WHAT
IS S'ALBAIDA
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WHAT
IS S'ALBAIDA
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S'Albaida is a group of young musicians that are involved in a task centred either in the recuperation of antique melodies and romances arising from, basically, Minorcan tradition, as in the recreation of them and the setting of music essentially new. One of the features which characterizes the group is the eagerness in finding a sound of ours, with the wish of doing a present-day music, beginning from what the popular tradition originally offers us (kept in compilations and song books, poetry books and others), and also in the most poetical creation. We believe that the menorquinity is being evident in many fields, from the proper cultural manifestation until the day-by-day matters done in Minorcan ways, and this is what we try to transmit, opening other points of view towards what other cultures offer us, as well.
It is here where the idea of Mediterranity comes out. The basins of this sea have been in contact by maritime ways from ancient times. It is certainly undeniable the cultural interchange between those different areas, even more if we talk about Minorca, situated just in the middle of the Occidental Mediterranean. This influence is the one we pretend to get reflected in our compositions. The influence of Arab music, some Greek references or the resonance of some flamenc traces are clear examples of that Mediterranean influence we have talked about before.
The chosen instruments give to the group a definite feature. The acoustic and those instruments that give a character to this proposal of Mediterranean music are the ones we think fit best to our work. The resultant music then, is of a great variety considering the opening of the influences (which is at the same time the one which offers us the tradition properly speaking and also represents the sound and the unmistakeable work of S'Albaida.
The group S'Albaida has an important song's repertory, coming them from different sources. The basic background lies on Minorcan tradition and it is treated in different ways. So, we can find different types of songs depending on that treatment. On the other hand, there are some which have arrived via tradition through book songs, or that are simply known and that have already been sung by other people, so the group makes a version of its own. It would be the case of "Romanç de na Cecilia, "For a de sa ciutat" or "Es forat endemoniat". Another similar case would be the case of Ses "Caramelles" variety song which was sung at the beginning of the century by the Maonesa Pilar Alonso.
Another group of songs would be those ones whose letters and the main melodies have been kept. Thus, the work added afterwards has been doing a whole composition that finishes the song, adding the instrumentation, arranging the piece, introducing the soloists and all these parts which remain at the beginning, at the end, in the middle of the strophe that have to be sung, the changes of rhythm, of compass…The examples are "Sa nit de Sant Joan", "Sant Antoni I el dimoni", "L'amo de Son Carabassa". With it the themes get the vitality we want to give to them.
In other cases, what comes from tradition is only the letters of the songs, the strophes, whereas the music is a creation of S'Albaida on the hole.
It is a material taken out of the book songs, to which a melody and some arrangements have been adapted. It is the case of songs such "L'amo en Xec ", "Tabac de pota", "Jota per un dia de San Jordi", "Clavellet", "Fandango polit", "Glosat fandanguer", or "Fa set segles". In some cases the texts do not come from songbooks, but are present-day poems, like are "Romanç dels Infinitius", "Guaita el sud" or "A un vell Ullastre". There is also the case of a song made letter and music by a component of the group, named "Es Gorg d'Albranca, bases in an old Minorcan legend.
Finally, there is a series of songs which are instrumented pieces done by the group, as "Fandango per al Sud", "Bolero des pouets", "S'Espiga" or "Davallant de Santa Agueda". This last one includes a text created by a present-day author, as well. Therefore on the whole, the repertory tries to be quite diverse, so different rhythms and music styles have a place into it. We want to make a wide walk though tradition, and broaden it still more with our contribution.
Another fact that characterizes us is our compromise with a wide cultural project. On one side we try to open ourselves towards the equality and the understanding between different cultures, thus our implication into the Mediterranean music. On the other side, we vindicate a Menorquinity as an exponent of the cultural catalanism. The territories, in which the Catalan is spoken, have got a link between them that is forgotten many times and it is necessary to be aware of it. Due to this project, we must not stop in trying to keep our identity, the present one, in the way of being and doing things our ancestors did. We have inherited an essentially rural society with a structure being now very far away from us, indeed, but to some extent we still feel belonging to it. That old society though practically extinguished nowadays, came nevertheless, keeping on customs, musics, and melodies that date from old times and are, as we understand it, very valuable for they hide behind them a particular way of being. It is not only about an old and rural society, but also the memory of a Menorca with a projection in the future, cradle of important literary people and fighting for its freedom; all this is also present in our work. This material is, thus, the one we try to recuperate from the graves of the oblivion and offer it to a wide public, after having passed it through a process of arrangement and revision but leaving intact the conditions of the language as it has been kept. We always keep in mind that the language is the most important sign of our identity and of our richness. There are songs that are real treasures, in what concerns to the preservation of some linguistic uses, which are the manifestation of a palpable richness of the language.
The book songs the ones written for example, by Francesc d'Albranca, Andreu Ferrer, Llorenç Galmes or Deseado Mercadal, are the main points of reference to us. The glosses, the strophes or antique songs, those texts of a more popular type, nourish a great part of the compositions of S'Albaida. Another place the letters of our music come from too, are from the compositions of present Minorcan poets, as Pere Xerxa, Ponç Pons, Antoni Catala o Antoni Deig. The poetry gives a sense to the common people of any place and that is why we decided to set the compositions of our best poets to music. It is what proves that the Minorcan common people do not live only from memories, but also go on manifestating themselves totally in force.