Cayo Sila Godoy
Encyclopedia
Childhood and Youth
Cayo Sila Godoy was born in VillarricaVillarrica, Paraguay
Villarrica is a city located in the middle of the Oriental Region of the Paraguayan territory, is capital of the Guairá Department. It was founded by the Spanish Captain Ruy Diaz de Melgarejo on May 14, 1570 in the old Guaira, today in Brazilian territory....
Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
on December 4, 1919. His mother and his uncles were talented musicians who exposed him at an early age to the piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
and tropical guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
. He studied music first with his uncle Marciano Echauri, and from the age of 16, harmony with Juan Carlos Moreno Gonzalez.
Sila left his home of Villarrica at the age of 16 to accept a scholarship at the National Music Conservatory in Asunción
Asunción
Asunción is the capital and largest city of Paraguay.The "Ciudad de Asunción" is an autonomous capital district not part of any department. The metropolitan area, called Gran Asunción, includes the cities of San Lorenzo, Fernando de la Mora, Lambaré, Luque, Mariano Roque Alonso, Ñemby, San...
, Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
. By age 24 he graduated from the conservatory as a professor of music theory
Music theory
Music theory is the study of how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It seeks to identify patterns and structures in composers' techniques across or within genres, styles, or historical periods...
and musicology
Musicology
Musicology is the scholarly study of music. The word is used in narrow, broad and intermediate senses. In the narrow sense, musicology is confined to the music history of Western culture...
.
Following graduation he was awarded a grant to continue his musical education in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, where he remained for nine years under the tutelage of Consuelo Mallo López. During these years Sila concentrated on refining his technique into the virtuosity admired today.
First Steps
In 1948, The Chamber Music Association from Buenos AiresBuenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
gave him a diploma for the best concert of the season of that year.
In 1953, as a request from the National Government, he went on a cultural and artistic tour, following the road of Mangore
Agustín Barrios
Agustín Pío Barrios , an eminent Paraguayan guitarist and composer, was born in the department of Misiones, Paraguay and died in San Salvador, El Salvador...
. He offered concerts, gave lectures and gathered a lot of information and documents on the great Paraguayan composer.
Between 1959 and 1962 he participated on specialization courses with Andrés Segovia
Andrés Segovia
Andrés Torres Segovia, 1st Marquis of Salobreña , known as Andrés Segovia, was a virtuoso Spanish classical guitarist from Linares, Jaén, Andalucia, Spain...
.
In 1959 Andrés Segovia
Andrés Segovia
Andrés Torres Segovia, 1st Marquis of Salobreña , known as Andrés Segovia, was a virtuoso Spanish classical guitarist from Linares, Jaén, Andalucia, Spain...
invited Sila to study in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, with all expenses paid, at his renowned classical guitar course at Música en Compostela
Música en Compostela
Música en Compostela is an annual summer course in music performance and composition held in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. It was founded by the Spanish guitarist Andrés Segovia and the diplomat José Miguel Ruiz Morales in 1958...
. For three years he sudied and traveled with Segovia.
In 1963 Godoy, at the personal invitation of President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
, first visited the United States to do a concert tour. During this trip he was featured as a broadcast soloist on the Voice of America
Voice of America
Voice of America is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government. It is one of five civilian U.S. international broadcasters working under the umbrella of the Broadcasting Board of Governors . VOA provides a wide range of programming for broadcast on radio...
and played with such notable American guitarists as Charlie Byrd
Charlie Byrd
Charlie Lee Byrd was a famous and versatile American guitarist born in Suffolk, Virginia. His earliest and strongest musical influence was Django Reinhardt, the famous gypsy guitarist. Byrd became the American guitarist who best understood and played Brazilian music, especially the Bossa Nova genre...
, Sophocles Papas
Sophocles Papas
Sophocles Papas was an internationally renowned classical guitar pedagogue. He began teaching classical guitar in Washington, D.C., in the 1920s, when the lack of published guitar music led him to found the . The company publishes many arrangements and original compositions for the guitar,...
and Richard Pick. In subsequent US tours he has played in most major cities and in 1977 volunteered to tour Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, Paraguay's "sister state" where he also taught master classes at Wichita State University
Wichita State University
Wichita State University is a NCAA Division I public university in Wichita, Kansas with selective admissions. WSU is one of six state universities governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The current president is Dr. Donald Beggs....
. More recently he has toured Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
(1980), Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
(1983), and has made numerous appearances in the Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
n nations.
In 1977, sponsored by the program “ Friends of the Americas “, chapter Paraguay –Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, he Developer activities in the state of Kansas, offering courses of specialization, speeches, and performances in the main cities such as Wichita, Topeka, and Lawrence.
In 1980, he traveled to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
on a concert tour, and in 1983 to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, as well as other cities in America
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Mentions
In 1994, he was appointed as musical advisor of the Vice Minister of Culture in Paraguay and member of the National Advisor Board of Culture.Godoy's creative style is characterized by the presence of elements derived from popular music with an harmonic contemporary treatment, including his last compositions, with an obvious tendency to atonality
Atonality
Atonality in its broadest sense describes music that lacks a tonal center, or key. Atonality in this sense usually describes compositions written from about 1908 to the present day where a hierarchy of pitches focusing on a single, central tone is not used, and the notes of the chromatic scale...
.
His work as a music teacher has produced the appearance of young talents that honor the Paraguayan art today and who have been a public and critical success. In that sense, he stands out with the brilliant and exquisite composer and virtuosic guitarist, Luz Maria Bobadilla, who was admitted to study for four years with the great master, due to her outstanding quality of performance.
Works
Among his records the following ought to be mentioned : Sila Godoy in concert, recorded in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, USA, in 1982; Sila Godoy, recorded in Australia, in 1983; Aranjuez and Madrigal, two volumes on cassettes, which are gatherings from his two previous recordings, in 1994; The Music of Agustin Barrios Mangore and Jose Asuncion Flores
José Asunción Flores
José Asunción Flores was a Paraguayan composer and creator of the Guarania music genre.-Early life:Flores was born in the poor neighborhood of La Chacarita, in Asunción. As a kid, he had to work as a paperboy and shoeshiner in order to help his mother with food and other necessities...
, a compact disc with a gathering of his best recordings in 1994.
As a researcher, he has published, together with Luis Szarán
Luis Szarán
Luis Szarán is a Paraguayan musician, orchestra director, composer and musical researcher. He has directed symphonic and chamber orchestras in America and Europe...
, the book “Mangore, Life and Plays of Agustin Barrios“, and he has been preparing “The Documents of Barrios“ and “Barrios seen by his contemporaries”.
Among his creations for guitar, “Habanera”, “Moto perpetuo”, “Extasis”, “ Cuatro obras para guitarra clasica”,”Fiesta Campesina”,”Cancion Intima”,”Oracion a Tania”, “Capricho" are highly recommended. His arrangements of the plays of Jose Asuncion Flores, a great composer of the musical genre known as Guaranias are notable, as well as his transcriptions for guitar, featuring the modern and very personal versions of “Nde renda pe aju” and “Gallito Cantor”.
He died in Asunción
Asunción
Asunción is the capital and largest city of Paraguay.The "Ciudad de Asunción" is an autonomous capital district not part of any department. The metropolitan area, called Gran Asunción, includes the cities of San Lorenzo, Fernando de la Mora, Lambaré, Luque, Mariano Roque Alonso, Ñemby, San...
, where he devoted his life to lectures, speeches and didactic concerts, as well as offering radio and television shows.