BERTSO FOLIOS

   According to Iztueta, towards the latter part of the eighteenth century berso folios dispersed told of the deeds of the great 'pelotaris' (Basque pelota players). Later, berso folios covered a wide array of topics including damage and destruction caused by the weather, religion, love, war and satirical spoofs. You can be sure that the history of the Basque Country of the period was chronicled in the berso folios.

   The folios became quite popular. People bought them and memorised the verses. In addition to keeping bersolarismo alive, these folios served as learning material for apprentice bersolaris, disseminating new melodies and models.

   Today the aim of the berso folios is not to chronicle events. And despite the fact that many folios are still written and a number of competitions take place, the berso folios are not nearly as popular as they once were.
Nevertheless, several attempts have been made at opening up new outlets for berso folios. Bersolaris including Amuriza, the Sarasua brothers, Egaña, Iturriaga and Elortza have worked with musicians and a few records have even been released. The weekly television programme Hitzetik hortzera produced by Bertsozale Elkartea has also provided a space for berso folios.

There have also been other endeavours, although many have not managed to reach all corners of the Basque County. These include the Santutxu berso school, the so-called individual Bertsotx folios and a few efforts made in certain towns during local festivities.