The trikiti (

standard Basque Standard Basque ( eu, euskara batua or simply ''batua'') is a standardised version of the Basque language, developed by the Basque Language Academy in the late 1960s, which nowadays is the most widely and commonly spoken Basque-language version ...

, pronounced ) trikitixa ( dialectal Basque, pronounced ), or eskusoinu txiki ("little hand-sound", pronounced )) is a two-row

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

diatonic button accordion A melodeon or diatonic button accordion is a member of the free-reed aerophone family of musical instruments. It is a type of button accordion on which the melody-side keyboard contains one or more rows of buttons, with each row producing the ...

with right-hand rows keyed a fifth apart and twelve unisonoric bass buttons. The

onomatopoeia Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Such a word itself is also called an onomatopoeia. Common onomatopoeias include animal noises such as ''oink'', ''m ...

''trikitixa'', apparently stemming from the sound emitted by the

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...

, originally referred to a traditional Basque ensemble, made up of the instrument which now bears the name as well as

alboka The Basque ( es, albogue) is a single-reed woodwind instrument consisting of a single reed, two small diameter melody pipes with finger holes and a bell traditionally made from animal horn. Additionally, a reed cap of animal horn is placed arou ...

txistu The txistu () is a kind of fipple flute that became a symbol for the Basque folk revival. The name may stem from the general Basque word ''ziztu'' "to whistle" with palatalisation of the ''z'' (cf ''zalaparta'' > ''txalaparta''). This three-hole ...

and other instruments. Probably introduced by Italian immigrants coming from the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

, the trikitixa's first written evidence is attested late in the 19th century, exactly in 1889, when diatonic accordion was used for music in a popular pilgrimage festivity of

Urkiola Urkiola is a mountain range of the Basque mountains in Biscay near Durango, Spain, Durango, in the western Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, Spain. The highest mountain in the range is Anboto (1331 m). The range runs from we ...

(

Biscay Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. B ...

). In 1890, a trikiti appears in a picture taken in Altsasu (Navarre), a railway junction. Therefore, some point to the instrument's import to the Basque Country from

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

through the port of

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

, while other sources suggest that this kind of diatonic accordion was brought in by Italian railway workers from the Alps. The

itself was devised in Vienna in 1829, Site in Basque expanding thereafter all over Europe. The pair of

along with

gradually grew in popularity and was adopted to perform in local and popular festivities, where the young danced to its tunes (''fandangos, arin-arin'' etc.), despite the Catholic Church's resistance, who dubbed it "hell's

bellows A bellows or pair of bellows is a device constructed to furnish a strong blast of air. The simplest type consists of a flexible bag comprising a pair of rigid boards with handles joined by flexible leather sides enclosing an approximately airtigh ...

" on the grounds that its dance-inciting and lively music would lead Basque youths into temptation. That playing pattern remained unchanged up to the 1980s, when

Kepa Junkera Kepa Junkera Urraza (born 1965 in Bilbao, Euskadi, Spain) is a Basque musician and composer. A master of the trikitixa, the diatonic accordion, he has recorded more than 10 albums. Allmusic/ref> Junkera won the Latin Grammy Award for Best Folk Al ...

and

Joseba Tapia Joseba is a Basque name meaning ''Joseph''. It may refer to: Football players * Joseba Etxeberria * Joseba Llorente Etxarri * Joseba del Olmo * Joseba Garmendia * Joseba Arriaga Bicycle racers * Joseba Zubeldia * Joseba Albizu * Joseba Beloki ...

started to develop unprecedented ways of playing trikiti. While both authors came in for much criticism for their novelties and experimenting, they caught on and both styles, traditional and modern trikiti, have found their way and consolidated their separate paths. Both performers remain nowadays key figures of trikiti accordion. There have been influences of

Tejano Tejanos (, ; singular: ''Tejano/a''; Spanish for "Texan", originally borrowed from the Caddo ''tayshas'') are the residents of the state of Texas who are culturally descended from the Mexican population of Tejas and Coahuila that lived in the ...

artists like

Flaco Jiménez Leonardo "Flaco" Jiménez (born March 11, 1939) is an American singer, songwriter and accordionist from San Antonio, Texas. He is known for playing Norteño, Tex Mex and Tejano music. Jiménez has been a solo performer and session musician, as ...

and other international players. Other renowned players include Alaitz Telletxea,

Iñaki Malbadi Iñaki is a male given name. It is a neologism created by Sabino Arana meaning ''Ignatius'', to be a Basque language analog to "Ignacio" in Spanish, "Ignace" in French, and "Ignazio" in Italian, and an alternative to the names Eneko and Iñigo. ...

, Maixa Lizarribar, Xabi Solano,

Xabi Aburruzaga Xabi Aburruzaga (born 1978 in Portugalete, Euskadi, Spain) is a Basque musician and composer, who is a master of the Trikitixa, the diatonic accordion. Biography Xabi Aburruzaga (Portugalete, 1978) is a Biscayan Trikitilari who began studying ...

, Iker Goenaga and the Catalan Carles Belda. Currently traditional style ensembles consist of a pair playing trikiti (

and voice. Players typically use a highly ornamented and swift style, along with

staccato Staccato (; Italian for "detached") is a form of musical articulation. In modern notation, it signifies a note of shortened duration, separated from the note that may follow by silence. It has been described by theorists and has appeared in music ...

triplets.

References

{{Authority control Accordion Basque musical instruments Spanish dances Spanish folk music Spanish music

See also

References