Music of Chile
Chilean music refers to all kinds of music developed in Chile, or by Chileans in other countries, from the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors to the modern day. It also includes the native pre-Columbian music from what is today Chilean territory.
Music in Chile
Pre-Columbian and colonial times
Prior to the arrival of the European conquerors, the modern national borders that make up the Americas did not exist, so one cannot refer to music from "Chile", or any other South American country, from this time. However, music existed in the Americas for centuries before European conquest, and many of the characteristics and instruments of pre-Hispanic music have formed part of the folkloric and musical tradition of Chile and of Latin America.Archaeological excavations have unearthed many musical instruments showing the existence of a variety of musical cultures in the area long before even the Inca period. Scientific research into remains left by the Nazca and Mochica peoples has shown the existence of complex theoretical musical systems, with the presence of minor intervals, semitones, chromaticism and musical scales of five, six, seven and eight notes, equivalent to contemporaneous cultures in Asia and Europe.
Sociologist Carlos Keller has compared the Inca occupation of the Andean region with the Roman occupation of Greece or the Aztec conquest of the Maya. Like the Aztecs and Romans, the Incas took the knowledge and traditions of the cultures they found and incorporated them into their own. Inca music was formed by elements of Nazca, Chimú, Colla – Aymara and other cultures. It is also believed that the Incas were the first American people to develop some kind of formal music education.
;Atacama people
When the Incas advanced over the north of Chile, they encountered different native peoples and absorbed elements of their culture, especially the Atacameños. The Atacameños - themselves highly influenced by the Nazca - were an organized society that inhabited parts of the Atacama Desert, mainly in the east and central sectors of the region, and spread as far as Central Chile. They were conquered by the Incas in the 15th century, but today still speak and sing some of the ancient songs in cunza, the original language of their people.
;Mapuche people
The Mapuche people were the main indigenous people populating the region running from Copiapó in the north to Chiloé in the south. The Mapuche were never conquered by the Incas, so their music and musical instruments differ from the northern cultures that fell under Andean influence. Spanish chroniclers observed their musical rituals with interest, and their observations have allowed historians to compare this early music with the Mapuche music of the modern day. Historian Samuel Marti writes that the Mapuche “do not dance or sing to demonstrate knowledge and skill, or to entertain spectators, but to honour their gods”. Mapuche music today, despite the influence of Christianity, is still an expression of faith, hopes or fears to the traditional gods, because the conquest did not change the spirit of these peoples, even though it introduced new cultural elements.
The Franciscan missionary Geronimo de Ore noted that Mapuche children learned songs from a very young age and demonstrated excellent memory and sense of rhythm. De Ore, realizing that these skills could be used as an evangelization and religious indoctrination tool, proposed that Christian prayers should have been taught in the native language and sung to native or European tunes. The same method was used in Chile by Jesuit priests. Jesuit priest Bernardo Havestadt came to Chile in 1748 and worked as missionary in La Mocha Concepción, Rere and Santa Fe. In 1777, he published a document in Westphalia that contains 19 Mapuche songs accompanied by European-style music.
Unlike the Andean peoples, the Mapuches did not develop a theoretical musical system, but in practice one is imposed by the limitations of their instruments. The technique of playing these instruments has been preserved from generation to generation and melodies are formed by linking periods. There are no long notes in Mapuche music and the scales and melodic schemes of their music have no relation to the panphonic Andean music. In the seventeenth century, chronicler Gonzalez de Najera described the music as “more sad than happy” and the instruments as basic drums and flutes made of the shin bones of Spaniards and other native enemies. Other chroniclers agreed with Gonzalez de Naveja's observations, including the jesuit Juan Ignacio Molina.
;Mapuche musical instruments
wind instruments include:
Trutruca, or trutruka: a kind of trumpet, straight or spiral-shaped, made of colihue wood with a terminal or lateral mouthpiece and a cattle horn to amplify the sound.
Pingkullwe: a transverse flute with 5 holes, made of colihue wood.
Pifüllka or : a vertical flute with a closed end, made of wood and played in pairs.
Kull kull: a small trumpet made of bull horn.
Of the string instruments, the best known is the Kunkulkawe, known in other cultures as the Pawpaweñ, Latajkiaswole, or Alenta-Ji-Wole. It consists of a bow that is rubbed against another bow, with some chroniclers also describing a mouth bow.
Membranophone instruments include the Makawa, or kakel kultrung, a double-headed drum; and the Kultrun or Cultrun, a ceremonial drum and the most important musical instrument in Mapuche culture, used by the machi for religious and cultural rituals.
Idiophone instruments include the Kadkawilla or, a leather strap with jingle bells attached, which is played alongside the Cultrun; and the Wada or Huada, a rattle made of a pumpkin filled with small pebbles or seeds.
;Fueguinos
Music in the southernmost regions of modern Chile was produced by the Fueguino peoples, native inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, including the Onas, the Yaganes, the Yamanas and the Alacalufes). The Fueginos caught the attention of explorers in the early of the twentieth century, with North American Colonel Charles Wellington Furlong the first to record phonograph records of Selkʼnam and Yagan songs between 1907 and 1908. German priest and ethnologist Martin Gusinde studied and recorded their music, and in a letter from July 23, 1923, wrote of ceremonies with music and dancing very similar to those observed in the Amazon, which he described as sad, solemn and very limited in tonal range.
Development of music in Chile
Chilean music is closely related with Chile's history and geography. The landscape, climate and lifestyle vary greatly from north to south and have a deep impact on cultural traditions.Popular music in the colonial period and during the struggle for independence was highly influenced by military bands and by the church. There were few musical instruments and very little opportunity to learn to play an instrument outside of military bands or churches if you were not from a wealthy family.
;Nineteenth century
In the nineteenth century, with the end of the colonial period and the transition to an independent republic, music and other aspects of culture gradually began to acquire a national identity.
During the first years of the republic, most of the leading musicians came from abroad. In 1823, a wave of professional musicians came to Chile, including: Bartolome Filomeno and Jose Bernardo Alzedo from Lima, Peru; Juan Crisóstomo Lafinur from Córdoba, Argentina; and the Spaniard Isidora Zegers, one of the most important figures of Chilean music of this period. Having studied the harp, guitar, piano and singing with Federico Massimino in Europe, Isidora's superior musical knowledge was welcomed in the Chilean Tertulias. She formally contributed to the development of Chilean music when she helped found both the first National Conservatory of Music and the Academy of Music in 1852. Some of the first opera and ballet performances in Chile also took place around this time.
By the end of the nineteenth century, musical clubs and other private organisations had sprung up in Santiago, Concepción, Valparaíso, Valdivia and other cities, including: “Club Musical de Santiago”, “Sociedad Musical Reformada“, “Deutscher Verein” and “Club de la Union” , “Sociedad de Musical Clasica”, and “Sociedad Cuarteto”.
Some of the leading Chilean composers of the twentieth century were born at the end of the nineteenth century, including: Celerino Pereira Lecaros, Prospero Bisquertt, Carlos Lavin, Javier Rengifo, Alfonso Leng, Enrique Soro Barriga, Pedro Humberto Allende, Carlos Isamit, Acario Cotapos, Armando Carvajal, Samuel Negrete, Roberto Puelma, Juan Casanova Vicuña and Domingo Santa Cruz.Image:Parra01f.PNG|thumb|upright|Violeta Parra, an icon of Chilean folklore
;Twentieth century
By the twentieth century Chile had established its own musical scene, but, as in most of the American countries, the national identity had struggled to assert itself in a world where European styles were still dominant. Composer says of the influence of European styles: “The young American music is hill from aesthetic elements that hasn’t been digested”. This had led to an almost complete disregard for native folklore and tradition.
From 1900 onwards, music began to take a more central place in Chilean society. The first Chilean recording label, , began its functions in Santiago around 1908. In 1912 the “Orchestral Society of Chile” was created and, over the next year, performed the nine symphonies of Beethoven, published the journal “La Orquesta”, and debuted performances of Bach. Influential families began to cultivate music and take part in the creation of music appreciation societies. Once these influential families got involved in the music scene, musicians’ reputation in society started to change - previously seen as undesirable, they become to be viewed as an important part of culture, and having musical knowledge became essential for the cultured person.
Around 1928, the Bach Society, a civil organization of musicians and intellectuals, began to harshly criticize formal music education in Chile, especially at the “Conservatorio nacional”. The society claimed that the number of students admitted to the conservatory was excessive and that the conservatory lacked long term planning, and criticised the cult of Italian opera as “retrograde”. The Ministry of Education set up a commission to look at reforming the organization, which eventually led to a new stage in the development of music in Chile, with the creation of organizations dedicated to creating music, teaching music and supporting musicians and composers.
Another institution that contributed to the development of music in Chile was the Universidad de Chile, when it created its High Arts Faculty in 1929. But even in 1802, long before the creation of the High Arts Faculty, there had been efforts within the institution to take the music culture and teaching to a highest level. In 1802, a group of professors from San Felipe University agreed that any teaching of music in their institution should be based not on the skills of musicians or the quality of a singer's voice, but instead on scientific and mathematical principles.
The creation of the High Arts Faculty had an immediate effect. Soon after, a library was founded, a collection of albums produced, and several contests and activities held to promote Chilean musicians and composers.
The second half of the twentieth century saw many events and new institutions that contributed to the development of music in Chile, such as:
The creation of the “Instituto de extencion musical”, in 1940, which went on to found the in 1941, and the "Revista Musical Chilena" in 1945.
The creation of the "Instituto de investigacion folklorica" in 1943, which would become the “Instituto de investigacion musical”. The institute would become very active in promoting Chilean music, sponsoring and funding many Chilean musicians and composers.
In 1948, the High Arts Faculty split into a music and an art faculty, allowing both institutions to grow.
The creation of the "Orquesta filarmonica de Chile" in 1955, which later changed its name to "Orquesta filarmonica municipal".
Also in 1955, the “Taller experimental del sonido” was set up in the “Universidad Catolica de Santiago”. Following a visit to Chile by physicist Werner Meyer-Eppler in 1958, experimentation with electronic music got scientific support and work began on an electronic music laboratory.
The "Departamento de música" at the "Universidad Catolica de Santiago" was created in 1959. The university already had an Institute of Music and a chamber orchestra, and also recorded and released music albums. In the same year, Jose Visencio Asuar published a thesis entitled "Generación mecánica y electrónica del sonido musical", and to demonstrate his thesis he composed "Variaciones espectrales", the first piece of electronic music in Chile.
In the 1960s, the trend continued and several institutions dedicated to promoting music were set up throughout the country, including the "Asociación de Coros de Tarapaca" in the Tarapacá Region and the "Orquesta de la Universidad Austral de Valdivia". This university and its music conservatory have made a great contribution to music in the south of Chile
File:Antonio_Prieto...Canta_Tangos_cropped.png|left|200px|thumb|Antonio Prieto scored an international 1961 hit with "La novia", mostly known in English-speaking countries as "The Wedding".
1961 saw the launch of the “Folkloric Weeks”, an event organized by the Institute of Music Research. The same year, the “Orquesta Clásica Pro Música de Viña del Mar” was born in Viña del Mar, and in Antofagasta the “Orquesta Sinfónica de la Universidad de Chile” was founded.
In 1962, the Organization of American States and the Faculty of Science and Musical Arts created the “Instituto Interamericano de Educación Musical”.
Between 1962 and 1968, Jose Visencio Asuar released several albums of electronic music in Germany and Venezuela, and Tomás Lefever composed 19 tracks in this genre.
The University of Concepción created its “Escuela superior de música” in 1963, and in Lota, coal miners created the “Coro Polifonico de Lota”.
In La Serena in 1965, the Basic Music School was created, based on the experiences of the Children's Orchestra from the same city.
The same year in Osorno, a Philharmonic Orchestra was created, along with a music college in the city's university.
In 1966, the institute of music research released the first anthology album of Chilean folkloric music. In the same year, at the Universidad Catolica, Samuel Claro released his second electronic music album, “Estudio N°1”.
In 1967, the first electronic albums were released, with Asuar's “Tres ambientes sonorous” and Amenábar's “Klesis”.
File:Myriam_Hernández.jpg|thumb|right|Myriam Hernández was the first Chilean artist to reach the top of Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart with "Peligroso Amor" in 1990.
From 1966-1968, the education reforms led by the government caused a big impact on music education in schools, with more, better trained teachers required and new methods of study used. Around this time, in the second half of the 60s and first half of the 70s, the Nueva canción chilena movement began to emerge with Violeta Parra's efforts to preserve over 3,000 Chilean songs, recipes, traditions, and proverbs. Other members of this movement included Víctor Jara, Patricio Manns, Isabel Parra, Ángel Parra, Osvaldo “Gitano” Rodríguez, and the bands Quilapayún, Inti Illimani and Illapu.
In 1969, the Music Department of the University of Chile in Antofagasta was created, and in 1970, the Symphony Orchestra of Chile performed the first televised concert broadcast via satellite, which was seen across almost all of the continent. The “Opera Nacional” was also founded under the “Instituto de Extencion Musical” and continuously incorporated national themes into their works.
After the 1973 Chilean coup d'état, music, like almost all forms of culture, suffered a major setback, especially popular music, due to the political affiliation of some musicians.
In the 1980s, the generation that grew up under the military regime slowly began to recover some cultural ground from the supporters of the regime. Punk and rock were a means to express political discontent, and were used as a form of protest. During this time, some bands distribute their material via homemade cassettes, and by the end of the regime, bands like Los Prisioneros would gain international recognition.
In the 1990s, Chile reconnected with the world and trends from Europe and the USA became part of Chile's popular culture. The national music industry that had almost disappeared during the military regime was reborn, and local branches of the big record labels attempted to promote local bands, with varying results.