Gai Saber is an Italian folk group focused on the musical and dance traditions of Italian Occitania

Occitania

Occitania , also sometimes lo País d'Òc, "the Oc Country"), is the region in southern Europe where Occitan was historically the main language spoken, and where it is sometimes still used, for the most part as a second language...

. Gai Saber draws its name from a medieval Occitan poetic academy

Consistori del Gay Saber

The Consistori del Gay Saber , commonly called the Consistori de Tolosa today, was a poetic academy founded at Toulouse in 1323 to revive and perpetuate the lyric school of the troubadours.-Foundation:...

 that traces its roots to the regions influential troubadour

Troubadour

A troubadour was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages . Since the word "troubadour" is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a trobairitz....

 culture. It is also the origin of Nietzsche's book on poetry, The Gay Science

The Gay Science

The Gay Science is a book written by Friedrich Nietzsche, first published in 1882 and followed by a second edition, which was published after the completion of Thus Spoke Zarathustra and Beyond Good and Evil, in 1887. This substantial expansion includes a fifth book and an appendix of songs...

.

Founded in 1992 as Kalenda Maia, the group adopted its current name in 1996. They use a wide variety of traditional Occitanic instruments like the ghironda, lou semitoun, galoubet

Galoubet

Galoubet may refer to:* Galoubet A, a show jumping horse* A type of Pipe...

, lou tambourin, fifre, and piva

Piva

Piva may refer to:* Piva , a river in Montenegro* Piva, Montenegro, a region in Montenegro and the clan* Piva language, a member of the Piva-Banoni languages* Piva , an Italian folk instrument* Piva , a Renaissance dance...

alongside the modern guitar, keyboards, and sequencers.

Musicians

• Maurizio Giraudo
• Mauriza Giordanengo
• Paolo Brizio
• Chiara Bosonetto
• Elena Giordanengo
• Sandro Serra
• Alessandro Rapa

Discography

• Troubard R'ÒC
• Esprit de Frontiera
• Danimarca Live
• Electroch'Òc
• La Fabrica Occitana