Encienda el Fuego

It is a type of singing associated to an old open position dance of the Cuyo region in Argentina (Provinces of San Juan, Mendoza, San Luis and parts of La Rioja and La Pampa), very popular in the early XIX century. It is estimated that in the first decades of the XX century it had already lost relevance. Some researchers hold the hypothesis that its origin can be found in dances of the Ranquel indigenous people, and that initially it was known as malón (Indian raid) or indiada (Indian mob). The sereno is a cheerful dance, full of naughtiness, in which the dancers show off with provocations and snubs, gallantry and disdain. The lyrics always refer to a typical character of colonial times, the sereno (watchman), who walked the streets at night, watching, singing the hours, announcing the weather conditions and tinging his work with funny attitudes.

La chacarera es un género vocal y bailable de Argentina, principalmente de la provincia de Santiago del Estero. Se interpreta tradicionalmente con guitarra, violín y leguero bombo (membranófono de doble parche, de unos 50 cm de alto y 40 cm de ancho). También hay chacareras así como sólo instrumentales. Se baila por parejas que danzan libremente (pero en grupo) con círculos y giros. Algunos estudiosos e intérpretes sostienen que se trata de un compás monorrítmico de tres por cuatro, mientras que otros afirman que es una danza birrítmica o polirrítmica, con una melodía de seis por ocho y una base instrumental de tres por cuatro. La Loca es una antiquísima chacarera que supuestamente conserva su estructura original.

The comparsa (type of troupe) in unison vidala is one of the genres of singing with caja (double drumhead hand drum) which is currently performed in Argentina by rural communities of Diaguita, Calchaquí, and Coya origin, among others from North Western Argentina. Its multiple forms adopt tetraphony, pentaphony, diaphony, bimodality, and hybrid scales.

Within Argentina, the tonada cuyana is a musical expression characteristic of the Cuyo region. It is a lyrical genre sung with a criollo guitar trio. Some scholars of this genre affirm that it appears before 1850, due to the decline of the Spanish tonadilla. At that time, it was also known by other names such as estilo, triste and yaraví.

Se trata de un peculiar hallazgo de la cantante, compositora e investigadora argentina Leda Valladares (1919-2012) en su colección de campo en la provincia de Santiago del Estero. Se trata de una tradicional serenata popular que fusiona los géneros del estilo y el vals, y que suele cantarse a los novios el día de su boda. Su estructura poética está organizada en estrofas de diez versos.

Considered the mother of the zamba genre, this song gave rise to the celebration of the “Zamba National Day” on that date. This is an unprecedented version compiled by the musician and composer Manuel Gómez Carrillo in Tucumán, in 1923, for which Valladares wrote the lyrics. A great mystery enshrouds the origin of this zamba, and much has been speculated about its name. One of the conjectures relates it to a homonymous place, located in the northeast of the Province of Tucumán (in the Burruyacú Department), where until the mid-XX century there was a logging camp which received workers from neighbouring provinces and border countries. The lyrics written by Valladares approach that subject.

The vidala is deeply rooted in the history of the region made up of the Provinces of Tucumán, Santiago del Estero and Catamarca and also reaching those of La Rioja and San Juan in the west. Each zone imposes its differences, although in all of them, the accompaniment is respected, which in general corresponds to the caja, with which different beats are performed according to its origin. The vidala has very particular and old musical characteristics. It does not follow western aesthetic patterns, but nurtures itself from elements and nuances proper of the original songs of the Andes. Unlike the other genres, the vidala originates as an already mixed criollo folkloric expression, with musical elements proper of the Spanish culture and of the original peoples of the Argentine northwest.

Matarina es el demónimo que describe a los habitantes de Matara, un pueblo del departamento de Cajamarca, en Perú. Allí, durante el carnaval las coplas a huayno se cantan, en contrapunto y en grupo, tal como se presenta en esta versión tradicional.

The vidala in duo in parallel thirds with caja is a weeping song of uncertain origin, although it is known that it is an Andean and precolonial expression which resembles the Peruvian weeping songs. The Argentine musicologist Carlos Vega maintains that it belongs to a musical system proper of South America. Normally, it contains love laments as its words express oblivion, impossible love and disappointment. It is found in the Provinces of La Rioja, Catamarca, Tucumán and Santiago del Estero.

Se estima que la zamacueca llegó a Chile desde Lima entre 1810 y 1825. En Argentina, la danza que lleva este nombre tuvo una variación que la hizo más larga. Hacia 1870, el nombre zamacueca derivó en el de cueca . Posteriormente, en Lima, adoptó los cambios chilenos y se difundió con el nombre de zamacueca , chilena o cueca . El origen de la zamacueca se encuentra en la fusión musical que se produjo entre gitanos y mulatos que habitaban Lima durante el Virreinato del Perú. El temperamento, la sátira y la interpretación quejumbrosa y rebelde de la guitarra tienen origen gitano, mientras que la forma coral y el tundete (simple rasgueo repetido de la guitarra) tienen origen africano. Esta fusión musical comienza a destacar durante los siglos XVI y XVII.

Canción que acompaña a una danza homónima de posición abierta. Según el folclorista y escritor argentino Ventura R. Lynch (1851-1883), la danza, de origen tradicional, se bailó en zonas rurales de la Provincia de Buenos Aires entre 1850 y 1900, particularmente en la zona de Dolores y, a fines del siglo XIX también era conocida en el oeste de la zona pampeana.

This expression is a rarity as it was compiled in Tucumán (by Leda Valladares), whereas the milonga is a genre typical of the Pampas. Two origins are assigned to the milonga, one of them linked to the criollo guajira or old milonga, which became popular by the mid-XIX century. According to some scholars, this genre replaced others of the criollo folklore, such as cielitos and medias cañas. It is estimated that in the mid-XIX century the genre expanded beyond the Pampa region. The second origin of the milonga, according to the famous Afro-Argentine payada singer Gabino Ezeiza (1858-1916), who introduced the structure of the milonga to the payada (improvised folk song), it comes from candombe, genre made up of musical expressions of African origin.

La baguala is a lyrical genre which can be traced back to the Diaguita-Calchaquí culture (north-west of Argentina and north of Chile). Originally it was sung in kakán language and was considered one of the most ancestral genres of the traditional singing of the area. It is one of the basic vocal expressions of the singing with caja and it is nowadays sung with the poetic structure of the octosyllabic copla. Its melody is triton and the way it is sung is very ornamented. The coplas salteñas come from the Chaco area in the Province of Salta. Through them, the singer improvises his or her words and sings by means of the copla, with interludes where a particular touch of the so-called violin del monte or the caja intervenes.

Para más información sobre los géneros e instrumentos musicales mencionados, pueden consultarse las siguientes obras:

Instrumentos musicales etnográficos y folklóricos de la Argentina (Ruiz Irma, Rubén Pérez Bugallo y Héctor Goyena, Eds. 1993. Buenos Aires: INM).

Panorama de la música popular argentina (Vega, Carlos. 1998 [1944]. Buenos Aires: INM).

Diccionario de la música española e hispanoamericana (Casares Rodicio, Emilio, Ismael Fernández de la Cuesta y José López-Calo. 2002. Madrid: Fundación Autor y SGAE).