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 KellerHistoria de la musica en Chile, (Manuscrito) (ES) Keller Havestadt, Carlos Bernardo, memoria Chilena May 1973, retrieved on August 29, 2014] 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 (Atacama people). 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".[Martí, Samuel. Instrumentos Musicales Precortesianos, Mexico: Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia, 1968 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.S. Marti (98,15 ) "El indígena, apunta, no canta o baila para exhibir su destreza o sus conocimientos, ni tampoco trata de entretener o adular al espectador. El indigena canta y baila para honrar y propiciar a sus dioses ancestrales"... MENDOZA, Vicente. "Musica Precolombina en America", Boletin Latino Americano de Musica, IV/4, Bogotá (octubre de 1938), 235-257. The Franciscan missionary Geronimo de Ore (Lima, Peru, circa 1598) 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.GONZALEZ DE NAJERA, Alonso. Desengaño y Reparo de la Guerra de Chile. Colección de Historiadores de Chile, Vol. XVI, Santiago: Imprenta Ercilla, 1889 Other chroniclers agreed with Gonzalez de Naveja's observations, including the jesuit Juan Ignacio Molina (Abate Molina).
Mapuche musical instruments
wind instruments include: Trutruca, or trutruka: a kind of trumpet, straight or spiral-shaped, made of colihue wood (Chusquea culeou) with a terminal or lateral mouthpiece and a cattle horn to amplify the sound. similar to the trutruca but smaller, made of ñolkin cane, a native plant species. Pingkullwe: a transverse flute with 5 holes, made of colihue wood (Chusquea culeou). 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 (healer or sorcerer) 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).Yahgan & Ona – The Road to Extinction (EN) Author: ClayJason W. www.culturalsurvival.org Article copyright Cultural Survival, Inc. retrieved on October 1, 2014 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 José 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 (social gatherings of the wealthy, like a salon). 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" (Santiago, 1871), "Sociedad Musical Reformada" (Valparaíso, 1881), "Deutscher Verein" (1853) and "Club de la Union" (Valdivia, 1879), "Sociedad de Musical Clasica" (Santiago, 1879), and "Sociedad Cuarteto" (Santiago, 1885).
Some of the leading Chilean composers of the twentieth century were born at the end of the nineteenth century, including: Celerino Pereira Lecaros (1874), Prospero Bisquertt (1881), Carlos Lavín (1883), Javier Rengifo (1884), Alfonso Leng (1884), Enrique Soro Barriga (1884), Pedro Humberto Allende (1885), Carlos Isamitt (1887), Acario Cotapos Baeza (1889), Armando Carvajal (1893), Samuel Negrete (1893), Roberto Puelma (1893), Juan Casanova Vicuña (1894) and Domingo Santa Cruz (1899).
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"."La joven muisica americana, escribio R. Falabella, esta enferma de alimentos esteticos que no se han asimilado" 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, (which produced both cylinders and discs), 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" (The Orchestra), 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.