English subtitles for clip: File:Ikusgela – Xalbador eta XX. Mendeko bertsolaritza.webm

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“Where 

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are you?

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In what field,

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shepherd of Urepel?

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You may

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have sung this tune
with your friends...

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Else, you may have heard
a group of people sing it. 

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Well, today I’ll talk to you
about its protagonist.

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Not about the author of the song, but
about the shepherd of the village Urepel.

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But who on earth was this
shepherd of Urepel?

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His name is Fernando Aire.

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However, most Basques would 
know him as the “bertsolari” Xalbador.

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He was born in Urepele,
a village in Lower Navarre, in 1920.

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He became on the most widely 
known bertsolari of his time.

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However, before I go on 
with Mr. Xalbador,

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we may need a bit of context
to understand him, right?

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I told you that he was a bertsolari
(or improvised verse singer)
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You may be familiar with bertsolaris
but just in case I’ll fill you in

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What is bertsolaritza?

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This is how the bertsolari 
Amuriza described it,

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using verse singing
for the purpose:

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“singing the word
with meter and rhyme

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this is the typo of sport
the bertsolaritza is”.

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Word with meter eta rhyme.

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You got it, right?

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During the last decades, verse sessions
and the bertsolaris participating in them

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have become the most apparent
aspect of the bertsolaritza:

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Maialen Lujanbio, Amets
Arzallus, Alaia Martin…

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Are you familiar with them?

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They sing 
improvised verses. 

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Most of the times, they sing along
the lines set out by a topic proponent,

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but not always.

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While the earliest evidence of 

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bertsolaris date from 
approximately the 15th century,

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it expanded and developed
in the 19th century

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Back then, verses put on paper
sheets popularised as much

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as improvised verse singing. 

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Verses disseminated by means of
verse sheets became fashionable.

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Actually, that was the most
popular way to receive updates

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and spread the news related
to ongoing events.

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Iparragirre and Bilintx are two bertsolaris 
who stood out in the genre of written verses.

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The song “Behin Batian Loiolan”, for one,
was composed by Bilintx.

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Iparragirre is best known for his
popular anthem “Gernikako Arbola”.

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Regardless, some skilled 
individuals came up with oral 

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verses just for the sake 
of teasing and having fun.

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One such case
well worth mentioning was

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Pernando Amezketarra, from the 
village of Amezketa.

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But let’s forget the 19th century
and move on to the 20th.

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In 1935, bertsolaris from all over the
Basque Country met up for the first time

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in order to participate in 
a bertsolari contest.

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The event broke 
new ground, since

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it gathered together different trends, styles
and bertsolaris from other areas, such as

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Basarri, Txirrita...
and many others.

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However, any continuation to the
Bertsolari Contest was cut short.

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Why?

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1936 saw the outbreak of the Civil War, and the
ensuing Franco’s dictatorship banned any such events.

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Until the 60s, no progress was made
in order to relaunch them.

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1960, 62, 65 and 67 bore witness 
to the re-emergence of contests.

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Mr. Basarri prevailed on the 
first one,

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but on the rest of them, Manuel
Olaizola “Uztapide” came up first.

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He had been a bertsolari also
prior to the war outbreak,

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so he bridged the gap between the pre-war
tradition and the new bertsolari generations.

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But didn’t I say that 

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I would elaborate on the
shepherd of Urepele?

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On Fernando Aire?

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Aka Xalbador?

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It’s just about time, then.

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Since Uztapide and
Xalbador shared stages,

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and quite frequently.

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Do you know by chance what 
is the most celebrated and cited

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moment in Xalbador’s bertsolari 
career?

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No?

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Not a clue?

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Don’t worry.

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I’ll let you know.

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It took place during the 1967
Main Contest Event in Donostia.

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After play-offs, only four bertsolaris remained,

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and only one of them could qualify
to contend in the individual final

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against the latest winner.

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When the jury members announced
that Xalbador would qualify to the final,

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an immense uproar broke out 
in the audience.

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Most of them came from the region
of Gipuzkoa,

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who favoured a fellow bertsolari
from their area as a finalist,

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instead of a shepherd from the north of the
Pyrenees they struggled to understand.

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The audience became
loud, and booed

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the decision in a turmoil that 
lasted for almost five minutes.

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So what did Xalbador do?

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Keep his lips sealed?

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Turn away?

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Not at all!

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He came over to the mike
and this is what he said:

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Please, brothers and sisters, don’t think

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I am feeling 

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happy,

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I’d rather

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stand by and

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see;

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if you are not happy

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that is not my fault...

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Some people in the audience
kept booing,

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but not all.

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Others started 
to clap! Can you imagine?

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Xalbador had to cut
short his verse.

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However, after a short hiatus, he
breathed and resumed his recital,

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“if you are not happy

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that is not my fault...

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you booed, but all

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the same, I love you!”

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Then, yes,

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the whole pelota court 
burst into applause.

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That is, most probably,
the best remembered

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poem in the history of bertso contests!

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However, 

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that was not enough
to prevail.

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Some even claim that the jury 
members did not dare

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recognize an award he
deserved so much… 

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Who knows.

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We only know that he did not win.

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Uztapide qualified
to the finals

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and he again prevailed
over his opponent.

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For the third time!

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Xalbador in turn never made it
to the first position

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but he got quite close to win
contests three more times.

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He made it to the third position in 1960,

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1962 and 1965.

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So you may wonder,

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if he never won,
why is he so celebrated?

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Well, because not everything is
about awards and contests.

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Xalbador brought up a lyric
styled verse; 

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poetical as he was,
he did not miss details.

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His work was also relevant
to bolster cross-border ties

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among bertsolarism supporters
at either side of the Pyrenees;

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the bertsolari Mattin
also added to this effort.

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His legacy also
includes wonderful written works

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He published three books
in the collection Auspoa: 

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“Ezin bertzean” (‘Inevitably’),

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“Herria gogoan” (‘My people in mind’), eta
Odolaren mintzoa (‘The voice of blood’).

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Some musicians have made 
these poems into songs.

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He died in 1976 due to a heart attack

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that came about during the
day he was receiving a tribute.

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He was only 
56 then.

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One final note
before we are done.

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If someone among you has purple
stained lenses, may have noticed

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that all the names I cited so far
were male.

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So wasn’t there any female
bertsolaris?

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Actually, yes.

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Texts dating from 
centuries ago

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show women who 
sang improvised verses,

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and others have existed after them.

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However, they have not performed in
the same public spaces restricted to men.

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That only happened starting in the 1990s,

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when a number of women
managed to break through

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a wall full of bias 
and hurdles.

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Presently,

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Ms. Maialen Lujanbio, a bertsolari
from Hernani, is the winner of the Basque Country

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Enough for today? Yes, indeed.

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I love you, but please
don’t boo me!

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See you around!