Rosario, Argentina. The “Cancionero Vasco,” (Basque songbook) is an app that provides the user, simply and for free, lyrics to more than 100 songs in Euskera, including their translations into Spanish, and “Bilbainadas.” It also includes 60 scores and a poem section. Currently the App is available for Android, but according to its creator, Iker Canut, is already working to make it also available for Iphones.
In just three days, the “Cancionero Vasco” has reached 300 downloads, but this number isn’t the only thing that excites Iker, but also where they are taking place: “There is around 100 from the Basque Country and the rest are from Argentina, the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Chile, Uruguay, Ecuador, and Italy….”
This continues to encourage the young computer science student, who at only 20 years old, is still committed to the project to, in the future, expand the list of songs and scores, and include the possibility of listening to the songs too.
The App we have been waiting for
It was a very common practice before the pandemic - and it will be again shortly, without a doubt - that gatherings at Basque club would end with traditional songs. In these after-hours it was also a problem, many times, "remembering the lyrics." This was the void that Iker Canut noticed and exactly what his proposal addresses.
“I have been part of the Zazpirak Bat in Rosario since I was little, I danced in the Gaztedi Zutik, and when we gathered we always sang. Many times, we didn’t know the lyrics and so I wondered what the easiest way would be to share them. That is how the idea of the App was born. Now, I can share them, not only with the dantzaris in the group but also with the whole world,” he explains.
Besides being a dantzari, Iker Canut also studies Basque. “My family is from Bizkaia, from Berriatua and Mallabia. I had the opportunity to visit Euskal Herria in 2018, and when I returned I decided to study Basque.” This is how he also participated in translating some of the songs.
“I am very happy with the App and above all, I know that they are the first steps of a tool that will be more complete. Besides, it is a place where I could unite my two biggest interests, my university studies and my passion for Basque,” he concluded.
The “Cancionero Vasco,” can be downloaded here
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