Definición
Alborada
También conocido como: dawn call · Asturian alborada
Gaita piece that opens the festival day. Played at dawn while walking through the village to announce the celebration, within the Asturian ceremonial repertoire.
The alborada is the piece that opens the main festival day. At dawn, the gaitero —alone or paired with the tambor— walks the village streets playing it to wake people up and announce that the celebration is starting.
It belongs to the ceremonial function of the Asturian traditional repertoire: it isn’t dance music, but a piece of announcement and opening. Its character is solemn and recognizable, meant to carry across open ground and be heard from a distance.
It plays a role parallel to the reveille in other traditions, but with the voice and phrasing proper to the Asturian gaita.