No Galician session but two Euro sessions

It turns out the Port Mahon will be CLOSED for refurbishment on the last Wednesday of this month (24.4.). Unfortunately, this caught me on the wrong foot as I am travelling in the time just before the session, so I won’t be able to organise an alternative venue. Thus I’ll have to cancel this month’s session (first time in my tenure!).

On the plus side, however, on the weekend following our usual date, namely the Fri 26.4.to Sunday 28.4., there will be two Euro sessions and dance at Oxford Folk Fringe weekend. Galician tunes are likely to be played at both, and I guess the Oxford Pandeireteiras will coordinate to put in an appearance at one of them (at least). Watch this space.

Stay tuned for announcements re the May session, as we may have to find an alternative venue for that if the Port Mahon doesn’t re-open in time. The French and Scandi session for May will be at the Victoria Arms in Old Marston on the usual days (second and third Monday of the month, respectively).

Here’s the schedule for the Folk Fringe events if you haven’t seen it yet (plus there’s also a Clandestine Mazurka event Sunday at 2 which isn’t listed):

 

 

 

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O baile de Noró

Another song from Xabier Diaz that the Pandeireteiras may be adding to their repertoire. I may just be slightly addicted to this video:

 

 

We have a complete transcription of the lyrics now if anybody wants them I can send a PDF.

Galician Session March 2019

This month the Galician session will happen on the last Wednesday of the month, as usual, specifically:

Wednesday 27.3.2019,  20:30 – 23:00.

Like the previous three sessions, it will also be in our new home, namely the

Port Mahon, 82 St. Clement’s St., Oxford OX4 1AW

which looks like this (check the February announcement if you’re unsure where to find it):

This month, in the twenty-first session in the new sequence, we’ll again play lots of lovely tunes from our vast collection of Galician traditionals (and maybe the odd one from other traditions as well). The Oxford Pandeireteiras will play their tambourines and sing some of the songs they practise in their weekly meetings (you can also join a new monthly singing class with them!). Sheet music will be provided for anybody who brings an instrument and wants to join in (I also have a PDF file with 19 of our favourite tunes which I can email on request). There will be space for dancing, which has been used enthusiastically in the first sessions at the new venue. A box of miscellaneous percussion instruments (plus cunchas!) is also on hand if you would like to rattle along with the rhythms.

Note that the pub has a 11:00pm  curfew for musical activities, so the  session will close before that time with the traditional anthem of “Fisterra”. If you don’t have to leave earlier, it would be nice if you could stay for that. The curfew also means that if we start late, we’ll just have less time to play music.

For further info about the sessions and sharing audio and video recordings of the tunes we play, subscribe to this blog or join the Facebook group. There is also a mailing list for email reminders sent a week before the sessions.

 

Galician elements

The periodic table of the elements is 150 this year, and as of today, there is an official Galician name for each of the 118 elements currently known to science. So here’s the periodic table in Galician, enjoy:

A táboa periódica en galego. Fonte: CCG.

PS Note that the jpg image above doesn’t quite have the resolution needed for a fully readable printout. You can download a PDF that prints nicely on an A4 page here.

 

palmira

An ancient video of the Oxford Pandeireteiras in full swing, singing Palmira at the session of February 2016. This song is normally done a cappella, just with tambourines (and possibly my cajon):

 

Looking for versions on youtube, most share only the chorus with ours, their verses have different text (sometimes starting with pasei pola tua porta, which we have as a different song) and different tune (eg: Leilia). And then there’s the group Faltriqueira who use our verses more or less but drop the chorus. The only recording that has the same structure as ours is by the group A quenlla.

February session

This month the Galician session returns to its usual date, the last Wednesday of the month, specifically:

Wednesday 27.2.2019,  20:30 – 23:00.

Like the previous two sessions, it will also be in our new home, namely the

Port Mahon, 82 St. Clement’s St., Oxford OX4 1AW

That’s on the corner of Jeune St, which is the street that has the Ultimate Picture Palace at the other end. Buses and coaches including X90 / Oxford Tube from London and Park and Ride services stop just a few metres further down the road, the stop is called St. Clement’s. Parking is available alongside the road, as well as at the St. Clement’s car park on the other side of the road. Failing that, the Tesco car park, which many people used to use for the JST, is still within walking distance.

Sessions will usually be in the downstairs bar, which is the little extension you see on the right hand side. It has a direct door at street level on the Jeune Street side, so you don’t have to haul your instruments upstairs to the front door and back down to the bar. There is a lovely square room at the far end that will easily accommodate 15 musicians in a circle around the sides, leaving room in the middle for dancers. There is additional room alongside the bar with a few tables where people can sit and listen.

Otherwise, the usual Ts and Cs apply:

This month, in the twentieth session in the new sequence, we’ll again play lots of lovely tunes from our vast collection of Galician traditionals (and maybe the odd one from other traditions as well). The Oxford Pandeireteiras will play their tambourines and sing some of the songs they practise in their weekly meetings (you can also join a new monthly singing class with them!). Sheet music will be provided for anybody who brings an instrument and wants to join in (I also have a PDF file with 19 of our favourite tunes which I can email on request). There will be space for dancing, which has been used enthusiastically in the first sessions at the new venue. A box of miscellaneous percussion instruments (plus cunchas!) is also on hand if you would like to rattle along with the rhythms.

Note that the pub has a 11:00 curfew for musical activities, so the  session will close before that time with the traditional anthem of “Fisterra”. If you don’t have to leave earlier, it would be nice if you could stay for that. The curfew also means that if we start late, we’ll just have less time to play music.

For further info about the sessions and sharing audio and video recordings of the tunes we play, subscribe to this blog or join the Facebook group. There is also a mailing list for email reminders sent a week before the sessions.

Alborada para Rosalía de Castro

The birthday of Galicia’s national icon, the poet Rosalía de Castro, falls on a Sunday this year, namely Feb 24th, and it will be celebrated with a global (hopefully) dawn chorus of bagpipes and other instruments / singers.  Call for participants is here, and near the bottom of the page, on the right, you can download the relevant dots (under “partitura” – Galician isn’t all that difficult, you see!) .

Hashtag: #AlboradadeRosalía

Xabier Díaz & Adufeiras de Salitre

A reminder that Xabier Díaz & Adufeiras de Salitre are playing the Rich Mix at London this coming Wednesday 30th. (Because of that gig, we held our session a week earlier, so no session this Wednesday!) Xabier Díaz will also be hosting a tambourine workshop at the Centro Galego on Tuesday evening.

 

I’ve shared one of their videos before (Agarrado de Vilar de Cabeiras), as we’re also singing that song, so here’s a different one, of a song we’re not singing (yet):

January session – earlier date

As the usual last Wednesday of the month will see Galician artist Xabier Diaz & Adufeiras de Salitre performing at the Rich Mix in London, the Galician session will exceptionally be a week earlier, i.e. on Wednesday 23rd, from 20:30 to 23:00.

Like the December session, it will also be in our new home, namely the

Port Mahon, 82 St. Clement’s St., Oxford OX4 1AW

 

That’s on the corner of Jeune St, which is the street that has the Ultimate Picture Palace at the other end. Buses and coaches including X90 / Oxford Tube from London and Park and Ride services stop just a few metres further down the road, the stop is called St. Clement’s. Parking is available alongside the road, as well as at the St. Clement’s car park on the other side of the road. Failing that, the Tesco car park, which many people used to use for the JST, is still within walking distance.

Sessions will usually be in the downstairs bar, which is the little extension you see on the right hand side. It has a direct door at street level on the Jeune Street side, so you don’t have to haul your instruments upstairs to the front door and back down to the bar. There is a lovely square room at the far end that will easily accommodate 15 musicians in a circle around the sides, leaving room in the middle for dancers. There is additional room alongside the bar with a few tables where people can sit and listen.

Otherwise, the usual Ts and Cs apply:

This month, in the nineteenth session in the new sequence, we’ll again play lots of lovely tunes from our vast collection of Galician traditionals. The Oxford Pandeireteiras will play their tambourines and sing some of the songs they practise in their weekly meetings (you can also join a new monthly singing class with them!). Sheet music will be provided for anybody who brings an instrument and wants to join in (I also have a PDF file with 19 of our favourite tunes which I can email on request). There will be space for dancing. A box of miscellaneous percussion instruments (plus cunchas!) is also on hand if you would like to rattle along with the rhythms.

Note that the pub has a 11:00 curfew for musical activities (NB that’s half an hour earlier than at the JST!), so the  session will close before that time with the traditional anthem of “Fisterra”. If you don’t have to leave earlier, it would be nice if you could stay for that. The curfew also means that if we start late, we’ll just have less time to play music.

For further info about the sessions and sharing audio and video recordings of the tunes we play, subscribe to this blog or join the Facebook group. There is also a mailing list for email reminders sent a week before the sessions.

I’ve updated the flyer, please use it to spread the word:

poster-port-mahon2019

Session news

We now have green light for the Galician and other ex-JST sessions to go ahead at the Port Mahon this year.

First up is the harp session tomorrow, Tuesday 8.1., 8pm. (exceptionally the second Tuesday this month, from Feb onwards it will be on the first Tuesday of each month). Other instruments welcome.

Then it will be  French/Breton on the 14th and Scandi on the 21st.  Date for the Galician to be confirmed.

Elsewhere, the Slow Session (at the Jericho Tavern) celebrated its 5th anniversary on Sunday with a record attendance of at least 30. Here’s a special video I made on the occasion, going round in circles to capture all participants (minus myself):