EncyclopediaPAN FLUTES

Panpipes are wind instruments made of tubes of different sizes arranged in a row. In the Basque Country there are two known types of panpipes, mainly from the 19^th century and the turn of the 20^th century: boxwood flutes and those made with cane tubes.

Either made of boxwood or cane, this type of flute is held with one hand (or two), the lips are placed against the mouths of the pipes or upper rim, and blowing directs the air to the edges of the holes. Each tube emits the corresponding sound according to its length.

BOXWOOD PANPIPES

It is a semi-trapezoidal boxwood splint with vertical holes of different lengths. The lower end is usually in the shape of a bird's head.

In the San Telmo Museum collection there is a flute of this type, with the name of Basque goatherd whistle and gelders. This is the description given in the museum card (Beltran, 1997, 54-55): “It is a piece of boxwood, the upper half of which is quadrangular in shape and the lower half semi-trapezoidal. At the lower end, the handle of the piece is in the shape of a bird's head. At the top it has eleven vertical holes of different lengths, giving eleven notes, from bottom to top, from D#2 to F#3".

The bird's head shape to hold it is significant. It is a very common shape on flute handles on both sides of the Pyrenees, from the Basque Country to the Mediterranean. In the area from Cantabria to Portugal, in most cases the hand grips are in the shape of a horse's head.

Basque goatherd and gelders whistle from the San Telmo Museum collection. (Photo: JMBA)

HISTORY

Nowadays, panpipes are not used in our popular music, but in the past —until the beginning of the 20^th century— goatherds and gelders used boxwood flutes, and in some areas boys and girls played flutes of this type made of cane.

In his book Die Völker Europas (1926), in the section devoted to the Basque people, the German ethnologist Richard Karutz mentioned a number of musical instruments, including the panpipes, under the name "panflöte". It has 8 holes for intonation and, like the rest of this type, the handle is in the shape of a bird's head. R. Karutz made this annotation: "The other musical instruments are: the compact panpipes (pipe of pan no. 9), the flute with tubular mouthpiece (flute no. 2), the oboe with fluted pipe and vibrating brass reed (oboe no. 3)"¹.

Basque pipes of pan in the book by R. Karutz. (Source: Karutz, 2016, p. 125)

We have been able to gather information on the crafts related to these flutes from various written documents and also, mainly, through the fieldwork we have carried out². This type of flute is associated with the ancient trades of goatherd and gelder.

The goatherds used a called "dula" to take the goats that the villagers entrusted to them for their care to the meadows near the village. They played the flute or some other instrument at two different times of the day, to give one warning or another: first, when they went out to pasture, to gather the goats they had to take with them, and then when they returned to the village, so that each neighbour could collect their herd.

Gelders also played this type of flute when they arrived in the villages, to let people know they were there. This allowed the local people to prepare the animals for them.

Very similar to the musical instruments we have mentioned are the flutes of the knife sharpeners of Galicia, which can still be heard today; they are used to let people know they are arriving. The main difference is the shape of the handle, which we have already noted: in the Pyrenees it has the shape of a bird's head and in the area from Santander (Cantabria) to Portugal it has a horse’s head. In Galicia these flutes are called by different names: flauta de afiadores, flauta de paragueiro and flauta de capadores.

HISTORICAL EXAMPLES

IN THE BASQUE COUNTRY

We have seen some old pipes of pan used in the Basque Country that have been preserved in various places:

GOATHERD'S WHISTLE FROM THE SAN TELMO MUSEUM IN DONOSTIA-SAN SEBASTIAN

There is a flute of this type in the San Telmo Museum collection in Donostia-San Sebastian (Gipuzkoa). The information contained in its file card is interesting (Beltran, 1997, 54): "Goatherd's whistle. Inv. No. E. 000843. Donated by Telésforo Aranzadi in 1920 with this note: Goatherd's whistle. Made in Oloron from boxwood. Used by goatherds in the French Basque Country and also by gelders in many villages and places in the Basque Country. Order No.: zz 3205 tz. 843. Date of entry: 15 june 1920”

Goatherd's whistle from the San Telmo Museum in Donostia-San Sebastian. (Source: EMSIME)³

The sleeve reads: “12 October 1885. Piola.”

It has 11 holes. When we tried it, with the first (longest) hole we got the note A#2 +10, the lowest note it gives, and with the last (shortest) hole, F#3.

Drawing of the flute, dimensions, pitches... (Author: JMBA)

THE ANCIENT FLUTE OF THE 'KERESTUAK' OF GOTEIN

The musician from Gotein-Libarrenx Mixel Etxekopar owns an old set of panpipes. In the masquerades in Soule, the kerestuak (gelders) played these flutes to let people know of their arrival. The kerestuak castrated Zamaltzain, one of the characters in the masquerades.

Here is the information Mixel himself gave us about this flute⁴:

The flute of the kerestuak or Kestuen Xirula (which is how I first saw it named in the masquerades, hanging around the necks of these characters) was given to me by Julien Lougarot, the grandfather of my wife Nicole Lougarot and father of the former singer from Gotein-Libarrenx Arnaud Lougarot (who played King Sancho the Wise in the 1963 Gotein pastoral).

Julien Lougarot was from Roquiague (Arrokiaga). He was born in 1901, in the Hegiluz family house... I don't know where he got it from...

Ever since I was young I have seen and heard it at masquerades. It was used by the kerestuak when arriving at the square, with the same function as that of the Xorrotxek on the Spanish side of the border. As far as I know, they stopped using it and it disappeared.

In Bearn, I heard the name "Chioulet deu Crabèr" (goatherd's whistle). I have also heard that a beautiful drawing of it appears in the Ossau valley, carved on a lintel, but I don't know exactly where⁵.

It has 14 holes with a 5.2 mm diameter, with these sizes and tones, arranged from left to right:

Boxwood flute (panpipe) of the kerestuak (gelders) of Gotein. (Photo: JMBA)

Height 11,5 cm

Length 9,3 cm

Thickness 1,0 cm

PANPIPE FROM THE BASQUE MUSEUM IN BAYONNE (FLÛTE DE PAN - “SYRINX”)

In the collection of the Basque Museum of Bayonne there is also a panpipe. It's made of wood and has 11 holes.

Pipes of pan in the Basque Museum in Bayonne⁶. (Photo: © Musée Basque et de l’histoire de Bayonne)

OUTSIDE THE BASQUE COUNTRY

Outside the Basque Country we also find flutes of this type among the instruments brought from here. We are aware of the following.

PANPIPE FROM THE MUSÉE DE L'HOMME (SALON DE LA MUSIQUE) IN PARIS

In the exhibition of the Salon de la musique of the Musée de l'Homme in Paris there was a set of Basque pipes of pan. When we visited in 1986, it was forbidden to take photos, so we drew it and copied the accompanying information⁷. We do not know where this piece may be today; perhaps it is in the collection of the Musée de la Musique in Paris.

The flute had 9 holes, but, as can be seen in the drawing, its structure was special. On the bass side, on the side of the long tube, the flute was split from top to bottom by a hole. We believe that the cut would have been made through the last hole and that it would originally have had 10 holes, although we cannot be sure. Perhaps two orifices were missing.

Information compiled by J. M. Beltran in Le salon de musique of the Musée de l'Homme in 1986 on the Basque panpipe and another Estonian musical instrument.

PANPIPE FROM THE HORNIMAN MUSEUM IN LONDON

In the Horniman Museum in London they have two or three flutes of this type, brought from the Basque Country. When we visited the museum in 1997 we were allowed to measure one of them, so that a replica could be made. We choose the one with the reference number "US/233". It was a 19^th-century instrument⁸. According to the museum register, it was used by gelders and knife sharpeners.

Photo: © Horniman Museum and Gardens.

Flute measurements (length of each of the 9 vertical holes with a 5.4 mm diameter) and other information. (Author: JMBA)

GENERAL MEASUREMENTS

Height 10,10 cm

Length 6,6 cm

Thickness 0,85 cm

Replica created from the measurements of the above-mentioned flute. JMBA collection, no. 672. (Photo: Soinuenea)

WOODEN AND METAL PANPIPES FROM THE PITT RIVERS MUSEUM, OXFORD

In the display case of the panpipes in the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford we find two flutes originating from the Basque Country, from the Pyrenees area (northern Basque Country).

Basque boxwood⁹ and tin¹⁰ pipes of pan on display in the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford. (Photo: JMBA)

(Photo: Pitt Rivers Museum)

PANPIPE FROM TREBITSCH COLLECTION OF THE VOLKSKUNDEMUSEUM, VIENNA

In the Volkskundemuseum (Folk Art Museum) in Vienna there is a collection of pieces that Dr. Rudolf Trebitsch brought from the Basque Country in 1913. Among other instruments in the collection is a panpipe made from a single piece of wood. It has twelve intonation holes. Apparently, these flutes were used by goatherds, herdsmen and knife sharpeners to let people know of their arrival.

According to the museum's file card, these are the characteristics of this flute:

Date of collection 1914

Date of manufacture 19^th century

Origin Euskal Herria

Place where it was used Saint Jean de Luz (Lapurdi). Lower Pyrenees

Length 9.1 cm

Height 12 cm

Panpipe from the Basque collection of Dr. Rudolf Trebitsch. (Photo: JMBA)

PANPIPE FROM THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON

The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (USA) has such a flute. The file card specifies that it is made of unvarnished boxwood, has 11 holes and a diatonic scale (C-F). It was apparently used by itinerant Basque dealers and came into the museum's collection in 1916¹¹.

(Photo: 2021 © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)

PANPIPES MADE WITH CANE TUBES

At the beginning of the 20^th century this type of flute was still being made for boys and girls in the villages of the Roncal Valley in Navarre. They did not usually have a specific number of holes and were made by stringing together sections of cane of different lengths in a line¹².

Children's flute created based on the explanations of Karlos Zabaltza, a native of Burgui. JMBA collection, no.1544. (Photo: Emovere – Soinuenea)

(On this page you can see the comment on the piece in the play called Performance with a gelder's whistle, and you can hear this flute)

ICONOGRAPHY

Navarre

OLÓRIZ-ETXANO, VALDORBA

HERMITAGE OF SAN PEDRO DE ETXANO

The Romanesque chapel of San Pedro stands in the uninhabited village of Etxano, in the Navarrese municipality of Olóriz; its iconography features a large number of musicians. On the central archivolt of the main entrance there is a figure playing an instrument that cannot be clearly identified. It seems that it may be a siringa or panpipe.

Panpipe player in Olóriz-Etxano. (Photo: JMBA)

REFERENCES

¹ “Andere Musikinstrumente sind die massive Panflöte, die Flöte mit Röhrenmundstück (2. flöte), die Oboe mit geschlitztem Rohr und vibrierender Messingzunge (3. oboe).” (Karutz, 2016, p. 125).

² In Gotein, Ordiarp, Falces, Alberite de Iregua and Tierra Estella, among others. Fernando Jalón and Juan Mari Beltran were told by José Jalón and Marina Jalón, Fernando's uncles and aunt (both born around 1925 and interviewed on 20 May 1998) that horse catchers came from Santo Domingo de la Calzada and played this type of whistle, made of boxwood with a bird’s head. Although Alberite de Iregua is a village in La Rioja, it is very close to Navarre and the gelders who visited that village also went to Viana and Mendavia.

³ Source: https://apps.euskadi.eus/emsime/katalogoa/museoa-museo-san-telmo-/izenburua-ahuntzainentxilibitua/objektua-silbato-/ciuVerFicha/museo-43/ninv-E-000843 (Consulted on 20/08/2021)

⁴ Interview with Mixel Etxekopar by Juan Mari Beltran in 2019.

⁵ Original transcription:

“Kestuen Xirula (hala izendatua ikusi bainuen lehen aldiz maskaradetan, Kestuen lepotik zintzilik), Julien Lougarotek eman zidan. Hau da Nicole Lougarot ene emaztearen aitona, Arnaud Lougarot Gotaineko kantari ohiaren aita (Zantxo Azkarra egin zuena Gotaineko pastoralean 1963ean).

Julien Lougarot Arrokiaga herrikoa zen, 1901ean han sortua, Hegiluz izeneko etxean... Ez dakit nontik eskuratu zuen berak...

Maskaradetan gaztetxo nintzanetik ikusi eta entzuten nuen, Kestuek plaza hartzean erabiltzen zuten, Espainian Xorrotxek bezalako funtzioan. Gero utzi zuten erabiltzen eta desagertu zen, dakidanaz.

Biarnon "Chioulet deu Crabèr" izena entzun nuen (Ahuntzainaren xirolarrus). Entzun dut ere marrazki eder hori Ossau ibarrean agertzen dela ategain batetan harrian zizelkaturik, baina ez dakit non zuzen.”

⁶ Source: https://basenationale.philharmoniedeparis.fr/doc/BASENATIONALE/0871943/flute-de-pan-syrinx (Consulted on 18/08/2021)

⁷ It read as follows: “Niveau D- Milhaud. Neuf tuyaux forés dans une plaque de bois / Pays Basque / 35.31.1 (don Belthus)”.

⁸ Information gathered during the visit of J. M. Beltran and F. Jalón to the Horniman Museum in London in 1997.

⁹ To see the museum's file: https://objects.prm.ox.ac.uk/pages/PRMUID22114.html.

¹⁰ To see the museum's file: https://objects.prm.ox.ac.uk/pages/PRMUID22113.html.

¹¹ Source: https://collections.mfa.org/objects/50383/panpipes-fieould?ctx=6 3194fe-5e6b-4e54-bde5258517e15cd2&idx=6.

¹² Interviews with Karlos Zabaltza by J. M. Beltran in Burgui in 1998 and on 17 October 1999.

SOURCES

Bibliography

BELTRAN ARGIÑENA, J. M. (1996). Soinutresnak euskal herri musikan. Orain.

BELTRAN ARGIÑENA, J. M. (1997). San Telmo Museoko soinu eta hots tresnak. Cuadernos de Sección. Folklore. 6 zk. Eusko Ikaskuntza.

KARUTZ, R. (1926). Die Völker Europas. Paderborn: Salzwasser Verlag, facsimile, 2016.