The ''rhaita'' or ''ghaita'' () is a

double reed A double reed is a type of reed used to produce sound in various wind instruments. In contrast with a single reed instrument, where the instrument is played by channeling air against one piece of cane which vibrates against the mouthpiece and ...

instrument from West

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

, specifically Morocco, Algeria and Mauritania. It is nearly identical in construction to the Arabic '' mizmar'' and the Turkish '' zurna''. The distinctive name owes to a medieval Gothic-Iberian influence.Pierre Bec, Les instruments de musique d'origine arabe, sens et histoire de leurs désignations, Toulouse, Isatis, Conservatoire Occitan, 2005 In southern

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, compri ...

, various sorts of wind instruments, including the related

shawm The shawm () is a Bore (wind instruments)#Conical bore, conical bore, double-reed woodwind instrument made in Europe from the 13th or possibly 12th century to the present day. It achieved its peak of popularity during the medieval and Renaissanc ...

, are known as '' gaitas,'' but in northern Iberia ''gaita'' refers only to bagpipes. The rhaita was featured in ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

'' soundtracks by

Howard Shore Howard Leslie Shore (born October 18, 1946) is a Canadian composer, conductor and orchestrator noted for his film scores. He has composed the scores for over 80 films, most notably the scores for ''The Lord of the Rings'' and '' The Hobbit'' fi ...

, specifically in the

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theme. American composer John Corigliano calls one of the movements of his 1975 Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra "Rhaita Dance", asking the oboist to imitate a rhaita by pushing the reed further into his or her mouth. In 1981 while composing the soundtrack to

Altered States ''Altered States'' is a 1980 American science fiction horror film directed by Ken Russell, and adapted by playwright and screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky from his 1978 novel of the same name. The novel and the film are based in part on John C. Li ...

Corigliano again called for oboists to mimic the rhaita sound during Three Hallucinations.

References

Single oboes with conical bore Moroccan musical instruments North African musical instruments Arabic musical instruments fr:Ghaïta {{DoubleReed-instrument-stub

See also

References