EncyclopediaZarrabetea (hurdy-gurdy, zanfona)

The zarrabete is a rubbed chordophone.

Description of the instrument

Among the strings, some give the melody (singers) and others give the pedal note (basses); the amount of strings can vary from one instrument to another. In some hurdy-gurdies there is also another string called "dog", which has a bridge-like mechanism to mark the rhythm. On the other hand, modern hurdy-gurdies can also have sympathetic strings which sound without being directly touched.

The soundboard and windows can have different shapes.

Way of playing

The player turns the crank with one hand, which operates the wheel that rubs the strings, while the other hand plays the notes on a keyboard. The musician usually plays seated, with the instrument on his lap.

History

The hurdy-gurdy has been quite widespread in Europe and is said to be a descendant of the 10th century organistrum. It has been related to blind singers and to the genre called "literatura de cordel." It was also played to accompany romances and recitations.

Instruments of this type have existed in almost all countries of Europe. Also in the Basque Country the hurdy-gurdy appears in old documents, until the 19th Century. Today it has disappeared from our music, but it continues to be played in neighboring countries.

In the citations that we have found, this instrument appears with various s: zarrabete, cerrebete, sarrabete, charrabetero, gayta zamorana, symphony ...

The term also appears in Felipe Pedrell's Technical Dictionary of Music (1894):

“Zarrabete. V. Chinfonía. // Chinfonia. A kind of viola that sounds turning a stork. // There is a portion of s that are applied, indistinctly, producing great confusion, to the Cornamusa or Galician Gaita wind instrument and to the aforementioned, string, Rota, Viola, Symphony, Samsonia, Synfonía or Chinfoxía, being mentioned some and others with the s of Zamphonia, Cinfonía, Samsonia, Sampsonia, Symphonia, Faufogna, Sanfogna, Sinfonía, Zampoña, Zambougna, Zanfonía, Zarrabete and many others, among which is the vulgar burlesque Música Ratonera. " (pp. 516 and 80)

From the old documentation we extract the following information on its use in the Basque Country:

In the work of Jesús Ramos (1990) on the musicians attending the feasts of Pamplona, the following reference to this type of instrument appears, indicating the of the musician, instrument, origin of the musician and year:

• "Pedro Inchauspe - Symphony - Laguinza - 1788" (p. 111)

Father Donostia (1952) provides us with the following information:

"Zarrabete / ... / we see cited in “the famous Bilbao decade, / that is / Memory of the celebrations with which its very / illustrious City Council / has tried to give to SS. Mm./The Kings Our Lords / D. Fernando Séptimo / and Doña Josefa María Amalia / during their stay in this MN / and ML Villa on his way back to the court ” (1828) (p. 306): ..., and watch the drummers and bagpipes dance or zarrabetes to the innocent artisans ". (p. 283)

"Iztueta regrets that, in some town (Gipuzkoa), on the day of the Patron Saint young people go out to the public square as if it were carnival, without chistulari, playing trumpets, zarrabetes and other instruments of this type, simulating Turks by their costume and games ." (p. 418)

Iñaki Irigoien (1994) gives us a lot of news about the decline of the instrument. It includes the work "Lexicon bilbaíno" by Emilio de Arriaga: "Before, in pilgrimages, you saw a lot of sarrabete played by blind Galicians or Asturians, but the type of sarrabetero has almost disappeared. The mechanical piano player has come to replace it. One is worse than the other!". (P. 54)

In the article of this Encyclopedia dedicated to the guitar, in the information on this work by I. Irigoien (1994), we observe that in Markina in 1880, in addition to whistle, tambourine, guitars, and tambourines, zarrabete was also heard in the same pilgrimage (p. 31).

Iconography

If we investigate carefully, iconography can give us plenty of ancient information about the history of our music and instruments. In the churches of the Basque Country, several hurdy-gurdies appear along with other instruments of our popular music.

In Lapurdi, in the cathedral of Bayonne, in the atrium of the sacristy there are tambourines, arrabita, tambourine, bagpiper, hurdy-gurdy and other musicians.

Hurdy-gurdy of Bayona, 14th Century.

In Navarra we can also see a hurdy-gurdy in the cloister of the Cathedral of Pamplona.

Zarrabete from Pamplona, the 12th and 14th centuries.

In Estella, in the portico of the 12th century church of San Miguel, there are two pairs of organistrum-zarrabete.

Hurdy-gurdy-organistrum on the left side Hurdy-gurdy-organistrum on the right side

In the portico of the church of Santa María de Los Arcos-Uranzia there are also several musicians, and among them, a hurdy-gurdy:

Hurdy-gurdy of Los Arcos, 14th Century.

In Álava we can see it at the doors of the church of Santa María de Laguardia.

Hurdy-gurdy player of Laguardia, 14th Century.

In Bizkaia, on the facade of the 16th Century basilica of Our Lady of the Assumption of Lekeitio, you can see various musicians, including this hurdy gurdy-organistrum.

Hurdy-gurdy-organistrum of Lekeitio, 16th Century.

SOURCES

Bibliography

ARRIAGA, Emiliano de. (1896). Lexicón bilbaíno. Madrid: Minotauro, 1960.

BARAIBAR Y ZUMÁRRAGA, Federico. (1903). Vocabulario de palabras usadas en Álava. Madrid: Establecimiento Tipográfico de Jaime Ratés.

BARRUTIA, Pedro Ignacio. (1682-1759). Gabonetako ikuskizuna- Acto para la Nochebuena. Gasteiz: Arabako Foru Aldundia, 1983.

BELTRAN ARGIÑENA, Juan Mari. (1996). Soinutresnak euskal herri musikan. Hernani: Orain.

DONOSTIA, Aita. (1952). Instrumentos Musicales Populares Vascos. Obras Completas del P. Donostia. (II. alea, 257-309). Bilbo: Ed. La Gran Enciclopedia Vasca, 1983.

GOROSTIAGA, Eulogio de. (1930). Cantares populares recogidos en Zeanuri. Anuario de Eusko Folklore. Tomo X.

IRIGOIEN, Iñaki. (1994). Dultzaina-gaita Bizkaian. 'Bizkaiko Dultzaina-La dulzaina en Bizkaia'-n. Bizkaiko Foru Aldundia.

IZTUETA, Juan Ignacio de. (1824). Viejas Danzas de Guipúzcoa- Gipuzkoa'ko Dantza Gogoangarriak. Bilbao: La Gran Enciclopedia Vasca, 1968.

JIMENO JURIO, Jose María. (1987). Tamborines y gaiteros en Estella (Siglos XVI y XVII). Dantzariak, 40.

PEDRELL, Felipe. (1894). Diccionario Técnico de la Música. Serv. rep. de libros, Librerías Paris-Valencia. Facsimil. Valentzia, 1992.

RAMOS, Jesus. (1990). Materiales para la elaboración de un censo de músicos populares de Euskal Herria, a partir de los instrumentistas llegados a Iruñea en el Siglo XVIII. Cuadernos de Etnología y Etnografía de Navarra, 55 zk. 91-138 orr. Iruñea: Institución Principe de Viana.

URBELTZ, Juan Antonio. (1978). Dantzak. Bilbao: Ed.. Lankide Aurrezkia-Caja Laboral Popular.

Others

CARPINTERO, Pablo. (2010). Zanfona. Os instrumentos musicais na tradición galega [online]. http://www.consellodacultura.gal/asg/instrumentos/os-cordofonos/zanfona-zanfona/.