![A modern model of Baghèt](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/A_modern_model_of_Bagh%C3%A8t.png)
The baghèt is a
bagpipe
Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, ...
historically played in
Bergamo, corresponding to the region of
Lombardy in modern Italy. It is a small double-reeded bagpipe with two drones, associated with rural musicians. The instrument became defunct in the mid-20th century, but is now played by some revivalists.
History
Even if certainly much older, the baghèt's existence is attested by the end of 14th century in a
fresco in the castle of
Bianzano
Bianzano ( Bergamasque: ) is a ''comune'' in the province of Bergamo, in Lombardy, Italy. It is above sea level and lies on a little plateau between Cavallina and Seriana valleys. The village boasts a historic center, having kept its original str ...
. Other representations are
Malpaga Castle
The Malpaga Castle (Italian: ''Castello di Malpaga'') is a castle in the communal territory of Cavernago, a village in the province of Bergamo, northern Italy. Its main features are the interior rooms frescoed by the Renaissance painter Il Roma ...
in
Piario
Piario (Bergamasque: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Bergamo in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and about northeast of Bergamo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 990 and an are ...
in the church of St. Augustine in
Bergamo, in the ''Dance Macabre'' by
Simon Baschenis in the church of San Vigilio,
Pinzolo
Pinzolo ( Lombard: ''Pinsöl'') is a small town and ''comune'' situated in Val Rendena in Trentino in the northern Italian Alps at an elevation of . The Church of Saint Vigilius of Trent stands in the town.
It is mainly known as a ski resort du ...
(in Val Rendena province of Trento). The instruments played in iconographic sources all have a
chanter to play the melody, as well as a
drone
Drone most commonly refers to:
* Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg
* Unmanned aerial vehicle
* Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft
* Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone
Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to:
...
, which rests on the shoulder. In several pictures the bagpipes is accompanied by a
bombard __NOTOC__
Bombard may refer to the act of carrying out a bombardment. It may also refer to:
Individuals
*Alain Bombard (1924–2005), French biologist, physician and politician; known for crossing the Atlantic on a small boat with no water or food
...
.
Abundant evidences in iconography and texts suggest that a similar
bagpipe
Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, ...
was used in the surroundings of
Brescia
Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo ...
and
Verona
Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...
, even if no instrument seems to be found.
The baghèt was primarily a rural instrument, played during the winter season when work was slow, until the festival of
Epiphany
Epiphany may refer to:
* Epiphany (feeling), an experience of sudden and striking insight
Religion
* Epiphany (holiday), a Christian holiday celebrating the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ
** Epiphany season, or Epiph ...
when it would be put away until the next winter. The instrument was primarily produced locally, and often passed down father to son. Seven original baghèts, not all complete, were discovered in the modern era in
val Gandino and
val Seriana
The Serio ( Lombard: ''Sère'') is an Italian river that flows entirely within Lombardy, crossing the provinces of Bergamo and Cremona. It is long and flows into the Adda at Bocca di Serio south of Crema
Crema or Cremas may refer to: ...
; the oldest of them had been handed down in the same family of players since 1870.
The Bergamo bagpipes were virtually abandoned in the social disorder of the mid-1950s, according to research by Valter, the last player baghèt was Giacomo Ruggeri Casnigo (1905–1990). The city council of
Casnigo
Casnigo ( Bergamasque: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Bergamo in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and about northeast of Bergamo.
Casnigo borders the following municipalities: Gandino, C ...
has claimed the title "homeland of the baghét".
The instrument was considered extinct, per the ethnomusicologist
Roberto Leydi
Roberto Leydi (21 February 1928, in Ivrea – 15 February 2003, in Milan) was an Italian ethnomusicologist.
He started his career in the field of contemporary music and jazz, and in the 1950s started his research into the social significance of ...
in his 1979 publication ''The bagpipes in Europe''. However, since the 1980s new research carried out by the composer
Valter Biella led to the discovery of some surviving pipes. Biella, together with Luciano Carminati, nephew of the musician Ruggeri, and other enthusiasts founded a baghèt association with the aim to restore the bagpipe traditions of the province of Bergamo.
Construction
The bagpipe consists of:
Description of the instrument
at IlBaghet.altervista.org.
* A small bag, thus the term ''baghèt'' ("little bag"). It is made of goat or sheep leather, first shaved and then folded the left side of the hair inside, and then sewn;
* A melody chanter, double-reeded, with the range of an octave in the key of A major
* A tenor drone, playing an octave below the chanter
* A bass drone, playing two octaves below the chanter, with a single-reed
* A blowpipe, used to inflate the bag by mouth
Etymology and variants
The term ''baghèt'' was the most used, but there were also the names of ''la pìa'' or the ''il pia baghèt''. The player was called ''bagheter''.
According to testimonies collected by the "baghèt" was present in Imagna valley in val Gandino in Valtorta in the middle and upper val Seriana
The Serio ( Lombard: ''Sère'') is an Italian river that flows entirely within Lombardy, crossing the provinces of Bergamo and Cremona. It is long and flows into the Adda at Bocca di Serio south of Crema
Crema or Cremas may refer to: ...
, although probably the instrument had different forms, while retaining the same name.
See also
* :lmo:Bèrghem Baghèt, a Lombardy pipe-band
References
External links
Official website
of the baghet organisation
Il baghèt e altri strumenti della tradizione bergamasca
Description of the baghet on KNOL
Sources
Monographs
*Valter Biella, ''Baghèt o piva delle Alpi'', A.R.P.A, Bergamo 1984;
*Valter Biella, ''Ricerca sulla piva nel bergamasco'' Università degli studi di Bologna – DAMS, Bologna 1985;
*Valter Biella, ''Il baghèt un'antica tradizione bergamasca'', Villadiseriane, Bergamo 1988;
*Valter Biella,"''L'uso della cornamusa berghamasca "baghèt" con un nuovo repertorio di musiche tradizionali''", Zanniniziative, Ranica (Bergamo), 1989;
*Valter Biella, ''Legno corteccia e canna'', Sistema bibliotecario urbano di Bergamo, 1993;
*Valter Biella, ''Il baghèt, la cornamusa bergamasca'', Meridiana, Bergamo 2000.
*Febo Guizzi, ''Guida alla musica popolare in Italia. 3. Gli strumenti'', Libreria Musicale Italiana, Lucca 2002, p.226;
*Maurizio Pandolfi (con la collaborazione di Pierangelo Gabbiadini da Bagnatica), ''Metodo per lo studio della cornamusa bergamasca (baghèt)'', Cel-isa edizioni musicali, Bagnatica 2007.
*Pierangelo Gabbiadini da Bagnatica, ''L' In Canto del baghèt'', Raccolta di danze, canti, e nuove composizioni originali per baghèt, percussioni ed altri strumenti rievocativi. Dal medioevo all'oggi arrangiati e/o composti dall'autore.
Articles
* Giuliano Grasso, in ''Symposium international sur la Cornemuse'' (atti convegno, 17 settembre 1988, La Haye, Pays Bas), Stichting Volkmuzieck Nederland, Utrecht 1989, pp.55-57;
* Valter Biella, "Le note del baghèt portavano il lieto annuncio di valle in valle", inserto del quotidiano ''L'Eco di Bergamo
''L'Eco di Bergamo'' is an Italian language daily newspaper published in Bergamo, Italy. The paper has been in circulation since 1880.
History and profile
''L'Eco di Bergamo'' was established by the Sesa company in 1880. Its publisher is SESAA ...
'', 23 dicembre 1989;
* Valter Biella, "Parliamo di baghèt", in ''FB Folk bulletin'', nuova serie, anno III, n° 8, ottobre 1991;
* Valter Biella, "Il baghèt, la piva delle valli bergamasche", in Mauro Gioielli (a cura di), ''La zampogna, Gli aerofoni a sacco in Italia'', Cosmo Iannone Editore, Isernia, 2005 (), I, pp. 1–22;
*Paolo Mercurio, ''Valter Biella maestro di baghèt, liutaio, suonatore e attivo promotore etnomusicale della cultura del Bergamasco'', in “BF magazine”, aprile 2014, n.149;
*Paolo Mercurio, ''Valter Biella, il baghèt, la ricerca, la promozione musicale'', in “Amici della Musica Popolare”, Milano 2014, pp. 113-125
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baghet
Culture in Bergamo
Bagpipes
Italian musical instruments