THE BAGUALA: FROM THE ARGENTINE
PUNA TO THE HIMALAYAS MOUNTAINS
THE CHANT
PARADISE
By Dr. Santiago Lusardi Girelli
T
he Argentine man has an earthly and spiritual fi liation
that seals and defi nes its idiosyncrasy in his craving
to be built, to become. Towards a path to a particular
form to defi ne it, from long ago, the man who inhabited the
lands of Argentas aspired, perhaps to counteract this sense
of remoteness (within himself and the rest t of humanity) to
achieve enduring features in all areas of his reality, including
music.
Perhaps, because of this, the Argentine e folkloric music
ted by the spirit
is characterized by a dynamism illuminated
s
of nature within the contingent dimensions of its historical
cosmos, and according to a task which it needed to fulfi l: a
geographical horizon that challenges it and that has confi ned
it to the end of the world.
opla says:
As the famous folkloric Argentinean copla
“Le doy ventaja a los vientos, porque no puedo volar,
hasta que agarro mi caja, y la empiezo a bagualear..”
agualear..”
Which translation is:
“I give advantage to the winds because
I cannot fl y until I grab my box and start
to “Bagualear” …
Argentine Folkloric music has plenty of f rhythmic
expressions, colors, and instruments. One of them is
the Baguala, an ancestral music form which
ch is sung
in octosyllabic verses, often improvised spontaneously,
ontaneously,
with the ternary rhythm of very uniform
m and slow
tempo, marked by a percussion instrument
ent called
Caja (box) and always played by the singer.
nger. The
Baguala conforms a sacred and festive ritual
al which
is characteristic of ancient Andean culture (from
from the
Andes mountains). More than a song, the Baguala
is a universe of sound, a one-thousand-year-old
year-old
expression technique with deep hidden powerful
melodies.
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