The primary aim of this chapter is to introduce the reader to the key characteristics of traditional Galician music, or folklore gallego. As one might expect, this is a vast field that cannot be fully explored within the scope of this study. The Cancionero Popular Gallego1 serves as an essential reference for the collection, classification, and analysis of Galician folk songs, which I have also briefly consulted. However, my main objective here is to highlight some of the most significant genres of Galician popular music, in order to later draw connections between their characteristics and the music of Eugenia Osterberger.

The author Manuel Lombao2 defines traditional, folk, or ethnic music interchangeably as music that "is transmitted orally". He also notes that, while "art music" often draws from traditional music, the process also happens in reverse: "popular music assimilates classical music." This phenomenon is particularly common in Galician tradition. A clear example is the piece Negra Sombra by Xoán Montes, with lyrics by Rosalía de Castro. Though originally composed in an "academic" style, its melody has been absorbed into popular tradition to the point of becoming a symbol of Galician identity.

One of the main ways in which traditional music continues to be passed down and performed today is through wind bands. These ensembles serve as a gateway for young musicians to begin their training on woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments, which also belong to the “classical orchestra”. In my case, I started playing the oboe at a music school that aimed to establish its own band. Wind bands enjoy great recognition in Galicia, performing both at prestigious competitions and festivals as well as in the patron saint celebrations of many towns. At these events, traditional pieces adapted for wind band or original compositions for this formation inspired by Galician folklore are often performed. On a personal level, this has been the way I developed my connection to traditional music and my instrument, the oboe. Additionally, from a young age—around nine years old—I attended Galician traditional dance classes, where we learned simplified versions of muiñeiras, jotas, and other styles. Likewise, at my school, I had the opportunity to take tambourine (pandereta) lessons, one of the most representative instruments of this musical tradition.

Traditional Galician music can be categorized into two main groups based on its roots: music derived from or related to dance – which may also include vocal elements – and music primarily based on singing. Some of the most notable genres, which may also have connections to Eugenia's works, include the following:

1.     Pieces Based on Traditional Dances or Instrumental Music

Muiñeira

It is one of the most – if not the most – representative dances and melodies of Galician traditional music. It has the following characteristics:

• Rhythm and Meter: Set in 6/8, fast-paced with an anapestic rhythm (dotted eighth note – sixteenth note – eighth note, characterized by its liveliness and energy.

• Melody and Harmony: Frequently use of modal tonality (Dorian or Mixolydian) with descending phrases. Sometimes includes melismatic phrases, especially at the end of melodies. It also uses simple harmony focusing on tonic and dominant.
• Structure: Binary form, with its repetitive sections (called punto and picado in dance).
• Origin: It is estimated that the muiñeira, as we know it today, dates back no more than 300 years.3
• Connections with Other Folk Traditions: Its anapestic rhythm also appears in other Celtic cultures (Ireland, Great Britain, Scotland) as well as in regions of Italy and Sicily.
• Examples of two Muiñeiras (click to listen):

        Muiñeira de Folgoso do Courel, with bagpipe melodies accompanied by other instruments.
        Muiñeira dos Pendellos, for wind band

Pandeiradas (Muiñeira’s relative)

• Rhythm and Meter: 3/4 or 6/8, with a strong, cheerful pulse.
• Melody: Simple and short melodic lines that are repeated.
• Harmony: Simple harmonic accompaniment, focusing on tonic and dominant.
• Structure: Verse-refrain form, allowing for repetition and group singing.
• Example: Muiñeira de Berdillo – With a rhythmic drive from the pandeireta (tambourine) and female voices carrying the melody.

Polacas (Muiñeira’s relative)

• Rhythm and Meter: 3/4, similar to the Polonaise, but adapted to the Galician style.
• Melody: Elegant and flowing melodies, with characteristic ornamentation.
• Harmony: Harmonic progressions incorporating subdominant and dominant, adding richness to the tonal landscape.
• Structure: Ternary form (A-B-A), common in salon dances.

Pasodoble Gallego

• Rhythm and Meter: 2/4, with a marked rhythm and a march-like character.They are characterized by the presence of syncopated rhythms and two main types of rhythmic patterns or figurations.

(This fragments are from Eugenia Stemberger’s piece En Avant…la musique!)

• Melody: Vigorous and festive, designed for parades and celebrations. The melodic themes are often anacrustic:

• Harmony: Harmonic progressions including tonic, subdominant, and dominant, adding dynamism.
• Structure: Ternary form, with an initial section (A) followed by a contrasting and different-character second section (B), often played by the clarinets and saxophones in the wind band. Then, the A section is played again.
• Examples:

       “Ponteareas”, pasodoble Gallego

       Pasodoble played with folklore instruments 

Alborada

• Rhythm and Meter: 2/4 or 4/4.
• Melody: Solemn and majestic themes, often in major key.
• Harmony: Use of major chords, reinforcing the festive and ceremonial character.
• Structure: Instrumental composition, typically beginning with a slow introduction with a pedal in cadenza mode performed by the gaita galega, or the oboe (when there is no gaita). This introduction is followed by a more energetic and cheerful section.
• Examples:

    Click to listen to a symphonic version of one of the most famous Galician Alborada, Alborada Galega, by Pascual Veiga, recorded by the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia.

       Click to listen to a traditional folk group performing another Alborada.

Pasacalles (close related to pasodobles)

• Rhythm and Meter: These pieces are typically written in 2/4 or 6/8, featuring a lively and dynamic rhythm.
• Instrumentation: They can be performed with wind instruments in band arrangements or with traditional instruments such as the Galician bagpipe (gaita gallega), tamboril (small drum), bass drum (bombo), and tambourines (panderetas).
• Melody: Characterized by repetitive, easy-to-memorize phrases (easy to play them by heart) with a festive and lively character.
• Structure: Most commonly follow ternary forms (ABA) or rondo forms (ABACA).
• These are instrumental compositions designed to be performed at romerías, processions, and popular festivals, aiming to create a lively atmosphere. They are known as "pasacalles" (from pasear – "to walk" or pasar por las calles – "to pass through the streets") because they are meant to be played while marching, as musicians parade through towns.
• Example of galician Pasacalle:

      Banda Galega, performed in an outdoor location.

2.      Pieces Based on Traditional Songs or Vocal Music

Songs from the oral tradition, known in Galicia as cantigas, form the foundation of many vocal music genres. The origin of cantigas dates back to the medieval period, with both secular and liturgical versions, such as the cantigas de amigo and the Cantigas de Santa María. However, the term cantigas also refers to songs traditionally performed during collective activities, such as festivals, harvests, and various forms of fieldwork. Lombao notes that "the classification challenges we face are mainly related to vocal music. The reason is simple: instrumental pieces and dances—due to their function and nature—tend to have a more rigid structure than songs."4 (footnote) The author categorizes cantigas into different types, including those originating from dances, cantigas en pandeiradas, and regueifas. He also highlights alalás and cantares de cego as particularly distinctive forms within the tradition.

Alalá

• Rhythm and Meter: Free rhythm, without a fixed time signature.
• Melody: Influenced by Gregorian chant, featuring slow and melodic tones with a melismatic style. The text of the lyrics includes “ai la le lo, ai la la” or “ai la la la…” variations with this syllables that give name to the song.
• Origin: Connected to "cantigas de amigo" or "cantigas de escarnio e maldizer" and medieval lyric poetry, maintaining a link to medieval chant and melismatic singing.
• Harmony: Typically in Dorian or Mixolydian modes, often accompanied by drones.
• Form: Open form, without rigid structures.
• Example of alalá:

      Click to listen to Alalá de Muxía

Cantares de Cego (Songs of the blind)

This type of song gets its name from the blind musicians, troubadours, and traveling minstrels who wandered through villages and fairs, singing stories.

• Rhythm and Meter: Written in octosyllabic or decasyllabic verses, with either free meter or 2/4.
• Melody: Narrative in nature, simple and repetitive to facilitate memorization.
• Harmony: Typically, these melodies are monophonic or accompanied by simple instrumentation played by the singer, such as a hurdy-gurdy with a pedal or a guitar.
• Form: Structured as a series of stanzas, sometimes with a refrain.
• Example:

    Click to listen to a Cantar de cego, sung by a man while playing the zafona.

OTHER CHARACTERISTICS OF TRADITIONAL MUSIC

-Most Commonly Used Instruments

• Gaita Galega (Galician Bagpipe): The most representative wind instrument of Galician music, known for its powerful and penetrating sound, making it ideal for outdoor performances. Its origins date back to the Middle Ages, although its predecessors may have been Celtic and Roman instruments, similar to the Scottish and Irish bagpipes, though with some differences that will not be detailed here. In addition to leading the melodies of songs and folk dances, the drone sound of the gaita is often used as a pedal note at the beginning of many pieces or as a continuous background tone throughout a composition.
• Percussion Instruments: Pandeireta (tambourine), Tamboril (small drum), Pandeiro (frame drum) and Bombo (bass drum).
• Zanfona (Hurdy-Gurdy): a medieval string instrument that produces sound through a wooden wheel, which, instead of a bow, is turned by a crank, continuously rubbing against the strings to create a sustained drone sound. It also has a keyboard with small wooden pieces that press the strings to produce different notes. The zanfona is commonly used in Cantares de Cego.

-Gender Roles

In Galician tradition, women have played a crucial role in the transmission of music. As noted, "women have been responsible for preserving and passing down the entire musical tradition of songs and ballads associated with the life cycle of the individual".5 Their role has been primarily centered around singing and percussion, performing on instruments such as the pandeireta, pandeiro, cunchas (seashells), and castañuelas (castanets). On the other hand, men have been more closely associated with wind instruments, particularly the Galician bagpipe, as well as with larger percussion instruments, such as the tamboril and bombo. Furthermore, the role of women in traditional music has often been linked to a collective setting, frequently as performers and accompanists, whereas men were more commonly the individual protagonists. This distinction highlights a gendered division in the organization of performances and dances within the traditional music scene6.

As previously discussed in section 1.5.2 – Her Works for Voice and Piano, it is evident that all of Eugenia’s compositions within this category contain traces and characteristics of Galician folklore and culture, as they belong to the genre of melodías gallegas. However, in some of her other pieces, we can also detect subtle nods to traditional music.

To illustrate the influence of Galician folklore, several key elements will be highlighted, followed by a discussion of how they relate to Eugenia’s works, with specific examples:

Influence of Cantigas and poems with Galician themes

The influence of Galician cantigas and poetry in Eugenia Osterberger’s work is evident in her Cantigas y Melodías Gallegas, where she addresses themes and issues that were central to the Galician literature of her time, such as morriña (deep longing for one’s homeland), emigration, and the relationship with nature.

In Ausencia and ¡Adiós a Galicia!, she conveys the melancholy of those forced to leave their land, whether due to necessity or war. In contrast, Neve explores nature from a reflective and romantic perspective. Additionally, in Cantigas y Melodías Gallegas, she sets traditional songs from A Coruña to music, further demonstrating her deep connection to Galician musical heritage.

Use of the characteristic Muiñeira rhythmic figuration

This rhythmic pattern is used in:

In Neve, it appears throughout the piece in both the piano accompaniment and the melody, but at a slower pace and with a softer character:

In Falas de Nai, the figuration also appears, but in a 3/4 time signature:

In Ausencia, the piano’s rhythmic motor is based on this figuration, appearing first in the piano melody and later in the vocal line:

This characteristic figuration also appears in ¡Adiós a Galicia! and several of the shorter pieces in Cantigas e Melodías Gallegas. In fact, it is present in almost all compositions within the melodías gallegas genre. Therefore, we consider it one of the most defining musical elements that left a lasting mark on Eugenia Osterberger’s compositions.

The Third as a Melodic Building Interval

Many traditional Galician melodies are structured around a third interval, moving in stepwise motion, both ascending and descending. This is a distinctive characteristic of Galician melodies and many traditional songs, especially when the melody ends with a descending motion.

To illustrate this, we compare the chorus melody of the well-known traditional song A Rianxeira with the first two phrases of Falas de Nai. In Falas de Nai, the melody ascends in thirds (E-G-B) and then repeats this motion, ending with an ascending gesture (B-G-E-G).

Both songs share the same key and time signature, further emphasizing their similarities. The popular A Rianxeira (footnote on its origin, etc.) perfectly exemplifies what could be described as a “typical Galician-sounding melody”. Like Falas de Nai, its main melody also alternates between ascending and descending thirds (in G major, rising to B and falling to E).

Click to listen to Falas de Nai

Click to listen to A Rianxeira

Another example of this type of intervallic movement in melodies—this time with a descending resolution—can be found in the opening phrase of the melody in Neve:

Lastly, this technique is also used in several melodies from Cantigas e Melodías Gallegas.

Ornaments and Flourishes in Phrase Endings

The melodic ornamentation with a descending resolution, often appearing as a flourish on the appoggiatura of the final note of a phrase, is a common feature in all of the melodías. This stylistic element is frequently found in both Galician and Spanish traditional music.

Examples of this can be seen in:

In Amorosas:

In Burlescos:

This ornamentation appears in almost all of the pieces from Cantigas e Melodías Gallegas, as well as in other works such as Falas de Nai.

In Desaires, a piece in A minor, this type of flourish also carries a distinctive Iberian folk influence (inspired by Andalusian and flamenco music). This is particularly evident in the descending minor third movement when modulating to the dominant (E), reinforcing the Phrygian mode in the melody by leaving the F natural.

In the pasacalles En Avant… la musique..!, this type of ornamentation and melodic figurations appears frequently and is also a characteristic feature of pasodobles.

Imitation of the Bordón Sound of the Galician Bagpipe

In Ausencia, the octave-doubled bass is used as an ostinato, resembling the typical bordón of the Galician bagpipe, which starts playing and remains constant before the melody begins:

This technique is also evident in Casamiento, from Cantigas e Melodías Gallegas. The score even includes the marking "(a gaita)", which likely refers to the piano pedal and the bagpipe-like drone effect that was intended (in addition to the melody itself being reminiscent of what a gaita would typically play). It could also suggest that the piece was meant to be performed with a bagpipe accompaniment.

In Consejos, the left hand of the piano serves the same function, reinforcing the drone effect throughout the piece.

Connections with Alborada Gallega

The main theme of Adiós Lolita Mía closely resembles the principal theme of an alborada, which typically follows the introduction.

This similarity can also be found in Burlescos from Cantigas e Melodías Gallegas and, most notably, in Casamiento.

Click to listen to the theme in an alborada and click to listen to Casamiento or Adios Lolita Mía.

Specific characteristics in Eugenia’s pieces

-Despedidas from Cantigas e Melodías Gallegas.

This piece resembles an Alalá, as it features a homophonic accompaniment and a solemn, chorale-like tone. Additionally, in the final section of the cantiga, Eugenia explicitly writes "alalá" in the score, likely referencing this style of song.

-Modulations to the Dominant (V) or the Parallel Key, Changing Mode

A characteristic feature in Eugenia’s music is the modulation from minor to major in the B section of ABA-form compositions, a technique widely used by Classical and Romantic composers to create strong expressive contrast. Examples are include in:

• Adiós a Galicia – written in G minor, modulating to G major.
• Ausencia – written in C minor, modulating to A major.

-Adiós Lolita Mía

In addition to its melodic similarity to Alboradas (as previously discussed), the rhythmic motor that drives the piece almost throughout resembles the underlying rhythm of a bolero, though in a lighter style. See in this part of the cello line:

The Bolero is written in 4/4 and features the following characteristic rhythm:

Click to listen to a bolero song in the Galician language, where the rhythmic similarity can be heard.

Eugenia's Characteristic Rhythm

This rhythmic pattern, which López-Suevos (footnote p.60)classifies as a signature rhythm of the composer, appears in several of her works, including:

Falas de Nai // 1er Polonaise pour Piano // Desaires, among others

Other Traits and the Influence of Spanish Music

Most of the traditional music elements found in Eugenia Osterberger’s works are rooted in Galician folk traditions. However, folk traditions across the Iberian Peninsula have historically influenced each other, making the concept of Spanish or Iberian traditional music broad and complex. This interwoven heritage makes it challenging to fully explore within the scope of this study.

A key example is flamenco, a genre native to southern Spain, closely linked to Andalusian folk music and, at times, regarded as a representation of Spanish musical identity as a whole. Prominent composers such as Manuel de Falla, Isaac Albéniz, and Enrique Granados, highly recognized in the classical music world, integrated elements of traditional Spanish music into their compositions. In doing so, they not only popularized these folk elements but also developed a distinctive style within the nationalist music movements that flourished in Europe at the time.

In fact, composers like Debussy, Ravel, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Bizet found inspiration in Spanish music, incorporating elements of it into some of their most celebrated works.

Among the most notable characteristics of this influence are:

• The use of dance rhythms such as jotas, fandangos, habaneras (of Cuban origin), and seguidillas.
• The Phrygian mode and the “Andalusian cadence”, both key features of flamenco.
• A characteristic descending melodic turn of a perfect fourth (A-G-F-E), often used at the end of a musical phrase.

These elements also left their mark on Galician traditional music, and some of their features have endured to the present day. It is possible that certain reminiscences of these traits can be found in Eugenia Osterberger’s compositions, such as the Phrygian-mode melodic turns. It is also worth noting that Osterberger was a contemporary of these composers, and musical exchange was a constant in the artistic circles of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

However, given the breadth of the topic and the focus of this study, this research will not delve further into the possible connections between "Spanish folklore" and Eugenia Osterberger’s music.

To conclude this chapter, I would like to highlight a particularly interesting reflection by the author Manuel Lombao7. The muiñeira rhythm, while strongly associated with Galicia, is not exclusive to the region. It can also be found in other Celtic traditions, such as those of Great Britain and Ireland, as well as in Occitan Italy and Sicily. This suggests a possible common origin. Various ethnographic studies support this idea, indicating that European folklore may have been shaped by distant influences, particularly from Asian folk traditions.

It is fascinating to think that folk music, while deeply tied to the identity of each culture, also serves as a bridge between different traditions. This interconnectedness often makes it difficult to draw precise boundaries or define elements in absolute terms, which in turn highlights the richness and complexity of traditional musical heritage.