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02 Oct 07 - 02:33 AM (#2161654) Subject: Chavez Promotes Venezuelan Folk Music From: Azizi Here's an article on Venezuelan President Chavez and folk music: VENEZUELAN MUSIC Mon Oct 1, 4:32 PM ET CARACAS (AFP) - President Hugo Chavez has released a CD of traditional Venezuelan folk music that features him singing, and which will be distributed free inside the country, presidential sources said. The CD, titled "Canciones de Siempre" which roughly translates to "Songs For All Time," includes tunes that Chavez has sung during his regular Sunday "Hello, President" television and radio program. At the close of each broadcast, Chavez regularly sings folk songs along with guest musicians and dancers. Sources close to Chavez said the CD will be available free in Venezuela. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071001/en_afp/lifestylevenezuelamusicchavezoffbeat_071001203208 -snip- That sparked my interest. Since I know next to nothing about Venezuelan folk music, I decided to go looking for more information. And then I decided to share what I found on a Mudcat thread. Hopefully, others here will share any information they know or that they find on the subject of Chavez's radio show and his support of folk music, and on the general subject of Venezuelan music. Btw, I looked but didn't find any previous Mudcat threads on either of these subjects. But then again, Mudcat's search engine is not fully operational. If anyone can point to previously existing Mudcat threads or posts on Venezuelan music, please post those links in this thread. Thanks in advance! |
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02 Oct 07 - 02:39 AM (#2161657) Subject: RE: Chavez Promotes Venezuelan Folk Music From: Azizi Here's an excerpt from the wikipedia article on Venezuelan music: "Several styles of traditional Venezuelan music, such as salsa and merengue are common to its Caribbean neighbors. Perhaps the most typical Venezuelan music is joropo, a rural form which originated in the llanos, or plains. This llanera music spread to musically creative artists like Juan Vicente Torrealba, Ignacio Figueredo and Ángel Custodio Loyola, who helped to popularize music throughout the country , leading to a slick modern form of pop-llanera that has earned scorn from purists and much of the younger Venezuelan listeners, who perceive it as stale and watered-down. Some singers, like Simón Díaz and Reynaldo Armas have maintained a huge following over the years. In a similar vein, there is also neo-folklore, which takes traditional music and arranges it in an electronic style, for electronic instruments. Another very popular music in Venezuela is the gaita. This genre originated from the region of Zulia state and is very popular during the Christmas season. The gaita united to the Aguinaldo, conforms the national representation of the Venezuelan Christmas. Other forms of Venezuelan folk music are tu madre extensively recorded and researched due to the work of Caracas-based Fundación Bigott. African-derived percussion (including multiple rhythms, such as sangeo, Fulía and parranda) is perhaps the most well-documented subject, and has produced groups like Un Solo Pueblo, Huracán de Fuego and Grupo Madera. This vanguard fusion artists combine rumba, Latin jazz, joropo, salsa and other forms of music from Latin America. Venezuelan calypso music, imported from Trinidad in the 1880s by immigrants arriving during a gold rush, has its own distinctive rhythms and lyrical style. Calypso de El Callao in Venezuela, the music has had major stars, including most famously VH. Another imported genre is Cuban-American salsa music, which has several domestic superstars, including Oscar D'León. Dominican merengue and Latin pop acts like Billo's Caracas Boys, Porfi Jiménez Orchestra and Los Melódicos"... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Venezuela |
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02 Oct 07 - 02:46 AM (#2161659) Subject: RE: Chavez Promotes Venezuelan Folk Music From: Azizi Here's an excerpt from another Internet article on Venezuelan music: http://www.lafi.org/magazine/articles/ven-music.html "Geographically, Venezuela is divisible into distinct regions—the coast, the plains, the mountains, and the rain forest. Native American music is concentrated in the latter, toward the interior of the country, while African manifestations are heard mostly along the central coast to the north. The Spanish influence is predominant in the Andes. Early Spanish colonists came mainly from Andalucía, the Moorish stronghold in Southern Spain. Thus, the music that migrated with them to Venezuela was marked by Arabic and Islamic influences. Perhaps the Venezuelan music known best outside the country is the joropo, a genre from the plains... A number of other styles from the plains have received less international attention, but are just a representative of the country's roots; for instance, the Venezuelan merengue, which is not at all like its more famous counterpart from the Dominican Republic, and the Venezuelan calypso, which reflects the closeness of Trinidad and Tobago and, beyond them, the other Caribbean islands. The earliest music of Venezuela was that of the native peoples. Today, their traditions are maintained by only a small percentage of the population located principally in the Amazonian interior. Their major contribution to the popular music of today has been the accompaniment of the maracas, ever-present in a variety of styles. While indigenous Venezuelans typically use a single maraca to accompany their songs, popular music normally makes use of a pair, each one with its own pitch. Venezuelan maracas are unlike the kind often used in the U.S., which derive from Cuba and Puerto Rico; they are smaller, with a softer sound. While a typical rhythmic triplet for Caribbean maracas places the accent at the end—one/two/THREE—, the counterpart for Venezuelan maracas inverts the accent—ONE/two/three. The Spanish brought with them different styles that were popular in Europe over the years, with the instrumentation to match. Thus, among the more popular instruments in today's folk and popular music are the guitar and the mandolin, with their relatives, the cuatro and the bandola; the harp and violin; and, along the Colombian border, the tiple. The bandola is similar to the cuatro, but is shorter, often pear-shaped, and more percussive or stronger-sounding due to the manner in which it is played, with a plastic pick. (For more information on the cuatro, see related article on page 5). The bandola is strung differently in different regions of the country, but, in general, has four courses of strings. The Africans contributed to the development of Venezuelan music as well. The origins of the Africans forcibly carried as slaves to Venezuela are difficult to pinpoint, because the slave traders noted the points of embarkation, rather than the localities of capture. There is general agreement, nevertheless, that among West and Central African influences the ones from the Congo predominate. (For a more detailed discussion of Afro-Venezuelan culture, see the interview with Jesús García in the May/June and August/September 1999 editions of Clave). Not surprisingly, drums were a primary African contribution to Venezuelan instrumentation, including what may be a unique phenomenon in the Americas — very large wooden drums (called mina, tambor grande, cumaco, or burro) with a skin on one end, laid along the ground and sometimes propped up by crossed bars at one end. The enormous mina is found in the region of Barlovento. The principal player of a mina mounts the drum like a rider to strike the skin end with a beater, while one or more players beat the side of the drum with wooden sticks called palos or laures. They may be accompanied by a smaller, upright, drum called a curbata. Also along the central coast are found other smaller drums with skin on both ends, redondos and tamboras. The latter name echoes that of the double-headed drum typical of merengue ensembles in the Dominican Republic. Redondos (also called culo 'e puya) are less common, and are held between the legs while standing. Similar drums are used in other coastal areas outside Barlovento. The cumaco of the region of Litoral has a skin that is nailed to its frame rather than affixed with pegs and wedges. It is laid flat on the ground, but is also mounted by a principal player, who uses his bare hands on the skin, while other players strike the sides with sticks. In the coastal town of Naiguata there are barrel-shaped drums called pipas, and tamboras or tamboritas are used to play fulias for velorios to honor a saint or the Cross (see section on velorios below). Chimbangueles are conical drums that are hung from the player's shoulder and played by one hand with a stick. A final coastal percussion instrument of African origin is the quitiplás, a set of short bamboo tubes held one in each hand and struck first against the ground in turn, then against each another, producing the three-part sound for which it is named. Popular Music with Religious Roots The most obvious remnants of African music in Venezuela today occur as part of religious ceremonies, but not like those of santería, candomblé, and voodoo in Cuba, Brazil, and Haiti, in which the deities invoked, even in their syncretic form, correspond to their African origins. In Venezuela, the ceremonies are very much Catholic in inspiration and origin, celebrating various feast days of the saints and Corpus Christi. The local churches take part, for example, in the feast of San Juan (St. John) where a wooden figure of the saint is abducted from a designated house and taken in succession to other dwellings. The Parranda de San Pedro takes place on June 29 in the town of Guatire. The feast of San Benito (St. Benedict the Moor) is celebrated during Christmas week and New Year's Day. San Antonio (St. Anthony of Padua) is celebrated on or around June 13. On these occasions, drums are the primary instruments. The content of the events is undoubtedly Catholic, but the music is notably African in its rhythms, instrumentation, and call-and-response structure. The religious orientation of the feasts does not keep dance and alcohol from playing a leading role in the festivities." -snip- This article goes on to describe some of these principal feast days. Additional information on Venezuelan music is included in this comprehensive article. |
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02 Oct 07 - 02:52 AM (#2161662) Subject: RE: Chavez Promotes Venezuelan Folk Music From: Azizi Here's a YouTube video of Venezuelan music. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZogFHKdqao TAMBOR URBANO DE VENEZUELA Added: July 17, 2006 ;From: tamborurbano I was particularly interested in the call & response pattern of the vocal music, the types of instruments and the ways those instruments were played, and the types of dancing shown in this video. The African influence on all of these folk elements is clearly evident. |
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02 Oct 07 - 03:05 AM (#2161667) Subject: RE: Chavez Promotes Venezuelan Folk Music From: Richard Bridge Hmm, now that Tony B Liar has some spare tme, perhaps he could do the same for English (or British) Folk Music. And Bill Clinton for American. |
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02 Oct 07 - 01:50 PM (#2162140) Subject: RE: Chavez Promotes Venezuelan Folk Music From: Azizi Here's another article on Afro-Venezuela music: Afro-Venezuelan Musicians Connect the Diaspora New America Media, News Feature, Khalil Abdullah, Posted: Feb 20, 2007 "Editor's Note: The arc of the African diaspora was vividly on display in February when the Eleggua Group -- Afro-Venezulean musicians -- visited Washington, D.C. and turned out the house at the Venezuelan Embassy. Khalil Abdullah is an editor and Washington D.C. director at New America Media. WASHINGTON D.C. -- On a wintry Sunday in February, an enthusiastic audience in Washington, D.C., was treated to the Eleggua Group's fusion of African polyrhythmic percussion and all-Spanish vocals. The temperature outside the Venezuelan Embassy's Bolivarian Hall may have flirted with zero, but, inside, the Afro-Venezuelan musicians brought a radiant zest that warmed the crowd... The troupe started the concert with a musical tribute to its namesake, Eleggua, the Afro-Venezuelan saint "who opens the ways," said Alexis Machado, the group's musical director. "Any project or any dreams you have, Eleggua will help you make your dream possible." Part of the Eleggua Group's dream is to share its African ancestry with other peoples of the African diaspora. "We are all brothers and sisters wherever we are in the world," Machado said. Patricia Abdelnour, the Embassy's Cultural Attaché, said the idea to bring the Eleggua Group to the United States grew out of a dialogue with the Smithsonian Museum. Initially, the discussion centered on a trip during Hispanic Heritage Month but the uniqueness of the group's mission to preserve Venezuela's African traditions made a visit during Black History Month a logical choice. At the Bolivarian Hall, the young children eagerly sat in a tight semi-circle around the Eleggua Group. They listened to the descriptions and history of the instruments and were allowed to play the drums and maracas. There was always room to dance. Belen Palacios, 73 years old, did more than hold her own with the younger members of the troupe during the performance. Palacios sang and danced, several times inviting adult members of the audience to the floor to challenge her with their prowess and stamina. Palacios has been declared a "Cultural Alive Patrimony" by Miranda State, roughly equivalent to a living legacy or cultural treasure. She is known as the "Queen of the Quitipilas," bamboo tubes that are struck against the ground to provide an intricate yet forceful percussive line that vies for dominance with the drums. Palacios, who learned how to carve and play the quitipilas from her mother over 60 years ago, was accompanied on the instruments by daughter Calixta Palacios and niece Karelys Colmenarez, a 19-year-old whose effervescent smile never waned for the duration of the concert... The modern history of the African presence in Venezuela largely dates from the introduction of forced labor by the Spanish. Slavery was declared illegal in 1854 and the slow integration of Afro-Venezuelans as fully participating members of society has mirrored the struggle of other African descendants in the Americas. Though Venezuela has recognized mestizo, the mixed blood ancestry of Europeans and indigenous Indians, as an official identity to be embraced, the social inference has long been that a greater proportion of European blood conferred superiority. Given that Venezuelan's census has no categorical means for Afro-Venezuelans to self-identify, estimates of their population range from 10 to 15 percent of the country's 25 million inhabitants. Should "Afro-Venezuelan" appear on the next census, it is still likely that many will opt for the mestizo identity, despite Hugo Chavez's public recognition and pride in his Afro-Venezuelan heritage, the country's first president to do so. Chavez, through consultation with Afro-Venezuelan cultural organizations, has established a presidential commission to work toward the elimination of racism in his country. The Eleggua Group members are, in essence, cultural ambassadors. Jorge Guerrero Veloz, an Afro-Venezuelan historian and activist who accompanied the musicians, explained that there are many aspects of Afro-Venezuelan culture that can be traced directly to specific regions of Africa, like the Congo. These traditions include the techniques for playing and making specific types of drums and instruments, food dishes, and even the tightly wound braids that graced the heads of the Eluegga Group performers. Veloz also discussed the efforts of Venezuelan historians to document his people's origins and referenced the sailing exploits of African seamen into the Americas. "Abubakari the Second!" said Veloz emphatically, referring to Mali's king of the 1300s, A.D. According to Prof. Ivan Van Sertima in "They Came Before Columbus; The African presence in Ancient America," Abubakari's expeditionary fleet, which crossed the Atlantic from Africa, is only one example on a continuum of exchanges that occurred between Africa and the Americas in the pre-Columbian era. Machadpo said there are times during the year, like on June 24 in celebration of John the Baptist, "you can hear the drums throughout the whole coast of Venezuela." "We were told our mother is Spain," he noted later, "Our mother is Africa.".... For Hector Gonzales, an audience member and native of Caracas, cultural politics had disappeared as the Eleggua Group touched his memory. Once again outside in the fading light and biting chill, he reflected on what the performance had meant to him. "You appreciate the music more," Gonzales said poignantly, "when you are far away from home." http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=90f8127bcd87ec18ff9261039360936a |
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02 Oct 07 - 06:07 PM (#2162332) Subject: RE: Chavez Promotes Venezuelan Folk Music From: bankley check out Soraya Benitez. Born in Venezuela, living in Quebec for several years. She has a few cds released with 'Bros'. www.bros.ca Really nice... good for Chavez as well.... |
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02 Oct 07 - 06:28 PM (#2162346) Subject: RE: Chavez Promotes Venezuelan Folk Music From: Azizi Thanks for that information, bankley. I couldn't get your URL to work, so I googled the name Soraya Benitez and that led me to this website: http://www.bros.ca/bros/esbenitez.htm Here's the summary information about this artist: Soraya Benetiz "Born in Venezuela and established in Quebec a few years ago, Soraya Benitez humbly started her career by singing in the subways of Montreal. Her powerful voice, sometimes compared to Argentinean legend Mercedes Sosa, attracts the production team from Radio-Canada's "C'est bien meilleur le matin". She has since then found success by playing many times on SRC and Radio-Québec and by touring with Richard Desjardins. Known in Venezuela as being the star of the ever-popular opera "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat", she has the sensitivity and talent to become one of the most prominent singers on the Latin world music scene, joining the ranks of such divas as Cesaria Evora, Mercedes Sosa and Virginia Rodriguez. A must in every collection!" -snip- While I was on that website, I checked out who The Bros are. Here's what I found: About Us Montreal based Productions Bros inc. (as in Brothers) is one of the main companies on the Canadian Blues scene. They are managing, booking, recording and distributing some of the best Canadian talents as : Nanette Workman, The Stephen Barry Band, Steve Hill, Bob Walsh, Mike Goudreau & Boppin Blues Band, the late lamented Vann "piano man" Walls, and Charles Wizen on the jazz scene. Bros now also welcomes important artists of the Latin music scene : Soraya Benitez, La Velha Guarda da Mangueira, Celso Fonseca and Ronaldo Bastos, etc".. -snip- Soraya Benitez' official website has a sound clip: http://www.sorayabenitez.com/ Her voice is deep & vibrant. Wonderful! |
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02 Oct 07 - 08:15 PM (#2162425) Subject: RE: Chavez Promotes Venezuelan Folk Music From: katlaughing My Rog worked in Venezuela for several years. I know I've posted a few links before, but I don't think we had a special thread for them. We have several tapes he brought home with him. The best place to hear good representations of the folk music of VZ, Columbia and elsewhere is http://www.llanera.com/musica/. If you listen carefully, you will hear the full-size harps the cowboys/llaneros play and sign along to. From what people living there have to say about Chavez on various blogs, including The Devil's Excrement, I wouldn't be too impressed with his attempt to represent the music. Ciao as they say in VZ, believe it or not!*smile* |
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03 Oct 07 - 08:08 AM (#2162642) Subject: RE: Chavez Promotes Venezuelan Folk Music From: Azizi Thanks for that information and link, katlaughing. Fwiw, when I share information about a person's or group's music or a person's or group's support of music, that does not necessarily connote that I am impressed by or approval of any other aspect of that person's or group's life or existence. That said, imo, one of the things that makes the world interesting and Mudcat interesting is that everyone is not impressed by or approve of the same people, places, ideas, and things. |
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03 Oct 07 - 08:42 AM (#2162667) Subject: RE: Chavez Promotes Venezuelan Folk Music From: GUEST,Brian Peters I'd be interested to know the identity and agenda of the people behind 'The Devil's Excrement'. The title doesn't suggest dispassionate opinion. |
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03 Oct 07 - 10:04 AM (#2162708) Subject: RE: Chavez Promotes Venezuelan Folk Music From: katlaughing Read it, Brian. No hidden agendas. Why would anyone want to write a dispassionate opinion about their country, esp. when their is a revolution on? Here's the blurb about it: Observations focused on the problems of an underdeveloped country, Venezuela, with some serendipity about the world (orchids, techs, science, investments, politics) at large. A famous Venezuelan, Juan Pablo Perez Alfonzo, referred to oil as the devil's excrement. For countries, easy wealth appears indeed to be the sure path to failure. Venezuela might be a clear example of that. |
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03 Oct 07 - 11:32 AM (#2162766) Subject: RE: Chavez Promotes Venezuelan Folk Music From: GUEST,Brian Peters Ah, I hadn't read that bit - I thought the title was their way of describing the president. Nonetheless they do describe him as "the autocrat" throughout, which is a bit strange - him having been elected by 60% of the vote only last December. No doubt some people there have reason to be unhappy with his rule, and I defer to your personal connection with the country, katlaughing. Nonetheless, given the very powerful interests ranged against Chavez, I did wonder who the blog was representing. But no more politics from me, lest this thread be sent below the line. |
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03 Oct 07 - 01:10 PM (#2162828) Subject: RE: Chavez Promotes Venezuelan Folk Music From: katlaughing *smile* I am sure there are those who don't mind such a misinterpretation of the title, Brian. If you look back on that blog and others you find more reasons why they call him an "autocrat." But, I agree. Anyone listen to the llaneros music, yet? Great stuff! |
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03 Oct 07 - 05:25 PM (#2163078) Subject: RE: Chavez Promotes Venezuelan Folk Music From: bankley as a sidebar, Azzizi, 'The Bros." also released my last cd 'Insurgent Sun'...as a licensing deal... nice folks.... that's why I was familiar with Soraya's music.... they have an interesting catalog.... and whichever way you cut it, I like Senor Chavez.. |
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03 Oct 07 - 06:14 PM (#2163147) Subject: RE: Chavez Promotes Venezuelan Folk Music From: Q (Frank Staplin) Over 20 radio stations on line from Venezuela. Most are offensive (rock, etc.). Radio danielle has international music and is bearable- some of the popular guitar + vocal pieces are quite good. Stay away from Romantica- many high-powered advertisements that go on and on and - No folk programs found. Has anyone found the cd by Hugo Chavez on sale? Nothing on eBay yet. |
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03 Oct 07 - 06:16 PM (#2163149) Subject: RE: Chavez Promotes Venezuelan Folk Music From: Azizi Blankley, good on you! Please tell us more about your CD. [Admittedly this is thread drift-but this kind of thread drift is allowed, right? Right.] |
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03 Oct 07 - 06:19 PM (#2163152) Subject: RE: Chavez Promotes Venezuelan Folk Music From: Q (Frank Staplin) Oh, yes, one or two of these radio stations carry virus, so make sure that your server virus protection is on. |
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03 Oct 07 - 06:28 PM (#2163159) Subject: RE: Chavez Promotes Venezuelan Folk Music From: Q (Frank Staplin) Just now played llaneros, fiesta band music, etc. on Danielle. A good station. No adv. either! |
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03 Oct 07 - 06:36 PM (#2163170) Subject: RE: Chavez Promotes Venezuelan Folk Music From: katlaughing That llanero link isn't a radio station, Q, but the music is all folk. |
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03 Oct 07 - 07:28 PM (#2163206) Subject: RE: Chavez Promotes Venezuelan Folk Music From: Azizi I tried, but I can't get the link katlaughing provided for the llaneros sound clip to work on my computer. However, for those who can get YouTube, here's a link to a videoclip that includes a panorama of llaneros music, including a segment that focuses on the harp: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSSNBAm0k6A Added: October 30, 2006; From: losllaneros ** Btw, there's 16 comments to date for that videoclip. All but 15 of them are in Spanish. Unfortunately my high school Spanish isn't up to the task of translating those comments. Sigh... |
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03 Oct 07 - 07:43 PM (#2163216) Subject: RE: Chavez Promotes Venezuelan Folk Music From: Q (Frank Staplin) I gave no link. Looking it up, I found Danielle digital radio is an 80k internet broadcaster in Venezuela, one of several sponsored by 'Fundacion Jose Guillermo Carrillo' and support from Oslo University and other institutions. This one uses the record library of an industrial technological institute in Caracas. Don't know what they are selling, haven't looked them up, but the music is good. Playing a Mexican mariachi favorite now. Several ways to link to foreign broadcasts, but I use http://www.radiotower.com since I have favorites elsewhere and it is easy to use their indexes. Those which use Real (my preference) are indicated. One may also link directly, of course. List of 24 VE stations on net Stay away from the Maracaibo listing. My server indicates a virus attached. |
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03 Oct 07 - 07:46 PM (#2163217) Subject: RE: Chavez Promotes Venezuelan Folk Music From: Azizi Here's another YouTube video link that features music from the llanos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgDYild0E_g&NR=1 Daily Harp Moments-Joropo/criollo Added: March 06, 2007 ;From: jgkovac "Daily postings of harp tunes, today from Guanare, Venezuela. Traditional llanera harp music with harp, cuatro and maracas" ** And here's another video of Afro-Venezuelan music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-9hriTd7d0 Added: August 06, 2006 ; From: djgaudi Tambores de mi pueblo Is the most important band in europe, creating a powerfull style with afro-venezuelan music, based in the typical rithms of the venezuelan coast and fusión. Living in Barcelona_Spain sice 2001, had found a great succefully in europe. if you see us, you`ll never forget ** The different types of drums and the way they are played is fascinating! |
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03 Oct 07 - 07:46 PM (#2163218) Subject: RE: Chavez Promotes Venezuelan Folk Music From: Azizi Sorry about the hyperlinks. I don't know how that happened. |
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03 Oct 07 - 08:09 PM (#2163229) Subject: RE: Chavez Promotes Venezuelan Folk Music From: Azizi Thanks to the moderator who cleaned up my 03 Oct 07 - 07:46 PM post by getting rid of the mistaken underlining of sentences. |
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03 Oct 07 - 10:46 PM (#2163297) Subject: RE: Chavez Promotes Venezuelan Folk Music From: katlaughing Phew! I forgot about youtube. My Rog was explaining that two llaneros will do what they call "contrapunteo" a back and forth improv of rhyming verses accompanied by harp and small guitar or uke.He calls it their kind of "rap." There's a really good example HERE on youtube. What fun. It's just like the tapes he brought home. It's great to actually see them. Those harps are something. |
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03 Oct 07 - 10:52 PM (#2163302) Subject: RE: Chavez Promotes Venezuelan Folk Music From: katlaughing There's an interesting CD by a woman composer/scholar/pianist with a modern twist to the joropo (certain kind of dance) of VZ and Columbia HERE. I prefer the real stuff, BUT it sounds as though she is doing a lot to help preserve it and to document it. |
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03 Oct 07 - 10:58 PM (#2163305) Subject: RE: Chavez Promotes Venezuelan Folk Music From: katlaughing One more. Some info on llaneros from About.com: The llanos of Venezuela and Colombia are vast savannahs with an extensive variety of wildlife. Before the coming of the Spaniards in the mid-1500s, the llanos were inhabited by various indigenous groups. When the Spaniards began to colonize the area, a new population group arose, the first cowboy of the Americas, the llanero. The llanero's language is peppered with words and phrases unchanged from the idioms of the first Spaniards. Part Indian, part Spanish to begin with, and now a mixture of many ethnic groups, the llaneros are skilled horsemen, adept at rounding up and corraling cattle on the Hatos, or cattle ranches as well as on the open range. Wearing a distinctive starched hat, they appear impervious to heat or cold, and often go barefoot. Until the discovery of vast oil reserves, the llanos were barely inhabited, with the population scattered over great distances. "The Llaneros are proud of their hard lives, the true cowboys live close to nature from cradle to grave. They break in fresh horses each year, releasing them to run wild when the rains come. Their rich folklore is revealed in legends and stories, and in poignant songs accompanied by the strum of the cuatro guitar or the lilting rhythms of the Venezuelan harp." Quote from LLanos. Llaneros display their skills in coleo competitions in which cowboys try to rope cows by grabbing their tails, colas, and dragging them to the ground. The llaneros, and their way of life have come to symbolize much of Venezuela's folklore. Their music has become a national favorite, and the joropo, a llanero dance, has become the national dance of Venezuela. Llanero music uses a small harp, maracas, and a four-stringed guitar called a cuatro. Authentic llanero music is rarely heard outside the llanos, but groups like Los Llaneros are taking the llanero sound to the world. Llanero cuisine is based on meat, fish, chicken, rice, arepas and other starches, but no wheat. The llanero culture has become so prevalent in modern Venezuelan society that dolls have been dressed as llaneros: Llanero Ken. It wasn't always this way. At the time of the wars of independence, the llaneros distrusted and disliked the aristocratic criollos who looked down on them as mestizos and peasants. It was easy for the Spanish forces to play on those feelings and enlist the llaneros against the creole forces. After a battle in which the might of these bold warriors finally made an impression on the criollos, Simón Bolívar realized he needed these horsemen who called themselves centaurs. He went to live among them, to convince them the true enemy was Spain, not the criollo landlords who wanted to bring the llanos under private ownership. It wasn't easy. The llaneros didn't understand Bolívar's speech and didn't think he could eat like them, swim across rivers and sleep in the open, or wear their rough clothing. Bolívar, always slight of stature, lost weight in the llanos, but by enduring all the hardships the llaneros endured - heat, cold, storms, high winds, and hours in the saddle, Bolívar gradually won them over and became known as "culo de hierro", which translates politely as "iron posterior" after the defeat of the Spanish forces at the Battle of Carabobo, in which Llaneros, now on the side of Bolívar and his generals, played their part. This isn't the only literature about the llaneros. Doña Bárbara, a novel by Rómulo Gallegos was written in the 1920's about the life of the Llaneros. The main character, Doña Bárbara, is likened to the sabana or the llano, beautiful but deadly. A character in the books says "Once a llanero always a llanero up to the fifth generation." This sentiment still holds true, as seen in "El llanero es el hombre de la mirada horizontal", a conversation with a daughter of llaneros. The concept of Llaneridad is defined in by Luis Guillermo Camejo: una Ciudadanía Cultural para Apure. There are many tours to the llanos and sabanas to see the wildlife and the llanero way of life. Many of the landowners have instituted ecological programs to protect the wildlife and the forests. Some of the Hatos, now accept visitors and provide viewing opportunities for wildlife, and llaneros. For more information, and a comparison between cowboys, gauchos, huasos and llaneros, refer to: Richard W. Slatta, Cowboys of the Americas (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1990). ____________________________________________________________ And to think my Rog was offered a small hato to live on in exchange for his engineering skills for radio and tv. I think I am lucky he came home or didn't call me and say "pack up!" I remember him telling me there was a six foot orchid outside the front door. |
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04 Oct 07 - 12:32 AM (#2163344) Subject: RE: Chavez Promotes Venezuelan Folk Music From: Q (Frank Staplin) Good harp music here, click on Fusion Criolla and other links here. http://fiestacriolla.com.ve Joropo- joropo llanero Virgen de Coromato, patron saint of Venezuelan folk music- a song of homage. Click on the image to left of screen, www.fiestacriolla.com.ve, or direct here: Virgen de Coromato |