Txalapartas of wood, stone, ice | ARS MUSICA

Txalaparta: behind this rhythmic-sounding name lies a remarkable Basque instrument with mysterious origins. Is it an echo of the ancient instruments used to call people to prayer before the advent of church bells? Or a means of conveying simple messages? Its name, in Basque, evokes the poetic image of an "intense rain," a nod to the deep and regular vibration of its strikes. A kind of xylophone with massive slats played by vertical sticks, the txalaparta (pronounced "tchalaparta") is as much a percussion instrument as it is a fascinating gestural fane. As part of the 2026 edition, of Ars Musica, ARCTIC FEVER, and in conjunction with Elena Ferrer's current exhibition, ISELP is hosting an extraordinary concert! Two Basque musicians will play wooden txalapartas (the original version), stone txalapartas, and also, exceptionally constructed for the occasion: an ice txalaparta! A special example that the artists had only created once before, in Lapland. Their percussive interventions will alternate with brief contemporary Nordic pieces for solo instruments, until the concert symbolically concludes with the melting of the coldest, most transparent, and ephemeral of the txalapartas present.