In celebration of folk cultures around Europe
Compiled without regard to expense or the feelings of the public
On a roll after my Euro 24 folk playlists for the 24 teams and then for the quarter-finals, here’s another niche selection of funky tracks for the semi-finals! Having covered some bagpipe traditions, I might have gone on to highlight shawms (suitably loud, and widespread), but this playlist (partly derived from previous posts, with some new material) is based on singing and fiddling.
Whatever your feelings about football, just in case you suppose this exercise is a frivolous diversion from weightier matters, it makes an instructive and inspiring reminder of the diversity of European cultures!
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For Spain, for all its wealth of regional styles (e.g. Songs of Valencia and Festive soundscapes of the Rioja), one can never have enough flamenco (and the documentary series Rito y geografïa del cante is not to be missed!)—here are a few classics from my series.
- A saeta for Holy Week sung by Niña de los Peines in 1920:
- The Utrera sisters with Diego del Gastor:
- Agujetas el Viejo singing martinetes, 1976:
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As to France, even I might hesitate to try out Boulez or Messiaen on a football crowd; Un homme et une femme and Comment te dire adieu are tempting, but here I suggest
- Barbara Pravi—not least in homage to French multiculturalism, which the French team embody while denouncing the rise of the far-right:
If it’s folk traditions you’re after (Yeah right—Ed.), then how about
- the world of fiddlers around the Dauphiné in the southeastern Hautes-Alpes, accomoanying the rigodon dance—here’s the CD France “Rigodon sauvage”—Alpes du Sud: Dauphiné (Ocora, 1995): *
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England: more singing with fiddles (from this post on the doyens of the English folk scene)—
- here’s Eliza Carthy and the Ratcatchers, with John Boden and John Spiers of Bellowhead:
Saka is a player you just love to see have these moments, to smile, to remind you […] that this is still at bottom a matter of play, joy, fun, and invention.
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Now don’t get me wrong, I love the Dutch; I should really make an effort with their folk cultures, although recordings (mainly from Friesland) such as Jaap Kunst‘s 1956 LP seem less than enthralling (playlist here, or this clip from a 1963 disc, with images). I’m all for doorstep anthropology, but one can imagine Kunst finding Indonesia a more stimulating fieldsite, and I can see why Antoinet Schimmelpennick set off for China. Still, personal taste isn’t really the brief of the ethnographer.
All the same, in my self-appointed capacity as referee I’m going to overrule the Netherlands’ second-half goals and pretend Turkey won—because they have been the stars of the tournament, and it feels like they’ve been playing at home. So first,
- an early Gastarbeiter song, again protesting racism:
Another reason for me to bend the rules is because Turkey has some amazing music. Whereas modern France is multicultural, my other choice for Turkey reflects a multicultural past:
- the amane songs of old Istanbul and Asia Minor (cf. Road to rebetika), often accompanied by fiddle, as in this suitably plaintive song by Zehra Bilir:
Well I guess that’s about it for tonght folks! Now read on for those Alpine fiddlers…
* Archive recordings are heard on the 1978 LP Violoneux et chanteurs traditionnels du Dauphiné—cf. Le violon traditionel en France (Silex, 1994, with notes by Patrick Mazellier).
The tracks from 1939, on the eve of war, were recorded by Roger Dévigne (1885–1965):
The 26th—telegram from the Vice-Chancellor: “Come back immediately”. Mr Jouan Nicola arrived at the same time as the telegram: “I’m here to help you dismantle your recording equipment” he told me. From outside came the continuous rumble of coaches leaving packed with soldiers called up. Off to the station. Long queues of soldiers called up from the mountains, each with his cardboard suitcase…
Additional items were recorded from 1975 to 1977, featuring the veteran fiddlers Emile “Milou” Escalle (1900–1987), Augustin Istier (1906–89), and Camille Roussin-Bouchard (1909–90).
The more fanatical football supporter may wish to delve into the fine site violoneux.fr.
Detail of map showing distribution of fiddle traditions in France!
For a less voluminous introduction to regional styles, click here—citing an 1821 decree:
It is forbidden to all fiddlers or other instruments forming any gathering around [feasts], they could become responsible for the evil that would result and need to be arrested by order of the Mayor.
Such sources reflect on the long decline of the traditional context of social dance.
Not so much an impromptu pre-match party as
a rigodon at Saint-Pierre-de-Méarotz, Isère, July 1908. Source
(cf. the excellent title Le rigodon n’est pas un fromage!).
Stephen Jones: a blog 