirula and the ttuttun and dances from Soule together with the well-known tabor player Pierre Ager Garat-Arhane.

Another of the great xirularis was Arnaud Laxague Allande Etxahun from Liginaga (Laguinge-Restoue). He was a pupil of Lexarduart and won third prize in Atharratze in the category of xirularis with ttuttun⁵¹. In the second generation of the 20^th century, two of the most famous were Jean Johañe Copen (Iruri, 1907–Maule, 1982), who taught many of those who made up the next generation, and Pierre Bordazaharre Etxahun-Irurikoa⁵². Etxahun-Iruri made a great contribution to Zuberoa and the Basque Country as a bertsolari (bard), singer and composer of melodies and pastorals, although he also disseminated and popularised the xirula. He also played with Pierre Ager Garat-Arhane for many years.

In the 20^th century and the step to the 21^st we should also mention the s of two great xirularis who worked very hard to strengthen and maintain the xirula and the ttunttun and their traditional music, as well as opening up new avenues and creating a style. They are Jean-Michel Bedaxagar (Urdiñarbe, 1953) and Mixel Etxekopar (Gotaine-Irabarne, 1963). On an initiative of the latter and other musicians, the Xiru festival has been held annually since 1989. It has given a major boost to the xirula and the world around it in the 20^th century.⁵³

Lexarduart playing flute and ttun-tun. Atharratze, in the 1920s. (Photo: Txistu. Tratado de flauta vasca. P. Olazaran de Estella. 1970)

PATTERNS⁵⁴

Among the straight three-hole flutes that have been used in the Basque Country, several variants are known in terms of size and appearance. The differences in dimensions are directly related to the different tuning s applied.

Although there have been more variants, the flutes used in the last two centuries are basically of three sizes and, therefore, offer three types of tuning:

THE XIRULA tuned in the tonality of C.

THE TXISTU tuned in the tonalities of F and F#.

THE SILBOTE tuned in the tonalities of B and G.

Depending on the region and manufacturer, there are also notable differences in the structure of the mouthpiece, the lathing, the decoration of the tube and the protectors of the flute.

As for the materials used to make them, box was the most commonly used wood until the 19^th century. From the end of that century onwards, ebony from Africa has also been used a lot, and nowadays new synthetic materials are also used.

We will now present some important prototypes used from the early 19^th century, divided into the following groups: txistus, xirulas, silbotes and other old patterns. We have made some measurements to collect information on their structures and tuning.

The fingering used to collect samples

To collect sound samples with the txistus and xirulas we present in this section, we have used the usual fingering of the txistu.

We should also remember that, given that the txistu is a transposing instrument, the notes it emits receive a different name from those of the real notes. This would be the relationship among them:

CODE

X: hole covered

O: hole uncovered

Starting from the left, first hole: the one covered with the middle finger, the one on the bottom of the tube.

Starting from the left, the second hole: the one covered with the index finger, the one in the middle.

Starting from the left, the third hole: the one covered with the thumb, at the back of the tube, the one at the top.

In the case of the xirula, being an instrument in the key of C, the difference against the real note is not so great, but as its pitch or scale is short, the first note of this flute corresponds to D6 of the piano. In the case of the silbote, in contrast, if it is an instrument in the key of B the first note (D) would correspond to the C5 note of the piano.

TXISTUS

Silbo bought in Bilbao at the end of the 19th century (belonging to the Nazabal brothers)

In 1998 we visited the Nazabal brothers in Seña, in the municipality of Limpias⁵⁵ (Cantabria). We knew that two of them, Andrés and Emilio, had played the donzaina (dulzaina) and the tabor for many years. We found out from them that their father Jose Mari (born in 1885) played the silbo and tamboril in the early 20^th century. Apparently, the silbo they kept at home had been bought by their father in Bilbao. There were tamborileros in the early 20^th century in this eastern part of Cantabria, and the repertoire we compiled was largely very similar to that of the txistularis of Bizkaia.

The tube of this flute seems to be of ebony. The mouthpiece, which could be made of ivory, has been finished on a lathe. The mouthpiece tip and the flue where the air flows through are made of metal. Four of the metal rings along the tube have been conserved; the ones that hold the mouthpiece tip and the one on the bell are missing. The other ring that was welded to the lower part is also missing, i.e. the one used to hold the flute with the ring finger.

This txistu is tuned in the key of F (quite high).

Old Silbo (large txistu) belonging to the Nazabal family in Seña. (Photo: JMBA - J. Abascal)

TUNING

TXISTU (MÚSICA PARA VER collection, no. 0696)

In the magnificent collection of instruments that José Luis Loidi and Lourdes Yarza have in Irun (Gipuzkoa) there are several straight three-hole flutes, among them this txistu (below) whose reference number is 0696. They bought it in the Lagos antique shop in Irun in 1982, but the seller did not give them any information about the instrument.

We do not know when it dates from, but on taking sound samples we realised that it was tuned in a rather uncommon key. As it is one centimetre shorter than the normal length, half a tone and a tone sharper (tonality of G). We can therefore presume that it is an old txistu, prior to the establishment of the standard tuning at the start of the 20^th century.

This txistu is tuned in the tonality of G (quite low).

DIMENSIONS

Length (total): 425 mm.

Length (wooden tube): 411 mm.

Small exterior diameter: 20 mm.

Large exterior diameter: 29 mm.

Interior diameter: 14 mm.

Txistu no. 0696 of the Música para ver collection. (Photo: JMBA)

TUNING

The txistu manufacturer Juan Miguel Biurrarena Ixkibo

The txistulari Juan Miguel Biurrarena (1849-1935), from Arantza (Navarre), was one of the main manufacturers of txistus in the late 19^th century and early 20^th. His txistus bore the name Ixkibo, the name of the house where he was born. These txistus were famous throughout the Basque Country.

The txistu manufacturer Juan Miguel Biurrarena Ixkibo. (Source: Olazarán, 1970, p. 7)

Ixkibo txistu (San Telmo Museum, no. 3331)

There is a txistu by Juan Miguel Biurrarena in the collection of the San Telmo Museum in Donostia-San Sebastian. It arrived at the collection in 1992, and according to its record card⁵⁶ was one of the txistus that Eusko Ikaskuntza commissioned with the aim of disseminating the instrument.

This txistu is tuned in the tonality of F# (quite low).

DIMENSIONS

Length (total): 430 mm.

Length (wooden tube): 411 mm.

Exterior diameter: 25 mm.

Interior diameter: 14 mm.

Txistu in the San Telmo Museum collection in Donostia-San Sebastian, made by Juan Miguel Biurrarena. (Photo: JMBA)

TUNING

Ixkibo txistu of the Larralde family from Arizkun

Patxi Larralde from Arizkun (Baztan, Navarra) has another txistu made by Biurrarena. This one does not have a ring to hold the instrument; instead, it has a leather ring around the tube.

This txistu is tuned in the tonality of F# (quite low).

DIMENSIONS

Length (total): 418 mm.

Length (wooden tube): 409 mm.

Small exterior diameter: 19,5 mm.

Large exterior diameter: 27 mm.

Interior diameter: 12,5 mm.

Txistu owned by Patxi Larralde from Arizkun, made by Juan Miguel Biurrarena. (Photo: O. Zapirain – Soinuenea)

TUNING

Ixkibo txistu belonging to Alberto Goñi

Another of the txistus made by Juan Miguel Biurrarena is owned by Alberto Goñi from Elizondo (Navarre). It appears to be newer than the previous two, and in contrast to them, it has a ring to hold the instrument with the ring finger.

Like the previous one, this txistu is tuned in the tonality of F# (quite low).

DIMENSIONS

Length (total): 424 mm.

Length (wooden tube): 412 mm.

Small exterior diameter: 19,5 mm.

Large exterior diameter: 26,5 mm.

Interior diameter: 12,5mm.

Txistu owned by A. Goñi from Elizondo, made by Juan Miguel Biurrarena. (Photo: O. Zapirain – Soinuenea)

TUNING

The txistu manufacturer Teodoro Larralde

Teodoro Larralde (1878-1964) was a well-known txistugile from Arantza (Navarre) in the 20^th century. He was a carpenter by trade, and started to make txistus in his workshop when he realised there was a demand for them, taking over from his fellow townsman Juan Miguel Biurrarena.

Most of the txistus commissioned by Eusko Ikaskuntza were made by Teodoro Larralde. In view of the decline suffered by the txistu in the early 20^th century, this institution created an initiative to disseminate the use of the instrument in the Basque Country and started to distribute it widely so that young people could learn to play the instrument⁵⁷ (see section Txistu: history).

The txistugile (txistu manufacturer) Teodoro Larralde in his workshop. (Source: Olazaran, 1970, p. 8)

Txistu made by Teodoro Larralde (Collection JMBA, no. 44)

One of the txistus made by Teodoro Larralde for Eusko Ikaskuntza is in Soinuenea’s JMBA collection of instruments (catalogue number 44). This boxwood txistu has rings and layers of brass. There is another metal ring stuck to the lower ring to hold the instrument with the ring finger.

This txistu is tuned in the tonality of F#.

DIMENSIONS

Length (total): 432 mm.

Length (wooden tube): 419 mm.

Small exterior diameter: 19,5 mm.

Large exterior diameter: 27,5 mm.

Interior diameter: 13mm.

Txistu no. 44 of the JMBA collection of instruments. (Photo: O. Zapirain – Soinuenea)

TUNING

The txistu manufacturer Isidro Ansorena

The famous txistulari from Hernani Isidro Ansorena Eleizegi (Hernani, 1892–San Sebastian, 1975), as well as being a superb player, composer and teacher, was also a manufacturer of txistus.

The txistugile Isidro Ansorena making new txistus. (Source: Ansorena Miranda, 1996, p. 82)

Txistu by Isidro Ansorena (JMBA Collection, no. 114)

This txistu made by Isidro Ansorena in 1965 can be seen in the Soinuenea instrument exhibition. Juan Mari Beltran bought it in that year when he was one of Isidro’s students.

This txistu is tuned in the tonality of F# (quite high).

DIMENSIONS

Length (total): 438 mm.

Length (wooden tube): 426 mm.

Small exterior diameter: 21,5 mm.

Large exterior diameter: 31,5 mm.

Interior diameter: 12,5mm.

Txistu no. 114 of the JMBA collection, made by I. Ansorena. (Photo: Emovere – Soinuenea)

TUNING

Metal txistu by Agustín de Miguel (JMBA Collection no. 311)

As far as we know, the first metal txistus were made in the 1960s. In Soinuenea there are two txistus of this type from that era: one made in Gipuzkoa, in three parts (JMBA Collection no. 311) and another made in Bizkaia, in two parts (JMBA Collection no. 1121).

Txistu no. 311 of the catalogue was made by Agustín de Miguel Peregrina. He created it in his workshop in Amara (San Sebastian) in 1970. It has a great sound, and is ideal for playing outdoors.

This txistu is tuned in the tonality of F# (quite high).

DIMENSIONS

Length (total): 430 mm.

Length (wooden tube): 415 mm.

Kanpoko diametroa: 16,5 mm.

Interior diameter: 13 mm.

Txistu no. 311 of the JMBA Collection, made by A. de Miguel. (Photo: O. Zapirain – Soinuenea)

TUNING

Txistus tuned in two and three tonalities

In the 1970s they started to use the tonality of F, as opposed to the most common until then, F#. Although it happened many times later, those txistus in the tonality of F did not replace those in F# but rather complemented them. It was considered that the txistularis would use one or the other, as required by the occasion. For this reason, being able to play in both keys led to the manufacture of txistus in three pieces or parts: the head (part of the mouthpiece), the manual part in the tonality of F and the other manual part in F#. Later, a fourth part in the tonality of G was added.

The first to make this kind of txistu was Jesus Segurola from Urretxu, following the guidelines of Jose Ignazio Ansorena, and since then there have been quite a few manufacturers and prototypes.

Four-piece txistu created by Jesús Segurola. Head and manual parts in F, F# and G. Piece no. 111 of the JMBA Collection. (Photo: O. Zapirain - Soinuenea)

XIRULAS

The xirula manufacturer Pierre Onnainty Lexarduart

Pierre (or Pette) Onnainty Lexarduart (1872-1938), who also appears under the name of Lexardoi, was a famous and excellent xirulari from Lakarri (Zuberoa), as well as being the main manufacturer of xirulas in Soule at the time. His xirulas were also well-known outside Zuberoa. According to Belatcha magazine in 1930⁵⁸, twenty years earlier xirulas were purchased from a manufacturer in the Vosges but when he stopped selling them Lexarduart started to make them himself, being a carpenter.

Xirula by Lexarduart (San Telmo Museum, no. 3402)

There is a xirula with catalogue no. 3402 in the collection of the San Telmo Museum in Donostia-San Sebastian. This three-hole flute is made from boxwood, its two ends are reinforced with horn and the mouthpiece tip is made of metal.

According to the record card⁵⁹, the manufacturer was Onnaintz, the well-known xirulari and xirulagile from Soule. He accompanied the group of dantzaris with the tamburín in the masquerades of Atharratze in the Agricultural and Livestock Exhibition held in Donostia-San Sebastian in September 1923. The museum acquired the piece that year; it paid 20 pesetas for it.

This xirula is tuned in the tonality of C, with a special scale.

DIMENSIONS

Length: 305 mm.

Exterior diameter: 20 mm.

Interior diameter: 12 mm.

Xirula (catalogue no. 3402) in the San Telmo Museum in Donostia-San Sebastian, made by Lexarduart. (Photo: JMBA)

TUNING

Xirula (collection of Doctor Rudolf Trebitsch, ÖMV/ref. 33444)

Among the collections of the Volkskundemuseum in Vienna (Austria) is the Baskische Sammlung des Herrn Dr. Rudolf Trebitsch aus Nordspanien und Südfrankreich (Basque collection of Dr. Rudolf Trebitsch, from the north of Spain and the southern area of France). He compiled this material during a trip he made to the Basque Country in 1913.

One of the pieces in the collection is a xirula (ÖMV/ref. 33444). Bearing in mind the era and the appearance and structure of the instrument, we believe it is a flute made by Pierre Onnainty Lexarduart.

Xirula with reference no. ÖMV/33444 of the collection in the Volkskundemuseum. (Photo: Volkskundemuseum Wien)

Xirula by Pierre Caubet

Pierre Caubet, a singer and txanbelari (txanbela player) from Lakarri (Zuberoa), had a beautiful xirula. From its appearance, it seemed to have been made by Lexarduart. The piece is kept on the premises of the Gaiteros in Pamplona, as Caubet wanted to leave it to that group along with some dulzainas.

A xirula belonging to Pierre Caubet, supposedly made by Lexarduart. (Photo: JMBA)

Xirula (San Telmo Museum, no. 3511)

The San Telmo Museum in Donostia-San Sebastian purchased this xirula in 1926⁶⁰. We have not found any information on its origins or the manufacturer of the instrument. From its shape, it appears to be a xirula from Soule. Apart from the silver sheet over the window, the flute is made from boxwood.

This xirula is tuned to the tonality of G, with a special scale.

DIMENSIONS

Length: 320 mm.

Exterior diameter: 20 - 26 mm.

Interior diameter: 10,5 mm.

Xirula with catalogue no. 3511 of the collection in the San Telmo Museum, Donostia-San Sebastian. (Photo: JMBA)

TUNING

Xirula by Pierre Errekalt (JMBA Collection, no. 199)

Pierre Errekalt, from Lakarri in Soule (1924-1985), was one of the best-known manufacturers of the ttunttun, xirula and txanbela in the second half of the 20^th century. His instruments have served as a model for later manufacturers.

In the JMBA Collection in Soinuenea there are several xirulas made by P. Errekalt, among them catalogue no. 199, which we present here. Apart from the metal mouthpiece and the two protectors made of horn at each end, the entire flute is made of boxwood.

This xirula is tuned in the tonality of C, with a special scale.

DIMENSIONS

Length: 300 mm.

Small exterior diameter: 19 mm.

Large exterior diameter: 23 mm.

Interior diameter: 10 mm.

Xirula (catalogue no. 199) in the JMBA collection, made by P. Errekalt. (Photo: O. Zapirain - Soinuenea)

TUNING

Xirula Marcel Gastellu (JMBA Collection, no. 847)

Although he lived in Tarbes (Occitania), Marcel Gastellu-Etchegorry was born in 1932 in Audaux (Béarn) into a family from Soule. Among other instruments, he made xirulas, ttunttunes and xirolarrus (bagpipes). M. Gastellu’s xirulas became well-known all over the Basque Country, as well as in Aquitaine. This piece is entirely made of boxwood.

This xirula is tuned in the tonality of C, with a special scale.

DIMENSIONS

Length: 307 mm.

Small exterior diameter: 17,5 mm.

Large exterior diameter: 24 mm.

Interior diameter: 10 mm.

Xirula (catalogue no. 847) of the JMBA collection, made by M. Gastellu-Etchegorry. (Photo: O. Zapirain - Soinuenea)

TUNING

SILBOTES

SILBOTE (MÚSICA PARA VER collection, 2018 ZK.)

The creators of the Música para ver collection, José Luis Loidi and Lourdes Yarza, bought this silbote in an antiques shop in Bilbao in 2018. It is made of ebony and consists of two parts. We do not know who made it or when, but bearing in mind its appearance and shape, we believe it could be from the 19^th century.

This silbote is tuned to the tonality of B, with a special scale.

Silbote (no. 2018 of the Música para ver collection). (Photo: JMBA)

TUNING

Silbote (collection of Dr. Rudolf Trebitsch, ÖMV/ref. 33442)

We have already mentioned that among the collections of the Volkskundemuseum in Vienna (Austria) we find the Baskische Sammlung des Herrn Dr. Rudolf Trebitsch aus Nordspanien und Südfrankreich (Basque collection of Dr. Rudolf Trebitsch, on the northern part of Spain and the southern area of France). This silbote is one of the pieces in the collection (ÖMV/ref. 33442).

Trebitsch’s record card (no. 254) says:

Large flute. Span: silbote. Basque: txistu (lodia), silbote. It is disassembled in the middle. It has a mouthpiece. Tolosa, Gipuzkoa, Spain. Three holes for fingering. It is played by one of the four tamborileros, a band of four people used by the Administration, and can be found in most of the cities of the Basque Country in Spain.

 

Trebitsch Kartei Nr. 254: Grosse Pfeife span: silvote, bask: chistu (lodia), silbote. In der Mitte zerlegbar. Mit Mundstück. Tolosa, Guipuzcoa, Spanien.

Hat 3 Fingerlöcher. Wird von einem der 4 Tamborilleros gespielt. Es ist dies eine von der Stadt aufstellte aus 4 Leuten bestehende. Kapelle, wie zu sich in den meisten Städten des spanischen Baskenlandes findet.

Trebitsch situates it in Tolosa in the 19^th century, and bearing in mind that among the recording sessions carried out by the Austrian scientist is one by the band of txistularis contracted by the Town Council of Tolosa, we can surmise that he obtained the instrument through them.

The record card in the museum says:

DIMENSIONS

Length: 62,5 cm.

Diameter: 3,5-2,7 cm.

Date of manufacture: 19^th century.

Description: tube in two parts.

Silbote (reference no. ÖMV/33442) in the Volkskundemuseum. As we can see, when the silbote was assembled the two parts fitted badly. (Photo: Volkskundemuseum Wien)

Silbote (JMBA Collection, no. 1252)

This silbote was owned by Juan Iruretagoiena. Although he was born in Santiago de Chile (1913), he came to Zarautz (Gipuzkoa) at an early age and later studied in the boarding school at Lekaroz (Navarre), where he met the Capuchin priest and txistulari Hilario Olazarán. They became good friends and Olazarán gave him the instrument as a present.

It is a common ebony silbote in two parts, tuned in G with a special scale.

DIMENSIONS

Length (total): 632 mm.

Length (wooden tube): 618 mm.

Small exterior diameter: 26,5 mm.

Large exterior diameter: 37,5 mm.

Interior diameter: 16,5 mm.

Silbote no. 1252 of the JMBA collection. (Photo: O. Zapirain - Soinuenea)

TUNING

Silbotes in two and three keys

We mentioned above that txistularis tended to use the tonalities of F and F# in the 1970s, and they started to make three-piece txistus for these two keys, and a fourth piece was later added for the key of G. The same happened with the silbotes.

This silbote was made by José Gancedo (1924-2021) from Amurrio in the 1980s. It has four parts, in the tonalities of Bb, B and C. It is piece no. 231 of the JMBA collection.

Silbote Gancedo, piece no. 231 of the JMBA collection. (Photo: O. Zapirian - Soinuenea)

Txistu txiki, txilibitu, txistu handi and silbote handi. The instrumental family of the txistu

In the 1970s a project called Grupo Experimental de Txistu de San Sebastian emerged from the txistu school of the Municipal Conservatoire of Donostia-San Sebastian, directed by the txistulari Javier Hernández Arsuaga⁶¹ (see section Txistu: history).

With the aim of obtaining a richer orchestration, the txistus in two keys that were known and used until then in txistu bands were joined by txistus in four other keys, making a total of six. The txistu player and manufacturer Martín Rodríguez Miranda undertook the production of the new prototypes of txistus ed by the experimental group. They called the txistu alto (similar to the xirula) the txilibitu; the highest, txistu txiki, and the one lower than the silbote, txistu handi (low/bass txistu) and silbote handi (large silbote), respectively.

Although that project did not last very long, a few years later (in the early 20^th century) the Silboberri association made a low txistu that joined the keys used by the classic txistu quartet, a new prototype tuned in a lower tonality.

From left to right: Txistu-txiki (F#), Txilibitu (B), Txistu (F#), Silbote (B), Txistu haundi (F#), Silbote haundi (B). (Source: Hernandez Arsuaga, 1977, p. 22)

OTHER OLD PATTERNS

Although we do not know their number and use, in previous eras there were txistus or txilibitus of other dimensions and tunings as well as the standard straight three-hole flutes we have presented. We will now some of them.

To start, we present two old txistus tuned in A: an Ixkibo txistu from Arantza and another belonging to the txistu player of Aritzakun.

It should be remembered that it is tuned somewhere the txistu (F) and the xirula (C). Some of the three-hole flutes that were used in the valley of Ossau (Béarn) near the Basque Country are in the same key. Although we do not know its exact range, this leads us to believe that this kind of tuning was well-known in the past.

The old Ixkibo txistu

This txistu, made by Juan Miguel Biurrarena, was played by Felix Berasategi Zugarramurdi (1866-1927)⁶² from Oiartzun. It was made in Ixkibo (Arantza). Of boxwood, it is smaller than the txistus usually seen nowadays.

As can be seen when measuring the tuning, it is a txistu in the tonality of A.

DIMENSIONS

Length (total): 358 mm.

Length (wooden tube): 352 mm.

Small exterior diameter: 17,5 mm.

Large exterior diameter: 25 mm.

Interior diameter: 10 mm.

Small txistu made by Juan Miguel Biurrarena (Ixkibo) in the tonality of A. (Photo: O. Zapirain - Soinuenea)

TUNING

The txistu of Aritzakun

The neighbourhood of Aritzakun is located in Baztan (Navarre) and is part of Arizkun, although it faces Lower Navarre to the north, in the Gorramendi area. It is the birthplace of Juan Agerrebete Etxeberria (1894-1987), who later lived in Erratzu. He was a farmer, carpenter and also a xistulari, as they say there. His txilibitu or txistu was made of elder wood⁶³. The main feature of this txistu is its key: like the Ixkibo txistu from Arantza, it is tuned in the tonality of A.

DIMENSIONS

Length (total): 358 mm.

Length (wooden tube): 352 mm.

Small exterior diameter: 17,5 mm.

Large exterior diameter: 25 mm.

Interior diameter: 10 mm.

Txistu made of elder wood by Juan Agerrebete. (Photo: O. Zapirain – Soinuenea)

TUNING

Txilibitu from the Arrikrutz farmhouse in Oñati

This straight three-hole flute appeared in the Arrikrutz farmhouse, located in the neighbourhood of Arantzazu of Oñati (Gipuzkoa)⁶⁴. Although we do not know when it was made, taking into account its appearance and the state of the wood it seems to be prior to the 20^th century.

Looking at the invoice, we can say that this flute is an instrument, not just a toy that makes a sound. It is made of well-lathed boxwood, and the mouthpiece is also well made.

Given that it was in poor condition, it was not possible to extract the whole scale when measuring the tuning. Apparently, the flute is tuned in the tonality of F, approximately one octave higher than txistus nowadays. We do not know if there are many txilibitus tuned in this key or if this is a one-off case.

The Arrikrutz txilibitu. (Photo: M. Irizar)

Drawing with measurements of the Arrikrutz txilibitu. (Drawing: F. Jalón)

TUNING

ICONOGRAPHY

Áraba

ARTZINIEGA

SANCTUARY OF OUR LADY OF THE HOLM OAK

In the Sanctuary of the Virgin Mary in Artziniega, which dates from the 16^th century, we can see a shepherd playing the tabor in the middle of the scene of the Annunciation to the left of the third section of the main part of the sanctuary’s altarpiece.

Shepherd playing the tabor on the main altarpiece of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Artziniega. (Photo: E. X. Dueñas)

VITORIA-GASTEIZ

CATHEDRAL OF SANTA MARÍA

Many musicians appear on the old main entrance to the Cathedral of Santa María in Vitoria-Gasteiz; among them, two tamborileros.

One of them stands on the fourth level of the tympanum of the central porch of the portico of the church. In the scene of the coronation of the Virgin Mary we see four angel musicians: on the left they play the xirolarru (single-reed pipe) and something similar to a lyre, and on the right, a zither or psalter and a tabor.

If we focus on how the tabor is held, it seems that the tamborilero has lost his left arm, and with it the flute.

Angel tamborilero in the scene of the coronation of the Virgin Mary. (Photo: JMBA)

The other tamborilero appears in the left side of the same portico. On the two archivolts of the façade we see several angel musicians, among them a tamborilero at the top of the inner archivolt.

Angel tamborilero on the archivolt of the main façade of the cathedral. (Photo: JMBA)

TUESTA

CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF THE ASSUMPTION

Tuesta is a village in the municipality of Valdegovía, located in the ‘Cuadrilla de Añana’. On the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption (13^th-14^th century), among the figures represented at the entrance there is a duo of musicians made up of a cornamusa (bagpipe) player and a tamborilero. There are more musicians on the other archivolts of the portico.

The figures that appear on that archivolt are in pairs and grouped by theme, and there is a pair on each stone. In the case of the musicians, it is curious and interesting to see that the bagpipe player and the tamborilero form a duo. In our iconography, these musicians appear together on many occasions. The two on their own make up a group: the flutes and oboes would provide the melody, the base by the tube that acts as a drone (pipe) while the tabor marks the rhythm.

Bagpipe player and tamborilero on the front of the church in Tuesta. (Photo: JMBA)

Biscay

BUSTURIA

CHURCH OF SANTA MARÍA

The Church of Santa María in Busturia is from the 16^th century. Several musicians appear in its iconography, including this tamborilero who plays the straight single-handed flute and a string drum.

Pipe and string drum player in the parish church of Santa María. (Photo: E. X. Dueñas - JMBA)

LEKEITIO

CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF THE ASSUMPTION

The Church of the Assumption of Santa María, also known as the Basilica of Lekeitio, is a Late Gothic construction completed at the end of the 15^th century.

On the frieze of angels below the main front window we see a tamborilero among angel musicians.

Angel tamborilero among the musicians on the front of the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption in Lekeitio. (Photo: JMBA)

We see a lyre, a rebec, a trumpet, a harp, a tabor, a zarrabete (hurdy-gurdy) a serpentón (bass wind instrument), a flute and what could be a tambourine or another zarrabete, and all the musicians are represented playing their instruments.

Inside the church, there are three musicians in the scene of the Annunciation to the shepherds on the second level of the central section of the main altarpiece. The three are playing, providing ambience for the scene: one is a tamborilero, another plays a single-handed flute and the third the bagpipes.

Bagpipe player, tamborilero and single-handed flute player in the scene of the Annunciation to the shepherds on the main altarpiece. (Photo: E.X. Dueñas - JMBA)

Tamborilero in the scene of the Annunciation to the shepherds on the main altarpiece. (Photo: E.X. Dueñas - JMBA)

Single-handed flute player in the scene of the Annunciation to the shepherds on the main altarpiece. (Photo: E.X. Dueñas - JMBA)

In the scene of the Virgin Mary with Child on the second level of the central part of the main altarpiece there is a musician playing a straight one-handed flute and a string drum. He plays the drum with a stick held in the right hand, and the flute with the left hand. In the flute in the image only the lower part —where the instrument is held— has been conserved.

Musician playing a single-handed flute and a string drum on the altarpiece. (Photo: E.X. Dueñas-JMBA)

ZIORTZA-BOLIBAR

In the Lexartza-txiki farmhouse in the neighbourhood of Arta in Ziortza-Bolibar, the stone sides of the window in the centre of the façade contain two human images: one of them dancing and the other playing a single-handed flute. Lexartza-txiki offered lodging on the Pilgrim’s Way to Santiago, as witnessed by the pilgrims’ shells in the decoration around the window.

Musician playing the single-handed flute on the façade of the Lexartza-txiki farmhouse. (Photo: E. X. Dueñas - JMBA)

Labourd

BAYONNE

CATHEDRAL OF SANTA MARÍA

In the rich iconography of Bayonne Cathedral there are several different musicians represented, both inside and outside. Inside are the only sculptures of musicians from the 13^th century that are conserved in the Basque Country: they are located in the double portico of the Gothic-style vestry, which appeared to be the entry to the cloister. On the two archivolts on the left façade there is a beautiful -and large- group of angel musicians. There are fourteen musicians playing rubbed and struck string instruments, a square tambourine, percussion instruments and several wind instruments.

There are eight musicians on the exterior archivolts. From left to right: a percussionist with small cymbals, a bagpipe player, a hurdy-gurdy player, a musician playing a single-handed flute and castanets, another playing a square tambourine, another with a portable organ, a lyre player and a zither player⁶⁵.

There are six musicians on the interior archivolt. From left to right: a rebec player, a mandolin player, a tamborilero with single-handed flute and tabor, a harpist, a rebec player and a musician who plays a wind instrument with three pipes.

Most of these instruments were used in Basque music at the time and some of them, such as the tabor, have been conserved to the present day.

Above, a musician with flute and castanets; below, a musician with flute and tabor. (Photo: JMBA)

Musician playing a single-handed flute and castanets on the outer archivolt. (Photo: JMBA)

Tamborilero with single-handed flute and tabor on the inner archivolt. (Photo: JMBA)

Navarre

PAMPLONA

CATHEDRAL OF SANTA MARÍA

The Cathedral of Santa María in Pamplona is a 14^th-century Gothic construction located in the Historic Quarter of the city. Its iconography contains images of three tamborileros, about whom Father Hilario Olazarán from Estella wrote the following: “The txistulari in mediaeval Pamplona must have been very popular for the sculptors of the city’s cathedral to represent him so beautifully in the scenes they decorated their walls and capitals with”⁶⁶.

In one of the capitals in the bay of the northern part of the cloister, a tamborilero is seen two trumpeters. Father Olazarán commented on this:

In the north bay, built by Bishop Barbazán in the late 14th century, there is a capital that, according to the experts, represents the wedding of Juana of Navarre and Philippe d’Evreux. There are groups of armed knights around the royal couple riding decked-out horses and coats of arms, of which a beautiful one of Navarre stands out. In the capital and two trumpeters playing their long instruments, decorated with heraldic drapes, a txistulari wearing a long tunic and mantle and his head covered with a hood celebrates the royal wedding by playing his pipe and drum.⁶⁷

This is what Eukene Martínez Lagos writes about this scene:

Second scene. The tournament. On the sixth pilaster of the outer wall (north bay of the cloister) the capital s a magnificent scene that seems to represent the world of tournaments and jousts. The scene is complete and covers all the space available. Moreover, thanks to its good state of conservation it can be identified with a certain rigour.⁶⁸

As we can see, the authors do not coincide in their interpretation of the scene.

Musicians on the tournament capital of the north wall of the cloister; in the middle, a tamborilero. (Photo: J. I. Larraioz)

In another capital in the same cloister a soka-dantza (literally, ‘string dance’) directed by two musicians appears. A rebec player appears in the foreground, and a tamborilero in the background. The rebec player and tamborilero often appear together in both iconography and ancient documents.

Sokadantza with tamborilero and rebec player. (Photo: JMBA)

On the inner door of refectory —in the two upper recesses of the arch— there are two centaur musicians. The one on the left is a tamborilero: he plays a flute that resembles a txistu with the left hand and a tabor with the right. The musician on the right plays a hand bell. On the right side of this front there is another centaur musician playing the bagpipes.

Centaur tamborilero on the refectory door. (Photo: JMBA)

(02/10/2024 translating)

ERRIBERRI (OLITE)

ANDRE MARIA ERREGINAREN ELIZA

Fatxada nagusia 1300 urte inguruan bukatu zen. Hango arrosa leiho handiaren azpian portada zabala dago, zortzi arkiboltaz osatua, eta hauen eskuinaldearen oinarrian hiru musikari agertzen dira: xirolarru jolea, arrabita jolea eta danbolinteroa.

Oliteko Santa Maria elizako atari nagusiko hiru musikarien kokapena. (Photo: JMBA)

Irudi hauek oso egoera txarrean daude: hiruak bururik eta eskurik gabe, xirolarru joleak soinu-tresnaren zahagia (puztuta) besterik ez du, arrabita jolea tresnaren arkurik eta arrabitaren giderrik gabe dago eta danbolinteroak ere ez du danbolina besterik. Dituzten jarrerengatik, badirudi hirurak jotzen ari direla.

Beste hainbat tokitako ikonografia eta dokumentuetan agertzen denez, talde mota hau kontuan hartzekoa dela ematen du.

Oliteko Santa Maria elizako atari nagusiko hiru musikariak. (Photo: JMBA)

Danbolintero honek flauta galdu badu ere, danbolinaren ezaugarri batzuk ikus daitezke: erresonantzia kaxak forma apala du eta, mintzak tenkatzeko, soka sigi-sagan dauka, gaur egun oraindik erabiltzen den sistema berean. Ikusten denez, danbolina beso gainean hartzen du eta heltzeko larruzko uhala du.

Oliteko Santa Maria elizako atari nagusiko danbolinteroa. (Photo: JMBA)

ORITZ (NOAIN, ELORTZIBAR)

ORITZ JAUREGIA

Oritz Jauregiko horma irudi ederren artean bada Haur dantzarien frisoa izeneko bat. Bertan haur taldea ageri da dantzan, esku eta oihalez elkarri lotuta, eta musikarien artean hiru danbolintero daude: bat flauta eta danbolina jotzen, beste bat tronpeta jole batekin bikotea osatuz (zaldiko baten tankerako jostailu baten gainean) eta hirugarrena flauta eta ttunttuna (harizko danborra) jotzen. Musikari hauez gain, friso berean pandero jolea izan daitekeena ere bada.

Oritz Jauregiko berpizkundeko friso hau XVI. mendekoa da, gutxi gorabehera 1550ekoa. Juan de Goñi eta Miguel de Tarragona ditu egile.

Haur dantzarien frisoaren zati bat. (Source: Museo de Navarra, Pamplona)

Oritz Jauregiko horma irudiko haur danbolinteroa flauta eta danbolina jotzen. (Source: Olazaran, 1970, p. 33)

ZARRAKAZTELU (CARCASTILLO)

OLIBAKO MONASTERIOA

Zarrakazteluko XII. mendeko Olibako monasterioaren fatxada nagusian, atari gainean, erlaitzeko haga-burutxoetan, hainbat pertsonaia agertzen dira. Monasterioa bera XII. mendekoa izanagatik, eliz ataria bera gotikoa da, XIII. mendekoa. Ikerlari batzuen ustetan ordea, ikonografia aparta duen erlaitz hau portada baino zaharragoa da, eta fatxada egiterakoan bertan jarria izango zuten. Erlaitzeko haga-burutxoetan ageri diren pertsonaien artean hainbat musikari daude: danbolinteroa, xirolarru jolea, tronpeta jolea, albokaria eta arrabita jolea.

Olibako Monasterioko danbolinteroa. (Photo: JMBA)

REFERENCES

³ The txistulari (txistu player) Aitor Amilibia and the musical acoustics teacher Jesús Alonso started researching the tuning of the txistu in the 1990s and obtained clear improvements in the process. Following those studies, Aitor Amilibia and Iñaki Imatz created the first bass txistus in 2014 (Amilibia, 2000).

⁴ Accompanying the silbo (txistu) when it is played in uncovered places ... drum used to mark the movement ... very bad effect to the accustomed ears ... ... and the intonation is very bad for the ears ... ... and the country's natives are used to it. But if he plays in enclosed places, then he replaces the drum with a kind of quadrilateral psaltery with six strings (the drum of the French), which is called Chunchun. The 6 strings are tuned in fifths ... with a movable bridge they go up or down at the same time ... the intonation in which they are played. The same person who plays the whistle with his left hand, strikes the strings of the Chunchun with a stick he holds in his right hand, which then forms a continuous bass to the song, rather muted so as not to obfuscate it. (A. Donostia, 1994. p. 1535)

⁵ To get to know other denominations and variants, consult the notes in the Xirula entry in this encyclopaedia on the different s of this instrument.

⁶ “For their music the Basque provinces use a kind of recorder that they call Chilivituba in Basque and silvo in Spanish: it only has three holes to create the notes, and two octaves are covered, starting with the lowest C note of the soprano recorder. The first tenth of its diapason is quite pleasant, although the more high-pitched tones are not so pleasing, as well as difficult to play well.

“Segun la naturaleza de este instrumento cuando se quiere emplearlo en Orquesta se templa su primer Delasolre, con el Alamirre del vilolín, de modo que su parte debe estar escrita en la entonación de un sostenido menos, o un bemol mas que los violines”. (A. Donostia, 1994, p. 1535)

⁷ Iztueta, 1968.

⁸ According to Mikel Aranburu, the word txistu was first used in the 19th century to refer to this instrument, and it mainly appears in Gipuzkoa (Aranburu, 2008, p. 84). These data are still to be fully compiled, however.

⁹ In Basque literature, Antonio Arzak used the term txistu for the first time in reference to this flute, in the translation of the story La leprosa (The Leper) by Juan Iturralde y Suit. It was published in 1884 in Tome X of the magazine Euskal-Erria, under the title of Legenartsua. The text in Basque reads: “Mendien marmarizakiñ naasturik aize-bunbadak dakarzkite urrutian galtzen diran boza eta kanta penik gabeak, ujuju ta algara lasai pozez beteak, oekin elkar artzen dutela gero baño gero alderago entzuten diran txistu-ttunttun soñuak.” (Arzak, 1995, p. 114).

¹⁰ Aranburu, 2008, p. 89.

¹¹ Sánchez Ekiza, 2005.

¹² Ramos, 1990.

¹³ The oldest information about this musical instrument can be found in what Humboldt wrote in 1801: "For the music of various parts, they use another major pipe, which is naturally in chapel tone (tono de Capilla)" (A. Donostia, 1994, p. 1535).

¹⁴ “At the present time we do not have knowledge of any iconographic or literary testimony in Europe that s a single person playing the flute with one hand and a kind of membranophone or idiophone before the mid-13th century”. (Sánchez Ekiza, 2005, p. 32).

¹⁵ Olazarán de Estella, 1970.

¹⁶ Anglés, 1970.

¹⁷ Aranburu, 2005, p. 113.

¹⁸ Donostia, 1952, p. 66.

¹⁹ Donostia, 1952, pp. 68-69.

²⁰ Rodríguez Suso, 1999, p. 24.

²¹ Sánchez Ekiza, 1999.

²² Bagüés, 1990.

²³ Ansorena, 2014.

²⁴ Aranburu, 2008, p. 153.

²⁵ Rodríguez Ibabe, 1979a.

²⁶ Aranburu, 2008, p. 165.

²⁷ Apezetxea, 1992.

²⁸ Javier Etxeberria was a gypsy, like many other tamborileros. He was one of the few ttunttuneros who played the txistu in the festivity of San Fermín in Pamplona, from 1845 until his death in 1911; he was very well known in the city.

²⁹ Apparently, that new section also appealed to Anton Abadia, because in the Floral Games held in 1893 in Uztaritze they also organised a competition for xirula and ttunttun (Aranburu, 2008, p. 169).

³⁰ Dueñas, 2018.

³¹ Euskal Herriko Txistulari Elkartea, 1928.

³² Garibay, 1928.

³³ Ansorena Miranda, 1996, p. 112.

³⁴ Ansorena, d.g. eta 1955.

³⁵ Hernández Arsuaga, 1977.

³⁶ Ansorena, 1978, 1982, 1983, 1985 and 1990.

³⁷ Donostia, 1952, pp. 73-76.³⁸ “This psalter must have been played in Tudela in festivities in 1532, 1565, 1580, according to accounts: "we paid for two psalters and one rabiquete who played on the day of San Pedro ("tres sueldos doze cornados (1532); to Juan Manrique and Francisco Planillo from Tarazona, the sum of two duckets... they came with their atambor and psalter to liven up the days and festivities of Santa Ana and Señor San Pedro, as done in previous years" (1565) (FRANCISCO FUENTES. La música religiosa y profana en Tudela,, ibid., p. 7, 10)”. (Donostia, 1952, p. 74)

³⁹ Ramos, 1990.

⁴⁰ As can be seen in the section on Iconography, in Lekeitio and Busturia there are testimonies of xirularis with ttunttun, so it could be thought that this instrument would be well-known in the western part of the Basque Country at a certain time, although we do not have much evidence of this nowadays.

⁴¹ Itçaina, 2018a.

⁴² In 1656, for example, we are told of a ceremony organised for the day of San Sebastian in St Jean de Luz. The following expenses appear in the Town Council accounts: (Itçaina, 2018a, p. 3): “plus payé à la dame de Escorronia [sic] pour la despance que les danceurs firent chez elle le jour de saint Fabien et Saint Sébastien, que la communauté vint in corps chez nous et meme avant à l’église malgré moi pour prendre le rang de bayle, le peuple étant tout in armes: 130# / Plus au tambourin et viollon pour avoir sonné durant deux joeurs 12#”.

⁴³ This is gleaned from the data collected by Itzaina (2018a, p. 3): “In 1733, le mérin de la communauté paye «à Domingo le tambourin à la place pendant l’éte 12#” and “au fils de Miguelcho Cascarota pour le violon qu’il a joué 12#”.

⁴⁴ Itçaina, 2018b, p. 48.

⁴⁵ Testimonies on the last xirularis in Lapurdi are from the 20^th century (Itçaina, 2018b, p. 49): in Itsasu, the xirula and atabal were heard in the festivities de Bestaberri in 1907, although they were replaced by the clarinet in 1907. However, in 1930 they still contracted a xirulari to accompany the jauzi-dantza and the soka-dantza. Likewise, the festivity of Bestaberri in Makea in 1946 brought in Aguerre, a xirulari from Lekorne, to play the music of the muxikos, because the fanfare did not know how to play it.

⁴⁶ Sagaseta, 2011.

⁴⁷ Bedaxagar, 2018.

⁴⁸ Lakarri, 1872 – Bordele, 1938.

⁴⁹ Lakarri, 1898 – Bretagne de Marsan, 1964.

⁵⁰ Bedaxagar, 2018, p. 33.

⁵¹ Liginaga 1901 – 1974.

⁵² Iruri, 1908 – Pau, 1979.

⁵³ In 2021, the Xiru festival held its 31^st edition.

⁵⁴ Some types of straight three-hole flutes.

⁵⁵ Interviews by J.M. Beltran and J. Abascal with the Nazabal brothers in their home in Seña on 23/05/1998 and 12/08/1998.

⁵⁶ Beltran, 1997.

⁵⁷ Dueñas, 2018.

⁵⁸ Itçaina, 2018b, p. 53.

⁵⁹ Beltran, 1997.

⁶⁰ Beltran, 1997.

⁶¹ Hernandez Arsuaga, 1977.

⁶² Lekuona Berasategi, 2000.

⁶³ We compiled this information from a conversation we had in Basque in Oiartzun in 2007 with Patxi Larralde, who lives in Arizkun:

Txistularia: Juan Agerrebete Etxeberria. Nekazaria, zurgiñe, xistularia. Eskalapoinak egiten zituen. Patrizia Elizetxe Dufurrena-rekin ezkondua. Igandetan eta festetan Aritzakunen jotzen zuen. Baita ere Untxideko Soroan (Erratzuko auzoa) ezkondu zelarik. Irazelaia etxean txistue harrapatu zuten. Doike (noski) txistularie han bizi izan zen eta gero Idaborroa etxean bizi izan zen. Txistularie erdi zurgiñe zen eta segur aski berak egin izanen zuen txistu hori. Intsusazkoa da ustez. Erraza husteko. Txistua segur aski berak egina zen.

⁶⁴ Beltran, 2000.

⁶⁵ Psalter-type zither.

⁶⁶ Olazarán de Estella, 1970, p. 30.

Muy popular debió ser el músico txistulari en la Iruña medieval para que los escultores de su catedral lo prodigaran tan bellamente en las escenas, con que adornaron sus muros y capiteles.

⁶⁷

En la crujía norte, edificada por el obispo Barbazán a fines del siglo XIV, hay un capitel, que según los técnicos representa las bodas de doña Juana de Navarra con don Felipe d’Evreux. Rodean a los reales esposos grupos de caballeros armados cabalgando en adornados caballos y escudos de nobleza, entre los que sobresale uno bellísimo de Navarra. En medio del capitel y de dos trompeteros sonando sus largas trompetas, ornadas con heráldicos paños colgantes, un txistulari de larga túnica y manto, cubierto con un capucho, festeja las reales nupcias tocando su flauta y tambor. (Olazaran de Estella, 1970, p. 27)

⁶⁸

Segunda escena. El torneo. En la sexta pilastra del muro exterior (claustro crujía norte) el capitel presenta una magnífica escena que parece representar el mundo de los torneos y las justas. La escena está completa y abarca todo el espacio disponible. Además, y debido a su buen estado de conservación, se puede identificar con cierto rigor. (Martínez Lagos, 1992, p. 536)

SOURCES

Bibliography

THE TXISTU

AMILIBIA, A. & ALONSO, J. (2000). Análisis acústico del txistu y ajuste de intervalos. Eusko Jaurlaritza - Hezkuntza, Unibertsitate eta Ikerketa Saila.

ANSORENA, I. (d.g.). Txistu ots gozoa nola?.

ANSORENA, I. (1955). Mi descargo. Txistulari, 1, 2-3. Asociación de Txistularis del País Vasco-Navarro.

ANSORENA, I. (1965). Txistu ots gozoa nola?. Bigarren zatia.

ANSORENA, J. I. (1978). Txistu ikaskizunak. Caja Laboral Popular.

ANSORENA, J. I. (1982). Txistu gozoa. Lehenengo maila. Erviti Editorial.

ANSORENA, J. I. (1983). Txistu gozoa. Bigarren maila. Erviti Editorial.

ANSORENA, J. I. (1985). Txistu gozoa. Hirugarren maila. Erviti Editorial.

ANSORENA, J. I. (1990). Txistu gozoa. Erdi maila. Erviti Editorial.

ANSORENA, J. I. (2014). Txistu y tamboril vascos: origen y pequeña historia. Txistulari, 240, 9-12. Euskal Herriko Txistulari Elkartea.

ANSORENA MIRANDA, J. L. (1996). Txistua eta txistulariak. Kutxa Gizarte eta Kultur Fundazioa.

APEZETXEA, P. (1992). Hernani eta Txistua. Gipuzkoa Donostia Kutxa.

ARANBURU, M. (2008). Niebla y cristal. Una historia del txistu y de los txistularis. Pamiela.

ARZAK, A. (1995). Idazlan-sorta. Auspoa liburutegia. Sendoa.

BAGÜÉS, I. (1988). La enseñanza de la danza académica en el Real Seminario Patriótico Bascongado de Bergara en el s. XVIII. Cuadernos de Etnología y Etnografía de Navarra 52, 279-291. Institución Príncipe de Viana.

BARRENETXEA, J. M. (1984). Apuntes de Txistu. [autoedizioa]

DONOSTIA, A. (1994). Papeles de Humboldt. Obras Completas del P. Donostia, VIII, 1529-1591. La Gran Enciclopedia Vasca.

DUEÑAS, E. X. (2018). Eusko Ikaskuntza y sus txistus o el reparto del silbo artesano en serie. Txistulari, 255-256, 62-69. Euskal Herriko Txistulari Elkartea. (jatorrizkoa: (2018). Los txistus de Eusko Ikaskuntza. Un apoyo al mundo del silbo en tiempos difíciles. Eusko Ikaskuntza. URL: https://www.eusko-ikaskuntza.eus/es/noticias/los-txistus-de-eusko-ikaskuntza/al-24952/#)

EUSKAL HERRIKO TXISTULARI ELKARTEA (ed.) (1928- ). Txistulari. [aldizkaria]

GARIBAY. (1928). La asamblea de Arrate. Breve reseña de la histórica fiesta que los Txistularis del país celebraron en Arrate el día 20 de Septiembre de 1927. Txistulari, 1, 5-8. Asociación de Txistularis del País Vasco.

HERNÁNDEZ ARSUAGA, J. (1988). El silbote. Cuadernos de Etnología y Etnografía de Navarra, 52, 321-326. Institución Príncipe de Viana.

HERNÁNDEZ ARSUAGA, J. (1977). La familia instrumental del txistu. Txistulari - La Editorial Vizcaina.

IZTUETA, J. I. (1968). Viejas Danzas de Guipúzcoa- Gipuzkoa´ko Dantza Gogoangarriak. La Gran Enciclopedia Vasca. (jatorrizkoa: 1824).

SÁNCHEZ EKIZA, C. (1999). Del danbolin al silbo. Txistu tamboril y danza vasca en la época de la Ilustración. Euskal Herriko Txistularien Elkartea.

SÁNCHEZ EKIZA, C. (2005). Txuntxuneroak. Narrativas, identidades e ideologías en la historia de los txistularis. Altafaylla.

RODRÍGUEZ IBABE, J. M. (1979a). San Sebastián y el txistu en el siglo XIX. Primera parte: 1815-1859. Txistulari, 97, 8-10. Euskalerriko Txistularien Alkartasuna.

RODRÍGUEZ IBABE, J. M. (1979b). San Sebastián y el txistu en el siglo XIX. Segunda parte: 1859-1878. Txistulari, 98, 19-21. Euskalerriko Txistularien Alkartasuna.

RODRÍGUEZ IBABE, J. M. (1979c). San Sebastián y el txistu en el siglo XIX. Tercera parte: El silbote. Los txistularis de barrios. Txistulari, 99, 26-28. Euskalerriko Txistularien Alkartasuna.

RODRÍGUEZ SUSO, C. (1999). Los Txistularis de la Villa de Bilbao. BKK – Bilbao Bizkaia Kutxa.

OLAZARÁN DE ESTELLA, P. H. (1970). Txistu. Tratado de flauta vasca. Estudios Grafor. (jatorrizkoa; 1951).

TEJADA, S. (1928). Estatutos de la Asociación de Txistularis. Txistulari, 1, 17-20. Asociación de Txistularis del País Vasco.

THE XIRULA

BEDAXAGAR, J.-M. (2018). Züberoako sonüegileen aipamen bat. Aitzina pika… Züberoako jauzien, sonüegileen eta dantzarien üngürüan…, 29-43. Sü Azia.

ITÇAINA, X. (2018a). Les ménétriers dans la société d’ordres en Labourd: quelques hypothéses á partir des données lacunaires d’Ancien Régime (á paraître dans: Actes du 1er séminaire anuel en thnomusicologie de la France, SFE-Inóc Aquitània, 2017). URL: https://dantzan.eus/edukiak/les-menetriers-dans-lasociete-d2019ordres-en-labourd/

ITÇAINA, X. (2018b). “Par principle et par règle”: jauzietaz eta jauzien soinularietaz. In J.M. Bedaxagar (ed.) Aitzina pika… Züberoako jauzien, sonüegileen eta dantzarien üngürüan…, 45-55. Sü Azia.

SAGASETA, M. A. (2011). Dantza-maisu eta musikariak. In Luzaideko ddantzak, 511-726. Herritar Berri-Astero/Baigorri-Gara.

Discography

THE TXISTU

ALDEKOA, A., BERRIZKO HERRIA, HAINBAT EMAILE. (1993). Alejandro Aldekoari omenaldia [LP]. GOR-513. L.G.: NA 615-1993.

ANSOLA ANAIAK. (1975). Txistulariak [LP]. Edigsa/HG, HG-127 LS. L.G.: B 42006-1975.

ANSORENA, I. (zuz.), BANDA DE TXISTULARIS DEL E.A.S.S. (1970). Bailes vascos [LP]. Columbia, C-7090. L.G.: M 25002-1970.

ANSORENA, I. (zuz.) (1996). Isidro Ansorena (1892-1975) Donostiako Udaletxeko Txistulari Taldearekin [CD]. BMG 74321 45771 2. L.G.: M 45217-1996.

ANSORENA, J. I. (zuz.) (1985). Donostiako Txistulari Udaltaldea: Donostiako Txistulari Udaltaldea [LP]. Dial Discos, Doblon 50-1769. L.G.: M-44332-1985.

ANSORENA, J. I. (1991). Ansorenatarren Danbolina [LP]. IZ-369. L.G.: SS-862/91 D.

ANSORENA, J. I. (1993). Txistu hotsak [CD]. IZ-415-KD Kea. L.G.: SS 826-1993.

ANSORENA, J. I. (1994). Le Basque [CD]. IZ-421-KD Kea. L.G.: SS 842-1994.

ANSORENA, J. I. (1995). Haize hegoa [CD]. IZ-446-KD Kea. L.G.: SS 1102-1995.

ANSORENA, J. I. (1996). Gipuzkoako soinu zaharrak [CD]. IZ-461-KD Kea. L.G.: SS-1082/96.

AXLOR. (1990). Txistu, fagot eta piano-organoa [LP]. ELK-243 Elkar. L.G.: SS 796-1990.

BANDA DE TXISTULARIS DE SANGÜESA. (1974). Banda de Txistularis de Sangüesa [LP]. 6328136 Philips. L.G.: M-9255-1974.

BELTRAN ARGIÑENA, J. M. (biltz.) (2017). Soinu-tresnak Euskal Herri Musikan.1985-2010 [CD]. Elkar-Soinuenea Fundazioa. KD 968 Elkarlanean. L.G.: SS 796-2017.

BERMEOKO TXISTULARIAK. (2016). Musikarako grina; Bermeoko txistularien hots zaharrak [2CD]. Bermeoko Udala-Euskal Herriko Txistulari Elkartea.

BILBO-KO TXISTULARIAK. (1970). Bilbo-ko txistulariak [EP]. Cinsa CIN-167.L.G.: BI-1125-1970.

BILBOKO UDALETXEAREN TXISTULARIAK. (1977). Bilboko UdaletxearenTxistulariak [LP]. 170911/0 Movieplay-Kardantxa. L.G.: M 4783-1977.

BILBOKO UDAL TXISTU BANDA. (2013). Plazan [CD]. Bilbao Musika.L.G.: SS BI 1856-2013.

ELIZALDE, M. (1971). Baztango dantzak 1 [LP]. HG-24. Herrikoi Musika Sorta 2.HG-24 L Herri Gogoa. L.G.: SS-134-1971.

ELIZALDE, M. (1971). Baztango dantzak 2 [LP]. Herrikoi Musika Sorta 3.HG-26 L Herri Gogoa. L.G.: SS 136-1971.

ELIZALDE, M. (1977). Lanzko zortzikoa: jostaketa dantzak [LP]. HG-169 L Ots. L.G.: SS 636-1977.

ELIZALDE, M. & IRIARTE, F. (1982). Baztango txistularia [K]. IZ 154 K.

ERRENTERIAKO TXISTULARIAK. HAINBAT EMAILE. (2015). Errenteriako txistularien hots zaharrak [CD bikoitza]. Euskal Herriko Txistulari Elkartea-Eresbil.

ETXEKOPAR, M., LALUBIN, S., JOSUE, C., ETXEBEST, B. & ETXART, N. (1988). Xiberoko dantza jauziak 1: musique traditionelle instrumentale de Soule [K]. 7K. Uhaitza, Muskildi.

ETXEKOPAR, M., JOSUE, C., ETXEBEST, B., BAUDOUIN, J., GOURDEBAIGT, A., TISNÉ, J.F., GUIRESSE, A., ETXEBARNE, B., ETXART, N., EPHERRE, DOMINIQUE, QUEHEILLE, B. (1992). Xiberoko dantza jauziak 2: musique traditionelle instrumentale de Soule [K]. 7K. Euskal Dantzarien Biltzarra, Muskildi.

FERNANDEZ ORTIZ, B. (1973). Boni txistulari de Bilbao [K]. CPS 9239 Columbia. L.G.: M-35760-1972.

FERNANDEZ ORTIZ, B. (1973). Antología del txistu. Boni [LP]. CBS. S 65 637.

GARAY, J. L. (1965). Concierto de txistu [EP]. Cinsa CIN-132. L.G.: BI-1032-1965.

GEZALA, P. (1965). Polentzi Gezala [EP]. Alhambra; MCP 10044. L.G.: SS 229-1965.

GEZALA, P. ET AL. (1970). Polentzi Gezala. Banda Municipal de Irún [LP]. C-7086 Columbia. L.G.: M 24648-1970.

GEZALA, P. ET AL. (2003). Tomas Garbizu (1901-1983) Txistu eta Organorako Musika [CD]. AusArt records; aArus039.

LANDALUCE, TXISTULARIS HERMANOS & ELOLA, SR. (1930?). Iriyarena; Pasacalle; “Reina mora y Chimberiaisas”; Jota de dulzaina; Porrusalda [78 RPM]. AE 2469 Disco Gramófono. La voz de su amo.

LANDALUCE, TXISTULARIS HERMANOS & ELOLA, SR. (1929?). Bizkaitik; Pasacalle (Pamplonica); Vals de Variaciones; Contradanza [78 RPM]. AE 2470 Disco Gramófono. La voz de su amo.

LARRALDE, X., & SARRALDE, P. (1991). Baztango Folklorea [2CD]. IZ 361 D, IZ 362 D. L.G.: SS-342-1991, SS-341-1991.

LESAKAKO TXISTULARIAK. (1972). Lesaka [LP]. Herrikoi Musika Sorta 10. HG-48 L Edigsa/HG. L.G.: B-46643-1972.

MAKUSO, M. (1977). Herriko Musika [LP]. Movieplay. Kardantxa 170912-2. L.G.: M 4784-1977.

OÑATIBIA, J. (zuz.), BANDA DE TXISTULARIS LARTAUN DE OYARZUN (1964). Musica de Txistu [EP]. Usandizaga; EU 2. L.G.: SS-229-1964.

IRUÑEKO UDAL TXISTU BANDA. (1990). Músicos del Ayuntamiento de Pamplona; Iruñeko Udaleko Musikariak; Musiciens de la Mairie de Pampelune [LP]. ELK-248 Elkar. L.G.: SS 884-1990 D.

TREBITSCH, R. (biltz.) (2003). The Collections of Rudolf Trebitsch. Basque recordings 1913 [2CD]. OEAW PHA CD 15 Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.

YUS, M. E. (zuz.), BANDA DE TXISTULARIS DE LA DIPUTACIÓN DE VITORIA. (1962). Banda de Txistularis de la Diputación de Vitoria [EP]. Columbia ECGE 70482. L.G.: SS-462-1962.

THE XIRULA

BEDAXAGAR, Jean Mixel. (1983). Xiberoa. Elkar. ELK-59.

(1995). BEDASAGAR. Fonti Musicali. Traditions du Monde. fmd 208.

BEDAXAGAR, Jean-Michel. (2018). Aitzina pika. Ozaze: Suazia.

BELTRAN ARGIÑENA, Juan Mari. (2017). Soinu-tresnak Euskal Herri Musikan. 1985-2010. Elkar-Soinuenea Fundazioa. KD DVD-E 968.

BORDAZARRE ETXAHUN IRURI, P. (1972). Zuberoa 1 [LP]. Herrikoi musika sorta 4. HG 29 L Edigsa/Herri Gogoa. L.G.: B 4688-1972.

BORDAZARRE ETXAHUN IRURI, P. (1972). Zuberoa 2 [LP]. Herrikoi musika sorta 6. HG 37 LP Edigsa/Herri Gogoa. L.G.: B 21293-1972.

BORDAZARRE ETXAHUN IRURI, P. & AGER GARAT-ARHANE, P. (1972). Zuberoko Maskarada [LP]. Herrikoi musika sorta 11. HG-49 L Edigsa/Herri Gogoa. L.G.: B-41421-1972.

ETXEKOPAR, M., LALUBIN, S., JOSUE, C., ETXEBEST, B. & ETXART, N. (1988). Xiberoko dantza jauziak 1: musique traditionelle instrumentale de Soule [K]. 7K. Uhaitza, Muskildi.

ETXEKOPAR, M., JOSUE, C., ETXEBEST, B., BAUDOUIN, J., GOURDEBAIGT, A., TISNÉ, J.F., GUIRESSE, A., ETXEBARNE, B., ETXART, N., EPHERRE, DOMINIQUE, QUEHEILLE, B. (1992). Xiberoko dantza jauziak 2: musique traditionelle instrumentale de Soule [K]. 7K. Euskal Dantzarien Biltzarra, Muskildi.

TREBITSCH, R. (biltz.) (2003). The Collections of Rudolf Trebitsch. Basque recordings 1913 [2CD]. OEAW PHA CD 15 Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.

Filmography

BASTERRETXEA, N. & LARRUQUERT, F. (1968). Ama lur / Tierra madre. Euskadiko Filmategia.

BELTRAN ARGIÑENA, J. M. (2017). Soinu-tresnak Euskal Herri Musikan. 1985-2010. Elkar-Soinuenea Fundazioa. KD DVD-E 968.

CARO BAROJA, J. & P. (1971). Navarra. Las cuatro estaciones. Gobierno de Navarra. 1994.

(1979). Gipuzkoa. Gipuzkoa-Donostia Kutxa.

LARRUKERT, F. (1978). Euskal Herri-musika. Euskadiko filmategia.