Cinco canciones populares argentinas
Encyclopedia
Cinco canciones populares argentinas are a set of five songs for voice and piano
, comprising both entirely new composition
s as well as new settings of existing melodies, written in 1943 by Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera
as his opus
10. The five songs are as follows:
, the militant revolutionary activity of the late 1930s and early 1940s solidified the power of politicians who, according to Aaron Copland
, placed musical policy entirely in the hands of “a small group of conservative musicians” (Aaron Copland, “The Composers of South America,” Modern Music vol. 19 (February 1942) 77). During this period, Alberto Ginastera allied himself with Argentine intellectuals and artists in criticism of Juan Perón
’s policies and signed a manifesto
in defense of democratic principles and artistic freedom, for which the composer was eventually dismissed from his teaching positions at state-run institutions. In the midst of this unrest, echoing Bartók’s 1924 penning of Hungarian Folksong as “a declaration of war on the cultural policies of the Horthy regime
” (Lajos Lesznai, Bartók (London
: J.M. Dent & Sons, Ltd., 1973) 120), Ginastera composed his opus 10 of 1943, Cinco canciones populares argentinas, or Five Popular Argentine Songs.
and is used, in turn, to teach these to school children. While not all of the melodies of the opus 10 songs are of actual traditional folk origin, the tunes are, on the whole, more overtly Argentine than those of his other song sets composed during this period (Dos Canciones de Silvia Valdèz, Cantos del Tucumán, and Las Horas de una Estancia). The setting of such folk songs and folk poetry was not, of course, without precedent: Bach
, Brahms, Mahler, de Falla, and Bartók are among the noteworthy examples of composers who had already drawn heavily on folk melodies and texts for their compositions for voice, and Copland
was soon to follow. Like his forebears, Ginastera’s settings accentuate the local color of the original folk elements, with “highly ingratiating combinations of melodic simplicity, Latin
folk rhythms, and twentieth century harmonic
practices” (David Edward Wallace. “Alberto Ginastera: An Analysis of His Style and Technique of Composition.” Ph.D. dissertation, Northwestern University
, 1964: 86). In these pieces, Ginastera places virtuosic demands on the pianist
while allowing the singer to convey emotion in an understated vocal line.
The chacarera
(from chacra, “farm”) is deeply rooted in the central pampas and the northern Argentine interior, with popular variations in Uruguay
and Bolivia
. It is a rapid dance
in triple meter for one or two couples, which begins with the beating of the feet on the ground while the guitarist
strum
s the introductory bars.
There may be a link between the chacarera and the chaconne
, which is described in The New Oxford Companion to Music as follows: "A dance in triple meter which originated in Latin America
and was taken up as a form and variations in Spain
and Italy
in the early seventeenth century, in France
soon after. The Latin American chacona had both instrumental and vocal accompaniment. The refrain was constructed upon one of a series of typical harmonic schemes (e.g. I-VI-IV-V; I-V-VI-V). Some composers used the same melody throughout the piece, repeating it in the manner of a ground bass." Many of these chaconne characteristics, such as a refrain
in a “typical” harmonic scheme and an almost ostinato
-like ground bass, are found in Ginastera’s “Chacarera.” It has been speculated that the chaconne and the chacarera had a common origin and parallel developments, now reunited appropriately in the neoclassicism
of this composition.
This setting exhibits liberal use of hemiola
, the result of alternation between 3/4 and 6/8 meters. The harmonization
remains within the C major
tonality
of the repeating couplet
, with dissonant embellishing and passing tones. Although Ginastera dedicated the five songs of opus 10 to the nationalistic Argentine composer Carlos Lopez Buchardo and his wife Brigida, the opening couplet of “Chacarera” (“A mì me gustan las ñatas y una ñata me ha tocado,” or “I like beautiful snub-nosed girls, and one of them has caught my eye”) suggests that Ginastera may also have had his new bride Mercedes de Toro (whose nickname was “Ñata”) in mind, perhaps composing these pieces as a wedding gift, following Schumann
's precedent of composing his opus 25 song cycle, Myrthen, some scholars believe, as a gift to his bride, Clara Wieck.
2. Triste
While “triste” translated literally means “sad” or “sorrowful,” the title of this song is not an adjective but rather, like the rest of the opus 10 songs, an indication of the song or dance type: In this case, it is a nostalgic song of unrequited love. Originating in the Andean yaraví of the Kechua Indians, this song type appears in various modalities
and under various names in the lyrical tradition of several South American nations, including Chile
, Bolivia
, Uruguay
, and Argentina (Francisco Curt Lange. Latin-American Art Music for the Piano by Twelve Contemporary Composers. (New York: G. Schirmer, Inc., 1942) xii). It was disseminated as the triste by the payadores in the pampa during the nineteenth century, and, though lacking a set form, is characterized by a slow guitar introduction, melodia-recitativo with sparse accompaniment (Diccionario de la Musica Labor, ed. Higinio Angles and Juaquín Pena, Barcelona (Editorial Labor, S.A., 1954) 2143), the use of lament sighs such as “Ah” or “Ay,” and a half-tone descent in the final two notes of its motif
.
In “Triste,” Ginastera adds to these characteristics a sense of improvisational abandon, accentuating the hopelessness in this traditional text. The melody combines diatonic and pentatonic elements, characteristic of Incan pentatonic scales, with the reiterated tone G
and its embellishing quartal
grace note
s in the introduction serving to establish “the pentatonic flavor of the succeeding melody” (Wallace, 86). Some scholars suggest that the starkly minimal accompaniment reflects the bleakness of the text, shows the influence on the composer of Copland’s “lean, bony, open-air quality” (Ronald Crichton, “Ginastera’s Quartets,” Tempo vol 111 (December 1974) 34), and serves as a musical “imitation of the vast open spaces of the pampas . . . creating an image of the gauchos strumming their guitars in the wilderness” (Sergio de los Cobos, “Alberto Ginastera’s Three Piano Sonatas: A Reflection of the Composer and his Country” D.M.A. thesis, Rice University
, 1991: 17).
Accordingly, Ginastera uses his signature guitar chord
twice in this piece, a tied thirty second note ascending arpeggiation of E-A-D-G-B-E, representing the open strings of the gaucho’s guitar. This chord, with its intensely Argentine connotations, appears “like sherbet
between courses, to cleanse the palate
” (Alison Dalton, violin
ist, Chicago Symphony Orchestra
, interview by editor of this article, 1996) throughout Ginastera’s career, in nearly all of the genres in which he composed. Though a similar harmonic resonance
is achieved by playing nearly any series of four perfect fourth
s and a major third
, the ubiquitous chord is most frequently spelled as above in Ginastera's compositions, regardless of the tonal center (or lack thereof) of the piece in which the chord appears. Consequently, if “Triste” is to be performed in transposition
, the performers must consider the specific sonority
of the E-A-D-G-B-E chord and whether it too should be transposed or left as written.
3. Zamba
With no relation to the Brazil
ian samba
, the Argentine zamba is a graceful eighteenth century scarf dance of Peruvian origin. The vocal part is based in a repeated four-bar theme, with guitar introduction and postlude. With romantic, often melancholic lyrics sung in a lilting 6/8 meter, it remains “the obligatory dance at all rural fiesta
s” (Diccionario de la Musica Labor, 2305). Ginastera’s setting enhances the sway of the 6/8 meter with a syncopated accompanying pattern, and while the vocal melody maintains an F major
tonality, the accompaniment alternates between F major and D minor
in a manner characteristic of bimodal Argentine folk music. In some passages “there is considerable use of extended tertian
and polytonal arpeggiation underneath the melodic line” (Wallace, 86).
4. Arrorró
The arrorró is “a traditional lullaby
whose origin has been lost through the centuries” (Pola Suarez Urtubey. Alberto Ginastera. (Buenos Aires: Ediciones Culturales Argentinas, 1967) 21). Of these five songs, “Arrorró” is the only instance where Ginastera has left the text, rhythm, and melody of the source unaltered, just as Brahms and Bartók had done in many of their settings and Copland would do in several of his Old American Songs, including the lullaby “The Little Horses.” Ginastera sets this well-known Argentine lullaby in G major
over a slow duple meter
ostinato
which, though centric to G
as well, emphasizes dissonant auxiliary tones (Wallace, 86). Perhaps inspiration for the unobtrusive ostinato accompaniment came from de Falla’s lullaby “Nana” in his Siete canciones populares españolas of 1914-15, drawn from the Andalusia
n tradition. Whereas Ginastera’s lullaby is ABA with exact ostinati in the A sections, de Falla’s is twenty measures of rhythmically identical ostinato with only slight chromatic shifting. In the arpeggios of the B section of “Arrorró,” one sees the influence of Debussy’s piano music, comparable specifically to the left hand of “Beau Soir
.”
5. Gato
The gato (or "cat dance") came to the early South American colonies as a descendant of the Spanish
romanza, with several Iberian
cousins such as the mis-mis and the perdíz. It was initially popular in Chile
, Mexico
, and Peru, but found its greatest prosperity in both the rural and urban areas of Argentina from the late eighteenth through the late nineteenth centuries. In the wake of the milonga
(and its more famous urban descendant, the tango), it fell out of favor in the zones near Buenos Aires
, but found new vitality in the northern Argentine provinces and Bolivia
. The form is based on the choreography
of the six-part dance for one or two split couples:
1) guitar introduction
2) march with paso valseado, an exchange of triple-meter steps for each individual
3) zapateo
, a textless section of four or eight musical phrases during which the man stomps his boots in place while the woman struts around him.
4) repetition of the march
5) repetition of the zapateo
6) the giro final, which is the couple’s spirited promenade around the dance area
Ginastera’s “Gato” is to a certain degree faithful to this traditional six-part form, offering a piano introduction followed by two sections of text, then an interlude
(a repetition of the introduction) followed by two sections of text, with vigorous zapateo interludes between each section.
Both the vocal melody and the accompaniment are in C major
, but Ginastera “adds dissonance and dislocates tones horizontally to lend a polytonal aura to the background, [and] in the instrumental interludes between vocal stanzas, there is a frank espousal of bitonality, similar to sections of the earlier Danzas Argentinas” (Wallace, 86). As with “Chacarera,” the words of “Gato,” though not entirely nonsensical, are more significant for their rhythm than for their meaning.
With the vocal part and the right hand of the rudo accompaniment in 6/8 and the left hand in a relentlessly driving 3/4, “Gato” (as with some passages of “Chacarera”) acquires the virile machismo
of the malambo’s thrusting hemiolas. This is most evident in the zapateo interludes, in which the raw rhythmic intensity echos “Les Augures Printaniers / Danses des Adolescentes” in Stravinsky
's Le Sacre du Printemps, which Ginastera cited as one of his earliest and most powerful musical influences. Ginastera recommends the use of a “non-legato
touch, accenting lightly on the first beat of each measure” to best communicate the malambo’s motoric, energetic rhythm (Sister Mary Ann Hanley, CSJ. “The Compositions for Solo Piano by Alberto Ginastera.” D.M.A. thesis, University of Cincinnati
, 1969: 21). In response to their premiere in Buenos Aires, “Gato” was hailed as “the highest achievement of the five songs...for its sheer dynamic impulse” (La Nación, 14 July 1944, in Urtubey, 105).
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...
, comprising both entirely new composition
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
s as well as new settings of existing melodies, written in 1943 by Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera
Alberto Ginastera
Alberto Evaristo Ginastera was an Argentine composer of classical music. He is considered one of the most important Latin American classical composers.- Biography :...
as his opus
Opus number
An Opus number , pl. opera and opuses, abbreviated, sing. Op. and pl. Opp. refers to a number generally assigned by composers to an individual composition or set of compositions on publication, to help identify their works...
10. The five songs are as follows:
- 1. ChacareraChacareraThe Chacarera is a dance of Argentine origin. It is a genre of folk music that, for many Argentines, serves as a rural counterpart to the cosmopolitan imagery of the Tango...
- 2. Triste
- 3. ZambaZambaZamba is the national dance of Argentina. It is a style of Argentine music and Argentine folk dance.Zamba is very different from its homophone, the samba - musically, rhythmically, temperamentally. It is European compared to the Samba, in the steps of the dance and in its costume...
- 4. Arrorró
- 5. Gato
Historical background
In ArgentinaArgentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, the militant revolutionary activity of the late 1930s and early 1940s solidified the power of politicians who, according to Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
, placed musical policy entirely in the hands of “a small group of conservative musicians” (Aaron Copland, “The Composers of South America,” Modern Music vol. 19 (February 1942) 77). During this period, Alberto Ginastera allied himself with Argentine intellectuals and artists in criticism of Juan Perón
Juan Perón
Juan Domingo Perón was an Argentine military officer, and politician. Perón was three times elected as President of Argentina though he only managed to serve one full term, after serving in several government positions, including the Secretary of Labor and the Vice Presidency...
’s policies and signed a manifesto
Manifesto
A manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature. Manifestos relating to religious belief are generally referred to as creeds. Manifestos may also be life stance-related.-Etymology:...
in defense of democratic principles and artistic freedom, for which the composer was eventually dismissed from his teaching positions at state-run institutions. In the midst of this unrest, echoing Bartók’s 1924 penning of Hungarian Folksong as “a declaration of war on the cultural policies of the Horthy regime
Regime
The word regime refers to a set of conditions, most often of a political nature.-Politics:...
” (Lajos Lesznai, Bartók (London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
: J.M. Dent & Sons, Ltd., 1973) 120), Ginastera composed his opus 10 of 1943, Cinco canciones populares argentinas, or Five Popular Argentine Songs.
Musical influences and style
In these songs, Ginastera draws from the Argentine cancionero popular, which catalogues the traditional songs and dances of each provinceProvince
A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...
and is used, in turn, to teach these to school children. While not all of the melodies of the opus 10 songs are of actual traditional folk origin, the tunes are, on the whole, more overtly Argentine than those of his other song sets composed during this period (Dos Canciones de Silvia Valdèz, Cantos del Tucumán, and Las Horas de una Estancia). The setting of such folk songs and folk poetry was not, of course, without precedent: Bach
Bạch
Bạch is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Bai in Chinese and Baek, in Korean.Bach is the anglicized variation of the surname Bạch.-Notable people with the surname Bạch:* Bạch Liêu...
, Brahms, Mahler, de Falla, and Bartók are among the noteworthy examples of composers who had already drawn heavily on folk melodies and texts for their compositions for voice, and Copland
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
was soon to follow. Like his forebears, Ginastera’s settings accentuate the local color of the original folk elements, with “highly ingratiating combinations of melodic simplicity, Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
folk rhythms, and twentieth century harmonic
Harmonic
A harmonic of a wave is a component frequency of the signal that is an integer multiple of the fundamental frequency, i.e. if the fundamental frequency is f, the harmonics have frequencies 2f, 3f, 4f, . . . etc. The harmonics have the property that they are all periodic at the fundamental...
practices” (David Edward Wallace. “Alberto Ginastera: An Analysis of His Style and Technique of Composition.” Ph.D. dissertation, Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
, 1964: 86). In these pieces, Ginastera places virtuosic demands on the pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
while allowing the singer to convey emotion in an understated vocal line.
The five songs of Ginastera's opus 10
1. ChacareraThe chacarera
Chacarera
The Chacarera is a dance of Argentine origin. It is a genre of folk music that, for many Argentines, serves as a rural counterpart to the cosmopolitan imagery of the Tango...
(from chacra, “farm”) is deeply rooted in the central pampas and the northern Argentine interior, with popular variations in Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
and Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
. It is a rapid dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
in triple meter for one or two couples, which begins with the beating of the feet on the ground while the guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
strum
Strum
In music, a strum or stroke is an action where a single surface touches several strings of a string instrument, such as a guitar, in order to set them all into motion and thereby play a chord...
s the introductory bars.
There may be a link between the chacarera and the chaconne
Chaconne
A chaconne ; is a type of musical composition popular in the baroque era when it was much used as a vehicle for variation on a repeated short harmonic progression, often involving a fairly short repetitive bass-line which offered a compositional outline for variation, decoration, figuration and...
, which is described in The New Oxford Companion to Music as follows: "A dance in triple meter which originated in 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...
and was taken up as a form and variations 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...
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in the early seventeenth century, in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
soon after. The Latin American chacona had both instrumental and vocal accompaniment. The refrain was constructed upon one of a series of typical harmonic schemes (e.g. I-VI-IV-V; I-V-VI-V). Some composers used the same melody throughout the piece, repeating it in the manner of a ground bass." Many of these chaconne characteristics, such as a refrain
Refrain
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
in a “typical” harmonic scheme and an almost ostinato
Ostinato
In music, an ostinato is a motif or phrase, which is persistently repeated in the same musical voice. An ostinato is always a succession of equal sounds, wherein each note always has the same weight or stress. The repeating idea may be a rhythmic pattern, part of a tune, or a complete melody in...
-like ground bass, are found in Ginastera’s “Chacarera.” It has been speculated that the chaconne and the chacarera had a common origin and parallel developments, now reunited appropriately in the neoclassicism
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...
of this composition.
This setting exhibits liberal use of hemiola
Hemiola
In modern musical parlance, a hemiola is a metrical pattern in which two bars in simple triple time are articulated as if they were three bars in simple duple time...
, the result of alternation between 3/4 and 6/8 meters. The harmonization
Chord (music)
A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...
remains within the C major
C major
C major is a musical major scale based on C, with pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature has no flats/sharps.Its relative minor is A minor, and its parallel minor is C minor....
tonality
Tonality
Tonality is a system of music in which specific hierarchical pitch relationships are based on a key "center", or tonic. The term tonalité originated with Alexandre-Étienne Choron and was borrowed by François-Joseph Fétis in 1840...
of the repeating couplet
Couplet
A couplet is a pair of lines of meter in poetry. It usually consists of two lines that rhyme and have the same meter.While traditionally couplets rhyme, not all do. A poem may use white space to mark out couplets if they do not rhyme. Couplets with a meter of iambic pentameter are called heroic...
, with dissonant embellishing and passing tones. Although Ginastera dedicated the five songs of opus 10 to the nationalistic Argentine composer Carlos Lopez Buchardo and his wife Brigida, the opening couplet of “Chacarera” (“A mì me gustan las ñatas y una ñata me ha tocado,” or “I like beautiful snub-nosed girls, and one of them has caught my eye”) suggests that Ginastera may also have had his new bride Mercedes de Toro (whose nickname was “Ñata”) in mind, perhaps composing these pieces as a wedding gift, following Schumann
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
's precedent of composing his opus 25 song cycle, Myrthen, some scholars believe, as a gift to his bride, Clara Wieck.
2. Triste
While “triste” translated literally means “sad” or “sorrowful,” the title of this song is not an adjective but rather, like the rest of the opus 10 songs, an indication of the song or dance type: In this case, it is a nostalgic song of unrequited love. Originating in the Andean yaraví of the Kechua Indians, this song type appears in various modalities
Musical mode
In the theory of Western music since the ninth century, mode generally refers to a type of scale. This usage, still the most common in recent years, reflects a tradition dating to the middle ages, itself inspired by the theory of ancient Greek music.The word encompasses several additional...
and under various names in the lyrical tradition of several South American nations, including Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
, Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
, and Argentina (Francisco Curt Lange. Latin-American Art Music for the Piano by Twelve Contemporary Composers. (New York: G. Schirmer, Inc., 1942) xii). It was disseminated as the triste by the payadores in the pampa during the nineteenth century, and, though lacking a set form, is characterized by a slow guitar introduction, melodia-recitativo with sparse accompaniment (Diccionario de la Musica Labor, ed. Higinio Angles and Juaquín Pena, Barcelona (Editorial Labor, S.A., 1954) 2143), the use of lament sighs such as “Ah” or “Ay,” and a half-tone descent in the final two notes of its motif
Motif (music)
In music, a motif or motive is a short musical idea, a salient recurring figure, musical fragment or succession of notes that has some special importance in or is characteristic of a composition....
.
In “Triste,” Ginastera adds to these characteristics a sense of improvisational abandon, accentuating the hopelessness in this traditional text. The melody combines diatonic and pentatonic elements, characteristic of Incan pentatonic scales, with the reiterated tone G
G (musical note)
Sol, So, or G is the fifth note of the solfège starting on C. As such it is the dominant, a perfect fifth above C.When calculated in equal temperament with a reference of A above middle C as 440 Hz, the frequency of Middle G note is approximately 391.995 Hz...
and its embellishing quartal
Quartal and quintal harmony
In music, quartal harmony is the building of harmonic structures with a distinct preference for the intervals of the perfect fourth, the augmented fourth and the diminished fourth. Quintal harmony is harmonic structure preferring the perfect fifth, the augmented fifth and the diminished fifth...
grace note
Grace note
A grace note is a kind of music notation used to denote several kinds of musical ornaments. When occurring by itself, a single grace note normally indicates the intention of either an appoggiatura or an acciaccatura...
s in the introduction serving to establish “the pentatonic flavor of the succeeding melody” (Wallace, 86). Some scholars suggest that the starkly minimal accompaniment reflects the bleakness of the text, shows the influence on the composer of Copland’s “lean, bony, open-air quality” (Ronald Crichton, “Ginastera’s Quartets,” Tempo vol 111 (December 1974) 34), and serves as a musical “imitation of the vast open spaces of the pampas . . . creating an image of the gauchos strumming their guitars in the wilderness” (Sergio de los Cobos, “Alberto Ginastera’s Three Piano Sonatas: A Reflection of the Composer and his Country” D.M.A. thesis, Rice University
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
, 1991: 17).
Accordingly, Ginastera uses his signature guitar chord
Guitar chord
In music, a guitar chord is a chord, or collection of tones usually sounded together at once, played on a guitar. It can be composed of notes played on adjacent or separate strings or all the strings together...
twice in this piece, a tied thirty second note ascending arpeggiation of E-A-D-G-B-E, representing the open strings of the gaucho’s guitar. This chord, with its intensely Argentine connotations, appears “like sherbet
Sherbet (U.S.)
Sorbet is a frozen dessert made from sweetened water flavored with fruit , wine, and/or liqueur. The origin of sorbet is variously explained as either a Roman invention, or a Middle Eastern drink charbet, made of sweetened fruit juice and water...
between courses, to cleanse the palate
Palate
The palate is the roof of the mouth in humans and other mammals. It separates the oral cavity from the nasal cavity. A similar structure is found in crocodilians, but, in most other tetrapods, the oral and nasal cavities are not truly separate. The palate is divided into two parts, the anterior...
” (Alison Dalton, 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....
ist, Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...
, interview by editor of this article, 1996) throughout Ginastera’s career, in nearly all of the genres in which he composed. Though a similar harmonic resonance
Resonance
In physics, resonance is the tendency of a system to oscillate at a greater amplitude at some frequencies than at others. These are known as the system's resonant frequencies...
is achieved by playing nearly any series of four perfect fourth
Perfect fourth
In classical music from Western culture, a fourth is a musical interval encompassing four staff positions , and the perfect fourth is a fourth spanning five semitones. For example, the ascending interval from C to the next F is a perfect fourth, as the note F lies five semitones above C, and there...
s and a major third
Major third
In classical music from Western culture, a third is a musical interval encompassing three staff positions , and the major third is one of two commonly occurring thirds. It is qualified as major because it is the largest of the two: the major third spans four semitones, the minor third three...
, the ubiquitous chord is most frequently spelled as above in Ginastera's compositions, regardless of the tonal center (or lack thereof) of the piece in which the chord appears. Consequently, if “Triste” is to be performed in transposition
Transposition (music)
In music transposition refers to the process, or operation, of moving a collection of notes up or down in pitch by a constant interval.For example, one might transpose an entire piece of music into another key...
, the performers must consider the specific sonority
Sound
Sound is a mechanical wave that is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, or the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations.-Propagation of...
of the E-A-D-G-B-E chord and whether it too should be transposed or left as written.
3. Zamba
With no relation to the Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian samba
Samba
Samba is a Brazilian dance and musical genre originating in Bahia and with its roots in Brazil and Africa via the West African slave trade and African religious traditions. It is recognized around the world as a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian Carnival...
, the Argentine zamba is a graceful eighteenth century scarf dance of Peruvian origin. The vocal part is based in a repeated four-bar theme, with guitar introduction and postlude. With romantic, often melancholic lyrics sung in a lilting 6/8 meter, it remains “the obligatory dance at all rural fiesta
Festival
A festival or gala is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and the Festival....
s” (Diccionario de la Musica Labor, 2305). Ginastera’s setting enhances the sway of the 6/8 meter with a syncopated accompanying pattern, and while the vocal melody maintains an F major
F major
F major is a musical major scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat . It is by far the oldest key signature with an accidental, predating the others by hundreds of years...
tonality, the accompaniment alternates between F major and D minor
D minor
D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. In the harmonic minor, the C is raised to C. Its key signature has one flat ....
in a manner characteristic of bimodal Argentine folk music. In some passages “there is considerable use of extended tertian
Tertian
In music theory, tertian describes any piece, chord, counterpoint etc. constructed from the interval of a third...
and polytonal arpeggiation underneath the melodic line” (Wallace, 86).
4. Arrorró
The arrorró is “a traditional lullaby
Lullaby
A lullaby is a soothing song, usually sung to young children before they go to sleep, with the intention of speeding that process. As a result they are often simple and repetitive. Lullabies can be found in every culture and since the ancient period....
whose origin has been lost through the centuries” (Pola Suarez Urtubey. Alberto Ginastera. (Buenos Aires: Ediciones Culturales Argentinas, 1967) 21). Of these five songs, “Arrorró” is the only instance where Ginastera has left the text, rhythm, and melody of the source unaltered, just as Brahms and Bartók had done in many of their settings and Copland would do in several of his Old American Songs, including the lullaby “The Little Horses.” Ginastera sets this well-known Argentine lullaby in G major
G major
G major is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has one sharp, F; in treble-clef key signatures, the sharp-symbol for F is usually placed on the first line from the top, though in some Baroque music it is placed on the first space from the bottom...
over a slow duple meter
Duple meter
Duple meter is a musical metre characterized by a primary division of 2 beats to the bar, usually indicated by 2 and multiples or 6 and multiples in the upper figure of the time signature, with 2/2 , 2/4, and 6/8 being the most common examples...
ostinato
Ostinato
In music, an ostinato is a motif or phrase, which is persistently repeated in the same musical voice. An ostinato is always a succession of equal sounds, wherein each note always has the same weight or stress. The repeating idea may be a rhythmic pattern, part of a tune, or a complete melody in...
which, though centric to G
G major
G major is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has one sharp, F; in treble-clef key signatures, the sharp-symbol for F is usually placed on the first line from the top, though in some Baroque music it is placed on the first space from the bottom...
as well, emphasizes dissonant auxiliary tones (Wallace, 86). Perhaps inspiration for the unobtrusive ostinato accompaniment came from de Falla’s lullaby “Nana” in his Siete canciones populares españolas of 1914-15, drawn from the Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
n tradition. Whereas Ginastera’s lullaby is ABA with exact ostinati in the A sections, de Falla’s is twenty measures of rhythmically identical ostinato with only slight chromatic shifting. In the arpeggios of the B section of “Arrorró,” one sees the influence of Debussy’s piano music, comparable specifically to the left hand of “Beau Soir
Beau Soir
"Beau Soir" is a French art song written by Claude Debussy. It is a setting of a poem by Paul Bourget. Debussy was twenty or twenty one when he wrote this song , and his music was marked by the aesthetics of the period....
.”
5. Gato
The gato (or "cat dance") came to the early South American colonies as a descendant of the Spanish
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...
romanza, with several Iberian
Iberians
The Iberians were a set of peoples that Greek and Roman sources identified with that name in the eastern and southern coasts of the Iberian peninsula at least from the 6th century BC...
cousins such as the mis-mis and the perdíz. It was initially popular in Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, and Peru, but found its greatest prosperity in both the rural and urban areas of Argentina from the late eighteenth through the late nineteenth centuries. In the wake of the milonga
Milonga
Milonga can refer to an Argentine, Uruguayan, and Southern Brazilian form of music which preceded the tango and the dance form which accompanies it, or to the term for places or events where the tango or Milonga are danced...
(and its more famous urban descendant, the tango), it fell out of favor in the zones near 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...
, but found new vitality in the northern Argentine provinces and Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
. The form is based on the choreography
Choreography
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" ...
of the six-part dance for one or two split couples:
1) guitar introduction
2) march with paso valseado, an exchange of triple-meter steps for each individual
3) zapateo
Zapateo
Zapateo which literally means "shoe tapping", is rooted in the Spanish Flamenco and before that, in the ancient cultural influences imported in to Europe by the Gypsies....
, a textless section of four or eight musical phrases during which the man stomps his boots in place while the woman struts around him.
4) repetition of the march
5) repetition of the zapateo
6) the giro final, which is the couple’s spirited promenade around the dance area
Ginastera’s “Gato” is to a certain degree faithful to this traditional six-part form, offering a piano introduction followed by two sections of text, then an interlude
Entr'acte
' is French for "between the acts" . It can mean a pause between two parts of a stage production, synonymous to an intermission, but it more often indicates a piece of music performed between acts of a theatrical production...
(a repetition of the introduction) followed by two sections of text, with vigorous zapateo interludes between each section.
Both the vocal melody and the accompaniment are in C major
C major
C major is a musical major scale based on C, with pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature has no flats/sharps.Its relative minor is A minor, and its parallel minor is C minor....
, but Ginastera “adds dissonance and dislocates tones horizontally to lend a polytonal aura to the background, [and] in the instrumental interludes between vocal stanzas, there is a frank espousal of bitonality, similar to sections of the earlier Danzas Argentinas” (Wallace, 86). As with “Chacarera,” the words of “Gato,” though not entirely nonsensical, are more significant for their rhythm than for their meaning.
With the vocal part and the right hand of the rudo accompaniment in 6/8 and the left hand in a relentlessly driving 3/4, “Gato” (as with some passages of “Chacarera”) acquires the virile machismo
Machismo
Machismo, or machoism, is a word of Spanish and Portuguese origin that describes prominently exhibited or excessive masculinity. As an attitude, machismo ranges from a personal sense of virility to a more extreme male chauvinism...
of the malambo’s thrusting hemiolas. This is most evident in the zapateo interludes, in which the raw rhythmic intensity echos “Les Augures Printaniers / Danses des Adolescentes” in Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
's Le Sacre du Printemps, which Ginastera cited as one of his earliest and most powerful musical influences. Ginastera recommends the use of a “non-legato
Legato
In musical notation the Italian word legato indicates that musical notes are played or sung smoothly and connected. That is, in transitioning from note to note, there should be no intervening silence...
touch, accenting lightly on the first beat of each measure” to best communicate the malambo’s motoric, energetic rhythm (Sister Mary Ann Hanley, CSJ. “The Compositions for Solo Piano by Alberto Ginastera.” D.M.A. thesis, University of Cincinnati
University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati is a comprehensive public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a part of the University System of Ohio....
, 1969: 21). In response to their premiere in Buenos Aires, “Gato” was hailed as “the highest achievement of the five songs...for its sheer dynamic impulse” (La Nación, 14 July 1944, in Urtubey, 105).