Lantz

(
2016
)
Composer: Mikel Chamizo
Duration:
12:00
Percussion, accordion, txistu

Lantz (2016), for txitsu, accordion and percussion, is a trio inspired by another trio, formed by Ziripot, Miel-Otxin and Zaldiko, the protagonists of the famous Carnival of Lantz, village of the  chartered community of Navarre which celebrates every year this mythical story of oppression, struggle and death with extraordinary intensity and mysteriousness. In Lantz, the instruments embody the three carnival figures, or rather represent their character in music: the suffering of the poor and plump Ziripot, through the txitsu; the tyranny of Miel-Otxin the giant, blowing through the accordion; and the anger of Zaldiko the centaur is felt through the percussion. These representations preserve their abstract and random quality since the intention behind them is mainly to maintain the dramatic aspect constructed by the three archetypes.

Lantz deploys a wild, tragic and confrontational musical discourse that is filtered by humour, irreverence and irony, three strategies used by the Carnival to overcome the bitterness of reality. Its musical language comes from Basque folklore, without being a romanticized vision of its rhythms and melodies; rather, it draws from the raw dramaturgy one finds in its recesses and the powerful character that its traditional instruments possess, even in their imperfections.