Anti-MatikSolo/duo for bajoncillo and (female) body

Notes about the Instrument

The bajoncillo is a smaller version of the bajón, an ancestor of the bassoon. The bajoncillo was in use during the seventeenth century in the Iberian Peninsula and countries of Iberian influence, namely, Latin America. It was played in cathedrals and in liturgical and paraliturgical Catholic processions, which sometimes included precolonial elements. This instrument is thus emblematic of the hegemonic power of the Spanish and Portuguese overseas and of their efforts to impose their culture on indigenous populations. The bajoncillo, however, can also be seen as an instrument of acculturation, integration, and subversive appropriation by indigenous populations. For this reason, it may also be used as an instrument of resistance and creativity for gendered bodies.

Notes for Performance

The musical elements marked with letters are repetitive formulas, with accentuation on the last note of the legato sign.

The musical elements with numbers are skeleton frames for improvisation.

The drawings represent the body placement for the execution of each of the letters parts, in a static position.

The numbers parts should be executed during the movement from one position to the next.

The numbers in the figures are associated with hand positions on the instrument:

1. 1. Bajoncillo down right: left hand above and right hand below (normal position)

2. 2. Bajoncillo down left: right hand above and left hand below

3. 3. Bajoncillo up left: left hand above and right hand below, hand in inverted position

4. 4. Bajoncillo up right: right hand above and left hand below, hand in inverted position

5. 5. Bajoncillo horizontal right: left hand normal and right hand inverted position

The three different narrative lines (letters, numbers, body movements) represent the negotiation between the struggle under physical constraints and the development of an inner musical expression.

Fig 1.

Position 4 (letter H), photograph © Kabil Zerouali, used with permission.

Fig 2.

Position 5 (letter I), photograph © Kabil Zerouali, used with permission.

Fig 3.

Position 2 (letter G), photograph © Kabil Zerouali, used with permission.