Traditional music
If Gascony has been tossed about in the course of its history, from the Celts to the Romans, from the Vascons to the Franks, from the Catholics to the Protestants, it has nonetheless succeeded in forging a deep cultural identity. This identity wobbled on its foundations during the Third Republic and almost drowned in the slump of the two world wars. In the 1970's, a handful of men and women mobilized to collect the music and songs that resounded in the Gers countryside at the beginning of the 20th century. The safeguarding of this folkloric repertoire is accompanied by the restoration or the refabrication of forgotten instruments. Nowadays, Gascon music is taught in regional music schools and its diffusion is ensured on the occasion of dedicated festivals such as Les Gasconnades of Lectoure or Lo Rondèu of Castelnau-Barbarens. The group Nadau, founded in 1973, reinvents the genre by mixing electric guitars with traditional instruments. With 4 Olympia and 4 Zénith in Paris, it is the best ambassador of Gascony music in France.
Gascon instruments
A Gascon music ensemble includes at least one bagpipe. In the Gers, it is the boha (pronounced bou-hô), which should not be confused with the bot of the Val d'Aran or the samponha of the Pyrenees. Its bag is made of goat or lamb leather and the wind holder and playing piece are carved from boxwood. The reeds used to be made of reed but are now made of synthetic material. The boha almost disappeared in 1957 with the death of "Jeanty" Benquet, the last folkloric boho, who performed in a beret, sheepskin coat and clogs. Today, there are no less than 6 boha makers and hundreds of practitioners. The diatonic accordion, another emblematic instrument, occupies a place of choice in the Gascon formations. Smaller than the chromatic accordion dear to André Verchuren, this instrument is also distinguished by its reeds. The reeds are of different sizes and do not produce the same sound depending on whether the bellows are pushed or pulled. The violin is the third essential instrument to make dance in the balls. More melodic than the bagpipe or the accordion, it gives the tempo. The instrument, which is not Gascon, was quickly adopted once "discovered" and sometimes adapted by those who could not afford one. One example was found whose sounding board was nothing more than an old wooden shoe. Fifes and recorders complete the set, giving high notes. They generally have only two or three holes, which makes it possible to play with only one hand, while the other beats the rhythm on a stringed "tamborin". This Gascon tambourine appeared in its current form around the 17th century. It consists of a wooden resonance box 80 cm long and a set of 5 to 9 strings stretched over the soundboard. Among the less representative instruments, we can mention the oboe, especially practiced in the Pyrenees, or the hurdy-gurdy. Gascon music was played in the villages on the occasion of festivals and weddings, by the inhabitants themselves. It was only intended to make people dance and was not listened to in the evening by the fire. The other music which animates the festive evenings is that of the banda. This street band has its origins in the 30's when ambulatory orchestras were in charge of animating the streets on feria days. Born in the Landes, the banda has been taken up in all the bullfighting regions. With its 20 arenas, the Gers does not escape the sound of brass, wood and percussion. The banda is even celebrated during the festival of Bandas y Peñas of Condom in May, where fanfares and bandas come from all over Gascony and the Basque Country to animate the city. A jury rewards the most festive with a golden palm.
Folk dances and songs
The music is made to accompany the dances and songs of the Gascon repertoire. This folklore, by essence transmitted orally, has been stripped of some of its ornaments. The only dance to have survived the centuries seems to be the rondeau, still very much practiced in Samatan. It is danced in couples, each couple taking place in a circle. The dancers hold each other by the right hand, the man leading his partner forward. Then, he turns towards her, and she moves back. The dancers move forward in a circle. The steps are repeated until the music stops. At the end of the 19th century, new forms of dances appeared and gradually replaced the Gascon dances, such as the scottish, the mazurka, the polka, the quadrille or the waltz. These dances are always taken back in the village festivals, as long as there is a traditional orchestra which resounds. If Gascon is no longer spoken, it is still sung. The Gascon song draws from the source of a territory wider than the Gers. "Se canto", a medieval song perhaps composed by Gaston Fébus, has become the anthem of the proud Occitan. It is declined through different dialects, but the story remains the same: two lovers separated by the high mountains of the Pyrenees, that only the nightingale manages to cross to bring them together. The former deputy of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Jean Lassalle, sang it in the hemicycle in 2003 to signify the abandonment of his region by the State. A song of protest, a song of identity, it is never more beautiful than when sung by a polyphonic choir. The air resounds from the Pyrenees, the Gers, and the Landes to the Occitan valleys of Italy. There are many other Gascon songs preserved and sung by the "cantèras" or choirs that flourish in Occitan territory. The performing arts in the Gers are not limited to folklore. There are 54 professional companies that search, create and innovate daily. Actors, mimes, circus artists, musicians, dancers, composers express their relationship to art through contemporary creations or revivals of classics. Auch is home to the National Circus Center, the CIRCA, which energizes the region with a rich and varied cultural season. This is launched by the very beautiful festival of the Circus Actuel which is held in October every year since 1988.
