Salamanca University Tuna will be at the Quadrangle (Atriju Vassalli) University of Malta Msida Campus on Monday 12 October 2015 between 12:30 and 13:30/14:00 and at the National Library of Malta in Valletta at 18:00.
The birth of the University of Salamanca brought with it the birth of different artistic manifestations both popular and academic. One of these was La Tuna.
The social disparities present at the University’s inception, spurred the students with less resources to organise themselves in order to get, with their ingenuity, everything they needed to survive and pursue their studies. In this way, the University students created musical groups of troubadours which would go from bar to bar, at weddings, festivals, and the like to get the food and money they needed. And so was born La Tuna, a tradition which has stood the test of time and today preserves the popular musical tradition not only of Spain but also of Latin America.
These groups are set apart by their peculiar costumes. Tradition dictates their clothes maintain the original appearance of their predecessors, the university students of the XVIII century, with their tights, velvet pantaloons, and, most iconically, their capes decorated with colorful embroidered ribbons from loved ones and the crests of the places they have visited. Their instruments are likewise authentic, including the bandurria, the Spanish cousin to the mandolin, and the lute (both twelve stringed instruments played with a pick), as well as the more familiar guitar or accordion.
It’s easy to find La Tuna playing in the local taverns around the city, though they also play at weddings and festivals, or serenading the young women of the city in an attempt to woo them with their songs. There are also conventions they attend where the different groups compete for laurels to pass the time in any number of cities.
La Tuna is a great way of getting an inside look at the living history of Spanish popular and musical culture, thereby getting to know the traditions, while enjoying the music.
Salamanca University Tuna will be at the Quadrangle (Atriju Vassalli) University of Malta Main Campus on Monday 12 October 2015 between 12:30 and 13:30/14:00.
Also on the evening of the 12 October, the Tuna will be in attendance at the Book Launch of the Proceedings of History Week 2013/ II Colloquium on Maltese-Spanish History, co-edited by Joan Abela, Emanuel Buttigieg and Carmel Vassallo, at the National Library of Malta in Valletta.
The event starts at 18:00 and is open to the public. The Salamanca University Tuna was brought to Malta on the initiative of the Embassy of Spain with the aim of taking part in the celebrations of Our Lady of the Pillar and of the National Day of Spain, on 12 October.
The event is being organised by the Malta Historical Society, the University of Malta and Malta Libraries, under the auspices of the Embassy of Spain.