The cobla (, plural ''cobles'') is a traditional music ensemble of
Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the no ...
, and in
Northern Catalonia
Northern Catalonia, North Catalonia, ; french: Catalogne (du) Nord ; oc, Catalonha (del) Nòrd; es, Cataluña (del) Norte) French Catalonia or Roussillon refers to the Catalan-speaking and Catalan-culture territory ceded to France by Spain ...
in France. It is generally used to accompany the
Sardana
The ''sardana'' (; plural ''sardanes'' in Catalan) is a Catalan musical genre typical of Catalan culture and danced in circle following a set of steps. The dance was originally from the Empordà region, but started gaining popularity throughou ...
, a traditional Catalan folk dance, danced in a circle.
Structure
The modern Cobla normally consists of 11 players with the following instruments:
*One
flabiol, a type of
fipple flute played with the left hand while a
''tamborí'', a small drum attached to the left arm of the player, is played with the other hand.
*Four
Catalan shawms – double-reed woodwinds
**Two tibles – a ''tible'' is like an oboe, but with a louder sound
**Two tenores – a ''tenora'' is a larger version of the tible
*Five brass instruments
**Two
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
s
**A
trombone
The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...
– often a valve-trombone
**Two
fiscorns – a ''fiscorn'' is a rotary-valved baritone
saxhorn
The saxhorn is a family of valved brass instruments that have conical bores and deep cup-shaped mouthpieces. The saxhorn family was developed by Adolphe Sax, who is also known for creating the saxophone family. The sound of the saxhorn has a ...
with the bell facing forward, similar in appearance to a large
flugelhorn
The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though som ...
*A string bass – originally and still often a three-string
double bass
The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...
There are small variations to this instrumentation in contemporary coblas: for example there is sometimes a third trumpet player.
The playing formation has two rows. The front row has (as seen by the audience from left to right) the flabiolist (with pipe and drum), the second and first tibles, and the first and second tenores. The back row, often raised, has the second and first trumpets, the trombone, and the first and second fiscorns. The double bass player, often standing, is on the right of the band.
History
Originally, the cobla was a 3-piece band:
*One person played the
flabiol and drum
*The second person played the tible
*The third played
bagpipes
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, ...
The main instrument in the cobla, the tenora, was developed around 1850 by French-Catalan luthier Andreu Toron, in
Perpignan
Perpignan (, , ; ca, Perpinyà ; es, Perpiñán ; it, Perpignano ) is the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the ...
/Perpinyà.
The modern 11-piece cobla was developed by the Catalan musician
Josep Maria "Pep" Ventura. He wrote over 200
Sardana
The ''sardana'' (; plural ''sardanes'' in Catalan) is a Catalan musical genre typical of Catalan culture and danced in circle following a set of steps. The dance was originally from the Empordà region, but started gaining popularity throughou ...
compositions. There is a small street named after him in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
, as well as a subway stop, presumably because of this achievement.
See also
*
Sardana
The ''sardana'' (; plural ''sardanes'' in Catalan) is a Catalan musical genre typical of Catalan culture and danced in circle following a set of steps. The dance was originally from the Empordà region, but started gaining popularity throughou ...
External links
La SardanaVideos of cobles performing sardanes
El testament n'AmèliaVideo of a performance of this sardana (composer
Joan Lamote de Grignon
Joan Lamote de Grignon i Bocquet (; 7 July 1872 – 11 March 1949) was a Catalan Spanish pianist, composer and orchestra director.
Life
Joan Lamote de Grignon was born and died in Barcelona, the son of parents of French descent, Lluis Lamote d ...
), by the cobla "Comtat d'Empúries" in
Castelló d'Empúries
Castelló d'Empúries is a town and municipality in the Alt Empordà in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. It lies 9 km east of Figueres.
In 1079, Castelló d'Empúries became the capital of the Empúries county due to the previous capital, Sant Mar ...
The Selvatana Cobla sitehas many pictures and the history of this particular cobla, which was founded in 1913.
www.cobla-amsterdam.nl site of the only non-Catalan cobla in the world, Cobla La Principal d'Amsterdam, founded in 1987 by a group of Dutch professional musicians, distinguished with the Catalan Creu de Sant Jordi in 2007.
an essay about Catalan traditional dancing and music.
*
45-sec Video of Sardana music and dance on Commons Audio Recording of Cobla Music, Palamos, Catalunya* MP-3 examples of
sardana
The ''sardana'' (; plural ''sardanes'' in Catalan) is a Catalan musical genre typical of Catalan culture and danced in circle following a set of steps. The dance was originally from the Empordà region, but started gaining popularity throughou ...
music are available on th
Selvatana Coblaan
Cobla Sabadellsites.
{{Authority control
Catalan music
Sardana
de:Sardana#Die Cobla, das Sardana-Orchester