A study by the University of La Laguna, published in 1947 by Luis Cobiella, collects the tunes, romances, and arrorrós of the island. The research is now displayed in an exhibition at Casa Salazar in Santa Cruz de La Palma.
The researcher Luis Cobiella travelled to the most remote villages of La Palma in the mid-20th century to gather the island's popular music. The result was a work published in 1947 in the Revista de Historia of the University of La Laguna, which now comes to life again with an exhibition at Casa Salazar in Santa Cruz de La Palma.
The exhibition, open throughout July, coincides with the display about Cobiella's life and work, and offers a window into an intangible heritage that was on the verge of being lost. The researcher himself narrated in his text the difficulties in recording the tunes: the elderly, mostly women, were reluctant to sing in front of a stranger.
“Why would this gentleman want to write down something, abisero? But now it’s worse: are they crazy? They come asking for the oldest ones and want them to sing!” the study records as a reaction from the locals. Cobiella explained that the greatest difficulty was “getting the elderly to sing,” and that they were often summoned at the village teacher's house, who made the introductions.
The researcher described the scene: “the teacher's dining room; just emptied, on the table, some little glasses of anise; a gentleman asking about romances, relationships, arrorrós...”. The responses were often evasive: “But that’s not sung!”, some would say, while others pointed out that what was sung most at that time was “the punto cubano, the guajira.”
Despite the reluctance, Cobiella managed to compile a valuable repertoire of traditional Palmera music, which includes arrorrós, romances, and other musical forms unique to the island. The work, published under the title La música popular en La Palma, is considered a reference for the study of Canarian folklore.
The exhibition at Casa Salazar allows visitors to see the original materials from the research, as well as documents and objects related to Luis Cobiella's life. The show aims not only to pay tribute to the researcher but also to advocate for the importance of preserving the island's musical traditions.
“The quiet isolation of the residents of the most distant villages was interrupted by an excursion, almost an incursion of three from the city,” wrote Cobiella, referring to his team. That incursion left a legacy that today, almost eighty years later, remains an indispensable source for understanding Palmera popular culture.
The initiative has been well received on the island, where cultural associations and locals have shown interest in recovering those melodies. Some local folklore groups have already begun to incorporate some of the pieces collected by Cobiella into their repertoires, as a way to keep the tradition alive.
The exhibition will remain open until the end of July in the morning and afternoon. Admission is free, and guided tours for groups are available by appointment. The organizers hope that the exhibition will help publicise this work and encourage new research on La Palma's folklore.
You may also like
