Supervisors info:
Αναστάσιος Χαψούλας, Βαθμίδα: Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, Τμήμα: Εθνομουσικολογίας/Πολιτισμικής Ανθρωπολογίας, Ίδρυμα: ΕΚΠΑ
Summary:
The research of the Thracian bagpipe in Greece, the “gaida”, always fascinated me and attracted me. Gaida is a primitive musical instrument and has such a dynamic that affects people and cultures over the centuries.
Simultaneously with the fact that I am professionally involved in the teaching and dissemination of this musical instrument, I thought it would be appropriate to take a deeper, musical and ethno-musical level in this subject. The aim of this work is the comparative-ethnomusicological research and study between two types of gaida, the Thracian and the Bulgarian bagpipe.
The main axis and the theoretical framework of the work range from a mapping of the historical development of the instrument and the social needs it served (the reason for its existence), as well as its evolution from the fiction that surrounds it to the real historical facts and Its functionality today. Moreover, my research will focus on the comparison of the two types of bagpipes on three different axes: A) Organological level, B) Execution level, C) Repertory level.
In each of these fields, the methodology of research will be both comparative and ethnomusicological in both the aforementioned types of bagpipes.
Finally, my personal goal is to strengthen my arguments through written examples of musical songs that will depict musical and executive variations in common songs from Thrace and Bulgaria. In this way we will be able to understand through both written and audio examples (CD) the differences and the similarities that exist in these two musical instruments. In conclusion, I would also like to make a sound connection of the bagpipe with the voices of Thrace and Bulgaria, but also with the primitive musical instruments: Thracian lyre, gadulka (Bulgarian lyra) and the kavali (long wooden flute). This will allow us to understand whether the playing technique and the sound of the bagpipe also affect other musical instruments, but also the vocal mimetics.
My proposal has to do with the comparative-ethno-musical depiction of the Thracian and the Bulgarian bagpipe. My methodology will move precisely on these two main axes, the comparison and the ethnomusicological research at historical, organizational, executive level as well as in the common repertoire.
So, through the bibliographic overview of the subject and its historical nature, we will try to find the common elements and the differences between the Thracian and the Bulgarian bagpipes. Also the research and the whole project will be enhanced by interviews that I aim to get from people related to the tradition and culture of the bagpipe at both Thracian and Bulgarian level. Finally, research on the internet will be crucial as there is a variety of information we can draw on the subject through doctoral theses, through seminars and questionnaires on the subject, as well as online interviews with knowledgeable subjects.
To conclude, I aim to make a research trip in the areas of gaida in Evros and in the territories of the Bulgarian bagpjpe so that I can extract information from people who experience the interactions of the organ from culture to culture and to know why this musical instrument is important to each one individually.
The main question that such a survey will make is: What are the differences and the similarities between the Bulgarian and the Thracian bagpipes?
The aim is to compare the two organs at socio-anthropological, historical, organological, executive level as well as in the music repertoire. In this way we will be able to understand the needs of each society, the existence of the instrument, how the division of the borders of the united Thrace has shaped variations from region to region and of course how the gaida has evolved over time in both regions. We also need to analyze the different practices of instrumentation, performance and repertoire in areas bordering each other and once included in the same space. Therefore, the main question is the issue of performing the musical songs that appear to be common in both regions. In this study we will be able to answer questions such as: Why is one song performed differently from each other, what social and cultural influences of this differentiation, what is the mimetic role of the voice over the bagpipe and the performance of the songs in both places,but mostly how we have come to the present day to talk about two musical instruments, the Thracian and the Bulgarian bagpipe.
