Europe by Country
Portugal
with thanks to Gwilym for his research
One of the earliest depictions of the pipe and tabor in the 13th century. 420 poems with musical notation, written in the medieval Galician-Portuguese language during the reign of Alfonso X of Castile El Sabio (1221–1284)
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The 3-holed pipe played in north-east part of Portugal, Miranda do Douro, is generally called the pastoral flute, (flauta pastoral, or ‘fraita’ in the Mirandes language). The tabor is a tamboril. There is an unbroken tradition in N E Portugal. Located on the border with Spain and part of Spain for a while, it has been geographically isolated from the rest of Portugal; so traditional rural culture was preserved here for longer.
The situations when the pipe and tabor can be seen today are firstly on religious occasions. There are specific tunes for going into mass, coming out of mass, processions for saints’ days and so on. Some villages have their own tunes which have persisted amongst folk musicians, despite official discouragement from the clerical authorities in the past. Secondly, the music accompanies folk dancing. Thirdly, the music is played on social occasions, in bars and social gatherings. [source]
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![]() drawing by van Roome |
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![]() showing wedding |
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With the border erased in the 1970’s as a result of the European Community, there now is much more coming and going between players in Spain and Portugal, | ![]() |
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The traditional musical line-up for most occasions follows a strict pattern of a trio consisting of either bagpipe or pipe and tabor, accompanied by a bass drum and a side drum. Since taborers did not play in groups together their pipes used to be in varied keys. More recently the keys are being standardised
Some bands play traditional instruments at folk concerts . | ![]() |
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‘Portuguese entertainment music from the countryside,’ This film shows different ways to relax together or to celebrate feasts. Musical instruments of the countryside accompany these events. ..... The pipe and tabor player, living along the border in Alentejo province, is also the musician for some feasts, as well as the band of the Beira province, called ‘Lavacoios,’ composed of men playing different kinds of drums and flutes. They perform in the streets in a procession. |
Women occasionally play the pipe
- Las Çaranda Cirigoça in 2014
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"The work seeks to preserve, for future memory, two of the most expressive musical traditions of Miranda do Douro, through the life stories of the drummers and the Mirandese frita, a three-hole flute also known as pastoral flute: in Portuguese" | ![]() |
another reseaarch visit: http://cfmb.icaap.org/content/33.3/BV33.3art13.pdf
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