Genetics
An interesting fact is that the Basque people have the highest concentration of people with O type blood and Rhesus Negative blood which carries the possibility of pregnancy problems.
Sailors
The Basque people are excellent seafarers. Juan Sebastian Elcano was the first person to complete a circumnavigation of the world. In fact, the Basque people were some of the first to make the travel from Europe to the New World as recurring customers through the 16th and 18th centuries. They would set up camps to fish and hunt for whales during the summer. The Basque's interest in the New World was purely commercial.
Music
In order to understand how Basque music began, we must first look at the history of the Basque people. With the Basque Country stretching across both Spain and France the people enjoy the benefits of living in both countries, however, the Basque people see their country as independent to the two countries. The Basque people are constantly torn between incorporation and independence. Consequently, the Basque people were fighting harder than ever to keep their traditions and language protected.
An interesting fact is that the Basque people have the highest concentration of people with O type blood and Rhesus Negative blood which carries the possibility of pregnancy problems.
Sailors
The Basque people are excellent seafarers. Juan Sebastian Elcano was the first person to complete a circumnavigation of the world. In fact, the Basque people were some of the first to make the travel from Europe to the New World as recurring customers through the 16th and 18th centuries. They would set up camps to fish and hunt for whales during the summer. The Basque's interest in the New World was purely commercial.
Music
In order to understand how Basque music began, we must first look at the history of the Basque people. With the Basque Country stretching across both Spain and France the people enjoy the benefits of living in both countries, however, the Basque people see their country as independent to the two countries. The Basque people are constantly torn between incorporation and independence. Consequently, the Basque people were fighting harder than ever to keep their traditions and language protected.
The 19th century marked
an important time for the Basque culture. In this time large choirs that sang traditional
songs and melodies in the Basque language, Euskara, began to rise. This time
also brought about the preservation of rural music and instruments such as the
txalaparta (a hammered wooden plank) and the alboka (a goat’s horn). Despite
every attempt made by the Franco regime to exterminate the customs and language
of the Basque people they failed and many of the music has been preserved.
The most popular traditional Basque
music is trikitrixa which is accordion style music. This music tends to be
fast-paced and quite elaborate. Some musicians have begun to incorporate new
styles of music in with the traditional music. However, French Basque music has
not been as creative.
Rural poetry is another oral Basque tradition.
This poetry is not generally written down. Instead, the poets create the poems
on the spot and it is more improvised.
Nickson, Chris
Basque Music Music. Electronic Document,
http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com, accessed July 12, 2013.
The Basque people held onto their traditions for as long as they could and they succeeded against all odds. Like many other cultures that have been forced to protect their traditions, the Basque people turned to music to help get them through the bad times and it was also an important part of their culture to preserve. While reading about this I instantly thought of the African Americans and their spirituals that helped them succeed in the Underground Railroad. This is not exactly the same concept, but the spirituals kept the African Americans unified and gave them encouragement much like the necessity of the Basque people to preserve their music. It kept them unified against the Spanish government and gave them hope that their customs would survive.
ReplyDeleteIn a sense the Spanish government was practicing cultural imperialism by trying to eliminate the Basque customs and language and replace it with their own. However, the Spanish government did not succeed. Another concept I noticed among the Basque music was collaboration of the traditional music and the influence of new western style music.