Eternal Procession

A famous "Diana" played by two pilgrims near Punta Corral.

The Diana is a musical form performed by two sikus. The combination of both intruments generates the tune. This melody is called the "The gut remover", because to make the song work with the sikus you have to blow out your stomach and lungs.

In this track we can listen to the “Young Eligio Gómez” singing a Chacarera. Almost all the verses are in Quechua and the chorus in Spanish. This singer, who died two years ago, is much loved and remebered in the south of Santiago del Estero, because, in the manner of the ancient minstrels, he traveled all around the south of the province on his bicycle singing. Eligio stands as one of the most genuine guitarerros of Santiago’s folklore, a region that has great importance within Argentine folklore.

This song is sang by a group of women at Yavi’s Church // We stayed at a corner of Yavi church and we focused on recording a doctrine. This is a group of people made up mostly by women who sing in a kind of mourning cry on Good Friday (Easter). These choral groups called “doctrines” (this year there were 9 groups) were located throughout the church. Each group sings the same song but not simultaneously. Also each group modifies the tune throughout the night. All these details generate a disruptive effect for the conventional listener.

Normando Tolaba is one of many “copleros” that still remain in Salta and northern Argentina. However, his passion for this genre, his voice and the environment where he lives, particularly caught our attention. This tradition inherited from his mother, is also a Spanish heritage. Many coplas are repeated throughout the entire Ibero-American territory in different tunes. In this case, these coplas are Normando’s compositions. The couplets usually condense, in poetic form, knowledge and reflections. Other times, they proceed in a metafictional way, mentioning the artistic procedure itself, as in the case of the first two coplas and the last one presented here.

In this song, Segundo Bercetche’s guitar proposes a modal harmony that is completed with a melody that wanders without repeating any structure. Like the dialogues we used to have at the end of the day in front of the fire. The guitar is escorted by a bandoneon “drone” and by sounds of nature collected on the trip.

Small fragment of the procession through Tilcara’s mountains // In this track we show a small fragment of the procession through Tilcara’s mountains. This track was taken from a fairly wide distance, in a canyon where the natural echo caught our attention.

This music belongs to the mythical Díaz brothers. They were a fundamental key of the music of Santiago del Estero and also great friends of Atahualpa Yupanqui. The song’s performer on this occasion is "the young Eligio Gómez". The composers are also from the town of Salavina, as well as Eligio.

Flora is Normando Tolaba’s mother. She no longer sings coplas as she used to, but like many adults in the area, she prays the rosary at prayer time. This is usually when the sun sets and also at dawn.

On this track, Segundo Bercetche plays samples that were recorded during Holy Week in the province of Jujuy and Tomi Lebrero, who is listening to them for the first time since months, improvises with his bandoneon at the same time that Bercetche processes the sounds.

It is an improvisation that brings back the Pampas imaginario but from another perspective. The music was performed by Tomi Lebrero and Segundo Bercetche. At the end, some birds and horse steps sampled during the trip are included.