Gascony Gascony (; french: Gascogne ; oc, Gasconha ; eu, Gaskoinia) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part o ...

is a region of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

that has produced several well-known performers and composers of classical,

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

and

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

. Gascony is home to several major

music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or h ...

s. The town of Merciac in Gascony is home to an annual jazz festival, one of the biggest in France. The town of Mirande is also home to Le Country Musique, an annual

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

festival.

Folk music

Gascon folk music is known for a kind of small pipes called ''

boha The boha (also known as the ''Cornemuse Landaise'' or bohaossac) is a type of bagpipe native to the Landes of Gascony in southwestern France. This bagpipe is notable in that it bears a greater resemblance to Eastern European bagpipes, particularl ...

'', which have a rectangular chanter and drone combination, (this form is unique to Gascony), and are made out of sheepskin with the fleece showing. The wandering performers known as

troubadour A troubadour (, ; oc, trobador ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a ''trobairit ...

s and

jongleur A minstrel was an entertainer, initially in medieval Europe. It originally described any type of entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool; later, from the sixteenth century, it came to mean a specialist entertainer who ...

s were well established in Gascony. Gascony, like many regions of France, and elsewhere in Europe, underwent a roots revival in the early to mid-1970s. The beginning of this trend in Gascony can be traced to the release of ''Musique Traditionelle de Gascogne'' by Perlinpinpin Folc, a band formed in 1972 and led by Christian Lamau. Some twenty years later, this genre was revived with the repopularization of

pastorale Pastorale refers to something of a pastoral nature in music, whether in form or in mood. In Baroque music, a pastorale is a movement of a melody in thirds over a drone bass, recalling the Christmas music of ''pifferari'', players of the traditi ...

s, an ancient form of musical theater. Rappadoc is a modern style of this music inspired by the jongleurs and troubadours of the region's history, using various lyrical styles in a satirical and topical performance. Modern traditionally-styled bands from Gascony include Verd e Blu and Joan Francés Tisnèr.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Music Of Gascony