Erke

Erke or erque, also called coroneta or quepa is a wind instrument, with different shapes and Typical sizes in public celebrations in northwest Argentina (provinces of Jujuy, Salta and Tucumán) and southern Bolivia.

Structure

This aerophone musical instrument, which in the Argentine Republic is known by the name "cañas" (in the Hornillos area, in Salta, where the cane with which the instrument is made is abundant), "cornet" (in Jujuy and Salta), "Andean cornet", "erke", "erque", "Andean horn", " 34;trutruka" or “quepa” and is used in typical celebrations in northern Argentina and southern Bolivia.

It is made up of 5 or more long sections of cane joined at their ends and forming a single tube. The inner knots are removed from the tube formed by the reeds and it may appear externally lined with gut or wool. At the upper end it has a bovine horn or brass pavilion. The sounds are obtained by blowing, the notes are graduated by covering or uncovering the wide part with the hand.

The lower end has a mouth through which you blow. This instrument can reach a length of three to seven meters; the "cane" Tarijeña usually measures 4 meters. The typical erke lacks a reed in its mouthpiece, the function of which is fulfilled by the performer's tongue inserted into a side hole in the reed.

History

Its origin initially comes from the Cane, as a typical instrument of the Moyo Moyos (or Lacaxas) tribes, who were native to the foothills of the high area and part of the valleys of Tarija as well as Los Chichas (northern and south Chichas to the south of the country) Later it was integrated into the traditional San Roque festival in the Chunchos dances. After the disease of leprosy, at the end of the 19th century, reached Tarija, devotion to San Roque appeared, a festival in which the Chunchos dance was used (which has its origins in the Churumata-Chanés tribes)., the "erques" traditionally called "Canes" in Tarija, which according to colonial chronicles were used by Creole and mestizo people from the countryside to the city of Tarija, more specifically in the district or parish of Canasmoro, the festival reached popularity in the middle of the century XX, date on which this instrument spread in the southern valleys of Chuquisaca, Sud Chichas, Nor Chichas in the extreme south of Bolivia and the northwest highlands Argentine, although it spreads in a different way since instead of expanding more to the Valle regions and being used by peasant people as in Tarija; It spread to highland regions and was used by indigenous people and to a lesser extent by peasants, but thanks to the expansion of the instrument to Argentina it was named after the Quechua language "erk'e& #34;, which in Spanish means "horn" Since they are made of that material, the way of writing and the way of pronouncing the word remained in Argentina, North and South Chichas and in the south of Chuquisaca; while in Tarija, when the name was given to the instrument as "erk'e", it was very difficult for the chapaca people from the countryside and the city to pronounce it in an original way, in that way, like the Most of the words originating in Tarija, the word was Spanishized due to the difficulty of pronouncing it and it remained as "erque", which is also pronounced by Argentines and Chuquisaqueños from the south. in an interspersed manner.

Although in the second half of the XX century, musical groups with Andean folklore projection performed the Erke for their recitals, among the Aboriginals and Creoles of the Andean area, the erke is performed only ritually (for example, on the occasion of the misachicos).

Traditionally, only adult men play the erke, and in aboriginal populations it is considered a desecration that brings misfortune to make them sound outside of the rituals. The slightest misfortune that is believed to result from violating the rules is that frost occurs in the middle of summer. This instrument is accompanied with the quena, and in the Bolivian valleys with the tumbara.

Similar instruments

Among the Mapuches and areas of Mapuche influence there is a very similar instrument called trutruca. Another instrument with a similar function, although quite different in appearance, is the didgeridoo, used by the Australian aborigines.

Also in the northern Andean area of Peru, in Cajamarca, there is the Cajamarquino clarín, which is a transverse trumpet of the same large dimensions of 3 to 4 meters. To play it, the musician blows in the same way as he He plays a trumpet, holding the reed high across his own body. In the Cajamarca clarion we can distinguish, at the distal end, the one furthest from the musician, a kind of horn, which can be made of pumpkin, coconut or tin; The body of the bugle is made of cane, cut at a certain time of the year so that it lasts longer and does not crack. The size of the reed allows for higher or lower sounds, distinguishing styles depending on the area: in Porcón, the high sound (3.50 m long); in Chetilla, with a "lugubrious and sentimental" (4m long); and in Pampa Cajamarca, with a less acute sound than that of Porcón.

In the Alps there is an instrument quite similar (perhaps because it was originated independently - that is, by polygenism - for the same reasons as the erke and the trutruca) in appearance to the erke or cane or trutruca: it is the horn of the Alps or Alpenhorn (alpine horn) used in that European mountainous region to transmit messages between the valleys.