Origin: Galician-Portuguese lyric poetry
Genre: Cantiga de Amigo ("Friend song")
Minstrel: Martim de Ginzo (Galician?)

Performers: Ai! & Dazkarieh
Source: "A Senhora é Nossa" concert in 'Centro Cultural Raiano', Idanha-a-Nova (2 de maio de 2014)

This type of "Cantiga de amigo" (friend song), could certainly be a "bailia" (a specific song just for dancing). In it, the beautiful maiden asks to be played the adufe, however, those who did, gave her no rest, continuing to interrupt her by saying: "How pretty, I'm falling in love with her". Usually, the cantigas overall make no reference to the accompaniment of instruments, only this one mentions a percussive instrument, the adufe. I also chose this medieval illustration, because it shows clearly the adufe as the musical instrument played in the center.

This square tambourine was introduced by the Arabs in the Iberian Peninsula between the 8th and 12th centuries, having entered the Portuguese language as "ad-duff", corresponding to a variation of the traditional tambourine from the Middle East. In Portugal, it is currently concentrated in the centre-east of the country (mainly in Castelo Branco), however, it is also present in a less defined way, in other pastoral areas within the interior of the country, such as Trás-os-Montes and Baixo-Alentejo. In its interior, small seeds or stones are deposited in order to enrich the sound, as well as being decorated with ribbons in the corners and edges of the frame. Moreover, the instrument is played exclusively by women (the so called, "adufeiras"), accompanied by singing, especially during festivals and pilgrimages,

In a more peninsular context, it can be often confused with other quadrangular instruments, such as the pandero cuadrado from Peñaparda (Spain), the pandeiro mirandês (from the Northeast of Portugal) and with other quadrangular shaped pandeiros from the Iberian Peninsula (Asturias, Galicia - where it's also possible to find the term adufe - and Catalonia too).

More about the adufe: [ Ссылка ]

Source of the lyrics: [ Ссылка ]

Artwork: "The Dance of Miriam" (detail) from the full-page miniature of the Golden Haggada (c. 1320)

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