Championship History The championships organised by Euskaltzaindia (1960-1982)

BRIEF HISTORY OF NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
The championships organised by Euskaltzaindia (1960-1982)

The post-war period lasted more than twenty years before the Euskaltzaindia managed to get authorisation to organise a bertsolari championship in 1960. In the eliminatory heats, 56 extempore singers took part and ten of these ad-libbed their way to the final judgement which went in favour of Basarri, his second time as champion.

The championships of 1962, 1965 and 1967 gave Manuel Olaizola, Uztapide, the accolades. Uztapide had taken part in the 1936 championship and had shared the same fate as Basarri in the Francoist hard labour camps. They were the pair who maintained the bertsolaritza tradition in public during the harsh 40's and 50's. But they kept the spirit going so that future bertsolaris could carry on and, indeed, little by little, they saw their art being taken on by new generations.

In the championship of 1967, nevertheless, a serious incident was to leave its mark on the world of the bertso: when Xalbador was declared a finalist, a constant booing of some five minutes prevented him from singing his final contribution. Xalbador was of the lyrical tradition of bertsolaritza and sang somewhat coldly but with profound meaning. Add to this the fact that his renditions were in the Lower Navarre dialect, difficult for the unschooled Gipuzkoan public of the time (the standardised Basque, Batua, had not yet made inroads), he was not one of the "popular" tradition. There were also small-minded interests who had supported others who had not been classified. When, at last Xalbador made himself heard, he was able to keep his head about him, singing a bertso which is historic today, as are many of his others. He was hardly allowed to finish but this time because of the loud and long applause from the public. This incident profoundly influenced bertsolaris. It was another thirteen years before the next championship.

The 1980 and 1982 championships meant an important renovation in bertsolaritza, being blessed with the presence of Xabier Amuriza. Ex-priest and ex-political prisoner, Amuriza represented a generation strongly committed to the cause of national freedom as well as socially. During more than six years of captivity, he had studied, written and been published. It was known, through the bertso-paperak that he had composed in jail and which were passed from hand to hand, Amuriza, on paper at least, was an extraordinary bertsolari. In 1980 he showed that he could also improvise ("Gizona ez da ogiz bakarrik bizi", X. Amuriza). Absorbing all the culture of past bertsolaritza and open to the influences of modern poetry, he renewed the image, introduced metaphor, provided new melodies and demonstrated that the standardised Basque language, Batua, lent itself equally well to improvisation as any dialect had done before. Collector, researcher, pedagogue, writer, Xabier Amuriza is the model to which many of today's bertsolaris look.

The pre-war championships (1935-1936) The championships organised by Bertsozale Elkartea (1986-...)