# Cobla

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{{Short description|Catalonian music ensemble}}
{{For|the Old Occitan literary genre|cobla esparsa}}
[[Image:CoblaBaixLlobregat 9079.jpg|thumb|right|300 px|"Cobla Baix Llobregat" playing in front of the [Palau de la Generalitat](/source/Palau_de_la_Generalitat_de_Catalunya) in [Barcelona](/source/Barcelona)]]

The '''''cobla''''' ({{IPA|ca|ˈkobːlə}}, plural ''cobles'') is a traditional music ensemble of [Catalonia](/source/Catalonia), and in [Northern Catalonia](/source/Northern_Catalonia) in France. It is generally used to accompany the [sardana](/source/sardana), a traditional Catalan folk dance, danced in a circle.

==Structure==
The modern Cobla normally consists of 11 players with the following instruments:

*One [flabiol](/source/flabiol), a type of [fipple flute](/source/fipple_flute) played with the left hand while a [''tamborí''](/source/tambori), a small drum attached to the left arm of the player, is played with the other hand. 
*Four [Catalan shawm](/source/Catalan_shawm)s – double-reed woodwinds
**Two tibles – a ''tible'' is like an oboe, but with a louder sound
**Two tenores – a ''tenora'' is a larger version of the tible
*Five brass instruments
**Two [trumpet](/source/trumpet)s
**A [trombone](/source/trombone) – often a valve-trombone
**Two [fiscorn](/source/fiscorn)s – a ''fiscorn'' is a rotary-valved baritone [saxhorn](/source/saxhorn) with the bell facing forward, similar in appearance to a large [flugelhorn](/source/flugelhorn)
*A string bass – originally and still often a three-string [double bass](/source/double_bass)

There are small variations to this instrumentation in contemporary coblas: for example there is sometimes a third trumpet player.

The playing formation has two rows. The front row has (as seen by the audience from left to right) the flabiolist (with pipe and drum), the second and first tibles, and the first and second tenores. The back row, often raised, has the second and first trumpets, the trombone, and the first and second fiscorns. The double bass player, often standing, is on the right of the band.

==History==
[[File:Céret - Fête de la sardane - Cobla de Llobregat.jpg|thumb|Cobla Principal de Llobregat playing in [Céret](/source/C%C3%A9ret) (2013)]]
Originally, the cobla was a 3-piece band:
*One person played the [flabiol](/source/flabiol) and drum
*The second person played the tible
*The third played [bagpipes](/source/bagpipes)

The main instrument in the cobla, the tenora, was developed around 1850 by French-Catalan luthier Andreu Toron, in [Perpignan](/source/Perpignan)/Perpinyà.

The modern 11-piece cobla was developed by the Catalan musician [Josep Maria "Pep" Ventura](/source/Pep_Ventura).  He wrote over 200 [Sardana](/source/Sardana) compositions.

==See also==
*[Sardana](/source/Sardana)

==External links==
*[http://cdtrrracks.com/ La Sardana] Videos of cobles performing sardanes
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vwa4a8NjXJw El testament n'Amèlia] Video of a performance of this sardana (composer [Joan Lamote de Grignon](/source/Joan_Lamote_de_Grignon)), by the cobla "Comtat d'Empúries" in [Castelló d'Empúries](/source/Castell%C3%B3_d'Emp%C3%BAries)
*[http://www.selvatana.com The Selvatana Cobla site] has many pictures and the history of this particular cobla, which was founded in 1913.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20180806222411/http://cobla-amsterdam.nl/ www.cobla-amsterdam.nl], site of the only non-Catalan cobla in the world, Cobla La Principal d'Amsterdam, founded in 1987 by a group of Dutch professional musicians, distinguished with the Catalan Creu de Sant Jordi in 2007.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060501012258/http://www.ce.berkeley.edu/~coby/essays/sardana.htm The Sardana and I], an essay about Catalan traditional dancing and music.
*[45-sec Video of Sardana music and dance on Commons](/source/%3AImage%3ASardanaPlSantJaume_9081.ogg) 
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20111007113832/http://martinpaling.com/blog/2009/05/15/sardana-dance/ Audio Recording of Cobla Music, Palamos, Catalunya]
* MP-3 examples of [sardana](/source/sardana) music are available on the [https://web.archive.org/web/20070630120519/http://www.selvatana.com/Selvatana%20-%20Al%B7legoria%20(part%201).mp3 Selvatana Cobla] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20070630120519/http://www.coblasabadell.com/mp3/lescomares.mp3 Cobla Sabadell] sites.

{{Music of Spain}}
{{Authority control}}

Category:Music of Catalonia
Category:Sardana

[de:Sardana#Die Cobla, das Sardana-Orchester](/source/de%3ASardana)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Cobla](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobla) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobla?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.