Chacarera

Last updated
Couple dancing a chacarera in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Chacarera in Saint Petersburg.jpg
Couple dancing a chacarera in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

The Chacarera is a dance and music that originated in Santiago del Estero, Argentina. [1] It is a genre of folk music that, for many Argentines, serves as a rural counterpart to the cosmopolitan imagery of the Tango. A dance form played by contemporary musicians as soloists or in small ensembles of voice, guitar, violin and bombo drum, the Chacarera is often legitimized by its “origin” in the remote province of Santiago del Estero.

Contents

Chacarera music

While much of the Chacarera repertoire can be traced to the 1920s sheet music of Andrés Chazarreta (Chazarreta 1947[1916]), the contemporary Chacarera style described in this article was standardized by the recordings of the 1950s folk group Los Hermanos Ábalos (Ábalos 1952). Today, this style is ubiquitous throughout Argentina, with important variants appearing in the provinces of Santiago del Estero and Salta.

Melody and harmony

Contemporary Chacareras generally utilize descending, minor-mode melodies within an octave range. They are not harmonically distinctive, relying predominantly on tonic and dominant accompaniment, and the occasional shift to the relative major. Some modern Chacarera musicians use major-seventh and other altered chords in their arrangements.

Rhythm

Contemporary Chacarera music is distinguished by its unique hemiola syncopation. Melody lines tend to begin in duple meter (6
8
), and conclude in triple meter (3
4
). Accompaniment parts – including those on guitar, piano, bandoneón and drum – employ a constant compound meter of 6
8
and 3
4
, with accents on the second dotted quarter and the third quarter note, respectively (Abalos 1952). The downbeat is generally elided until cadences, a characteristic that is particularly salient in the case of the “Chacarera Trunca” style, which cadences on the third beat.

Structure

The Chacarera is a binary form. The A section (6 or 8 bars) doubles as an introduction and an interlude. The B section (8 bars) returns twice before concluding with a repetition. The entire form repeats two times. A B A B A B B

Chacarera choreography

The Chacarera is a Contradance-influenced partner dance with similarities to many Ibero-American folk dances, including the Chilean (Zama) cueca and the Peruvian Marinera (Vega 1944). Male dancers circle about their female partners, seducing them with foot stomping (zapateo) and handkerchief waving during the A sections and “coronating,” or embracing, them in the final B section.

History of the Chacarera genre

Schoolchildren play chacareras to local elders in La Banda, Santiago del Estero Province. Chacareras para los abuelos!!!.JPG
Schoolchildren play chacareras to local elders in La Banda, Santiago del Estero Province.

According to the musicologist Carlos Vega (Vega 1944), the Chacarera belongs to a family of Ibero-American dances derived from baroque Contradance choreography. While this assertion may be accurate, Vega himself admits to the absence of documentation regarding the Chacarera before the advent of the recording industry. As the first mention of the Chacarera as a musical genre appears in the early twentieth century publications of the Santiagueñan band leader Andrés Chazarreta, it may thus be more accurate to place this dance’s “origin” within the modern era.

Argentine musical nationalism

The Chacarera can be understood as an outgrowth of Argentine "nativism," a nationalist "back-to-the-roots" movement inspired by increasing Argentine urbanization, and the influence of romantic European philosophy (Delaney 2002). The musical impact of “nativism” was felt particularly strongly in the rural province of Santiago del Estero, a region identified as a wellspring of “authentic” Argentine culture (Rojas 1905). Both Argentine individuals and institutions were inspired by the nativist perspective. In 1911, the Santiagueñan band leader Andrés Chazarreta established the nation’s first folk music “ballet” (Compañía de bailes nativos) (Vega 1981). In 1917, meanwhile, the Universidad de Tucumán hired the pianist Manuel Gómez Carrillo to conduct ethnomusicological research in Santiago (Veniard 1999). Chazarreta and Carrillo’s publications are the first to mention the Chacarera as a musical genre. While both musicians claimed to be replicating “folk” traditions in their books and recordings, some scholars credit them with establishing the form and choreography of the dance (Chazarreta 2007).

Impact of the recording industry

The Chacarera recordings and compositions of Manuel Gómez Carrillo and Andrés Chazarreta have provided a foundation for recording artists throughout the twentieth century, including Atahualpa Yupanqui, Los Hermanos Abalos, and more recent musical ensembles like the Dúo Coplanacu, Peteco Carabajal and La Chacarerata Santiagueña. The distribution of these recordings via record and radio has led to the establishment of local, national, and international audiences for the genre. In Santiago del Estero, Mendoza, and Buenos Aires alike, musicians gather in Peñas, or small folkloric clubs, to sing and dance their favorite Chacareras, often with specific regional flare. In neighboring nation-states including Uruguay, Perú, Brazil, Bolivia and Chile, Chacarera recordings of artists like Yupanqui are well-known, and often incorporated into local repertoires.

Chacarera as art music

The Chacarera also provided inspiration for art music composers like Alberto Ginastera, who used the genre’s distinctive syncopations frequently in his work. Manuel Gómez Carrillo himself was a conservatory-trained pianist, and set a precedent for this kind of “academic” setting in his compositions for solo piano.

Some famous chacareras

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music of Argentina</span> Music and musical tradition of Argentina

The music of Argentina includes a variety of traditional, classical and popular genres. One of the country's most significant cultural contributions is the tango, which originated in Buenos Aires and its surroundings during the end of the 19th century and underwent profound changes throughout the 20th century. Folk music was particularly popular during the 20th century, experiencing a "boom" in popularity during the 1950s and 1960s thanks to artists such as Atahualpa Yupanqui and Mercedes Sosa, prominent figures of the Nuevo cancionero movement. In the mid-to-late 1960s, the countercultural scene of Buenos Aires originated Argentine rock, considered the earliest incarnation of Spanish-language rock for having an autochthonous identity that differed from that of England or the United States. It was widely embraced by the youth and since then has become part of the country's musical identity as much as traditional music. According to the Harvard Dictionary of Music, Argentina also "has one of the richest art music traditions and perhaps the most active contemporary musical life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atahualpa Yupanqui</span> Argentine musician and writer (1908–1992)

Atahualpa Yupanqui was an Argentine singer, songwriter, guitarist, and writer. He is considered the most important Argentine folk musician of the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santiago del Estero Province</span> Province of Argentina

Santiago del Estero, also known simply as Santiago, is a province in the north of Argentina. Neighboring provinces, clockwise from the north, are Salta, Chaco, Santa Fe, Córdoba, Catamarca and Tucumán.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santiago del Estero</span> City in Argentina

Santiago del Estero is the capital of Santiago del Estero Province in northern Argentina. It has a population of 252,192 inhabitants, making it the twelfth largest city in the country, with a surface area of 2,116 km2. It lies on the Dulce River and on National Route 9, at a distance of 1,042 km north-northwest from Buenos Aires. Estimated to be 455 years old, Santiago del Estero was the first city founded by Spanish settlers in the territory that is now Argentina. As such, it is nicknamed "Madre de Ciudades". Similarly, it has been officially declared the "mother of cities and cradle of folklore."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernesto Acher</span>

Ernesto Acher is an Argentine comedian, actor, composer, arranger, multi-instrumentalist and orchestral conductor. Between 1971 and 1986 he was a member of the celebrated Argentine group Les Luthiers, with which he acted as composer, comedian, singer, and performer on more than twenty instruments, some of which he created himself. Before separating from the group, he was involved in individual projects as composer – including a soundtrack, a quartet for clarinet and strings, a string sextet and a symphonic poem for viola and orchestra. In 1988 he founded the La Banda Elástica (The Elastic Band), gathering some of the most outstanding Argentine jazz musicians. The band dissolved in 1993. Since then he has developed several musical and comedy projects, and performed as an orchestral conductor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">María Luisa Anido</span> Argentine guitarist and composer

María Luisa Anido was an Argentine classical guitarist and composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ariel Ramírez</span> Argentine composer (1921–2010)

Ariel Ramírez was an Argentine composer, pianist and music director. He was considered "a chief exponent of Argentine folk music" and noted for his "iconic" musical compositions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vanessa Show</span> Argentinian actress, singer and dancer

Vanessa Show is a travesti performer. As the first travesti in Argentine showbusiness, she is considered a pioneering figure.

Marcelo Peralta was an Argentine performer, teacher, composer, and arranger who played saxophone, piano, accordion, and the Latin American aerophones.

Víctor Hugo Díaz was a tango, folklore and jazz harmonicist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luis Pereyra</span> Argentine dancer and choreographer

Luis Pereyra is a dancer and choreographer of Tango Argentino and Argentinian folk dances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teresa Parodi</span>

Teresa Adelina Sellarés, best known as Teresa Parodi, is an Argentine singer and songwriter. She held the inaugural post of the Minister of Culture of Argentina from May 6, 2014, to December 9, 2015. She was a deputy to the Mercosur Parliament (Parlasur) representing the nationwide district of Argentina from December 10, 2015, to October 6, 2016. She was elected on the Front for Victory ticket in the 2015 election.

Fort Abipones was a military outpost in the Quebrachos Department near the southern border of Santiago del Estero Province of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, today's Argentina. Now in ruins, it remains a tourist attraction. It is named for the indigenous Abipón people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abel Pintos</span> Musical artist

Abel Pintos, is an Argentine singer-songwriter. He started his solo career at the age of 13 with his album Para cantar he nacido, supported financially by León Gieco. After the release of four studio albums, he started writing his own songs that marked a departure from his folk style.

Bartolomé Jaimes was a Spanish nobleman, who served in the conquest of Perú, Chile and Tucumán. He participated in the founding of the city of Córdoba by Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francisco Álvarez Campana</span>

Francisco Álvarez Campana (1707–1773) was a Spanish merchant and politician, who served during the Viceroyalty of Peru as Regidor and Attorney General of Buenos Aires. He was the founder of the Colegio de Huérfanas de Buenos Aires, an educational institute dedicated to the teaching of orphan girls.

Antonietta Paule Pepin Fitzpatrick, also known as Nenette, was a French composer, pianist and lyricist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leda Valladares</span> Argentinian composer

Leda Valladares was an Argentine singer, songwriter, musicologist and folklorist, and poet. Born in San Miguel de Tucumán in northern Argentina, she grew up surrounded by both classical European music and the folk music of the Amerindian people living in the area. From a young age she studied piano and in her teens began a band with her brother that explored folk music, jazz, and blues. She published works of poetry throughout her life. Although she began her university studies at the National University of Tucumán as an English major, after a year she changed course and studied philosophy and education, graduating in 1948. Her schooling was interrupted by a foray into the study of music at the Academy of Fine Art and in independent research among those who performed traditional folk music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuarteto Zupay</span> Argentinian folk music group active from 1966 to 1991

Cuarteto Zupay or simply Los Zupay, was an Argentinian Popular Music group formed in Buenos Aires in 1966 that remained active until 1991. The founding members were the brothers Pedro Pablo García Caffi (baritone) and Juan José García Caffi, Eduardo Vittar Smith (bass) and Aníbal López Monteiro.

References

  1. "World Music - Argentina". Digital-daydreams.com. Retrieved 2017-01-15.

Bibliography