Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

<i>Historia social de la música popular en Chile, 1890–1950</i> (review)

2009; University of Texas Press; Volume: 30; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/lat.0.0038

1536-0199

Steve Loza,

Cultural and Social Studies in Latin America

Reviewed by: Historia social de la música popular en Chile, 1890–1950 Steve Loza Juan Pablo González and Claudio Rolle. Historia social de la música popular en Chile, 1890–1950. Ediciones Universidad Católica de Chile. 2005. 645 pp. Bibliography, index, illustrations, compact disc. Recipient of the Casa de las Américas Premio de Musicología in 2003, this comprehensive study is an innovative and seminal contribution to the musical scholarship of Chile and Latin America. González and Rolle should be commended for an excellent synthesis of social history and what they term as "musicología popular," critiquing the global, intellectual void that exists in the study of popular music. In their words, la música popular en el mundo … ha permanecido prácticamente ignorada por la academia, que ha prentendido dar cuenta de la totalidad del campo musical, dividiéndolo en dos grandes áreas: música de tradición escrita—llamada docta, culta, o clásica—y música de tradición oral—llamada tradicional o folklórica…. Esta visión dicotómica y excluyente se mantuvo vigente en América Latina durante casi todo el siglo XX. (53) This issue is addressed substantially in the introductory essay with specific reference to Chile and its historical development as related to political events, cultural life, education and institutions, the music industry, and foreign influences on mass culture. The authors comment that la sociedad chilena, transformada paulatinamente en sociedad de masas, adaptará sus formas de práctica y consumo musicales, dando origen a fenómenos que, desde los primeros decenios del siglo XX, han cambiado la imagen de esta cultura, que se hace progresivamente más cosmopolita sin perder su fuerte acento local, paradoja que la música popular sabe resolver bien…. (44) Chapter 1, "Persistencia del salón," is dedicated to historical assessments of domestic music, the musical "salons" of the bourgeoisie and working classes, dance culture, and published musical scores and songs. The contexts of salon music ranged from small family homes in the 19th century to more grandiose settings such as the 20th-century Salón de baile del Club de la Unión de Santiago. The persistence of the salon as a social musical space in the 20th century promoted an abundance of new canciones and other repertoire for piano, guitar, or chamber groups. Of the 1,881 Chilean musical pieces composed from 1900 to 1968, 43 percent can be classified as "música en familia," created within the salon tradition. In addition to serving as a vehicle for professional musicians, salon music also represented the practice of music of "carácter íntimo, sencillez formal, facilidad de ejecución y predominio del sentimiento" (53), including dance forms such as the zamacueca and vals. [End Page 247] Utilizing a wide spectrum of print culture including magazines, ads, published song collections, and rich photographs, the authors distinguish the relationships of the Chilean working and middle classes, noting that "las sociedades y salones filharmónicos que se reprodujeron en la pampa chilena contribuyeron a desarrollar un carácter protocolar en la relación social entre el mundo obrero y la clase media… (78). De este modo, obreros y burguesía compartían modos de baile y buenas maneras, estableciendo un marco de sociabilidad común en un país socialmente heterogéneo" (79). Dance events within the salons represented a variety of forms interpreted through piano pieces, songs, poems, monologues, comedy, and theatric sketches, followed by a collective social event of dance pairs accompanied by wind bands or estudiantinas (choral groups with guitar-type accompaniment). "Progressive workers" tended to resist these dancehall activities. In 1908 one journalist expressed the sentiment that "se educa la cabeza o se educan las extremidades" (79). By 1890 the dance term zamacueca is replaced by cueca, which of course has become known internationally as the national dance of Chile. Other forms that also entered the salon repertoire were the cuadrilla (comprising a group of dance couples), similar to the contradanza; the Cuban habanera; the German polka; the waltz; the fox-trot; and the Argentine tango, among many others. Chapter 2 reviews the significant influence of forms ranging from the early 19th...