As the old of the New World melded with the new of the Old World, a melting pot called Latin America became the geographic and cultural boundaries we celebrate annually as Hispanic Heritage Month. Today, we begin in Argentina and end in Brazil, with a slight detour to Mexico that we might recognize at least three different languages, Spanish, Guarani and Zapotecan.
Spanish and Portuguese came on the tongues of conquistadores from Spain and Portugal. The other two, Guarani and Zapotecan, were among the hundreds of native languages spoken over a vast area ranging from the American Southwest, Mexico, Central and South America and then spread out across the islands of the Caribbean.
Guarani is the most spoken of any of the indigenous languages, finding speakers in Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. In fact, in Paraguay, it is recognized as one of the two official languages alongside Spanish. Despite its popularity as a day-to-day language, still alive and well, composers and songwriters have had a reluctance to use Guarani in song. Thankfully, the Paraguayan composer José Asunción Flores launched a popular dance in the spirit of the Guarani Indians and named the product Guarania. It took root in Paraguay and quickly spread to Brazil and Argentina. The word now describes both song and dance, which mirror the spirit of the Guarani Indians.
Heitor Villa-Lobos was considered Brazil's most important composer during his long reign at the top, perhaps best compared with Carlos Chavez, who stood at the top in Mexico during a period similar in length to Villa-Lobos. Conductor Leopold Stokowski was a good friend of Villa-Lobos, plus he trusted his judgment about the popular music of Brazil. Thus, he asked Villa-Lobos to invite the best of the best to the ballroom of the SS Uruguay. As midnight rolled around, recording engineers set up microphones and the musicians began to arrive. One of the most famous was the Brazilian flute player, innovator, Pixinguinha, who later would say that he was given by Stokowski a compliment on arriving and an enthusiastic praise when leaving.
CORRECTION: A previous edition of this story incorrectly identified a recording of Suni Paz singing "Pedro Canonero" as singing in Guarani. She is singing the song in Spanish.
PLAYLIST:
Claudio Santoro: Frevo (open bed)
John Neschling, Sao Paulo SO
Bis 1370
Teresa Parodi: Pedro Canoero – Pedro Canoe Man
Suni Paz
Smithsonian Folkways
Trad: Simuna (sung in Zapoteca)
Lila Downes
Narada 72438
Pixinguinha e Jararaca: Ze Barbino
Pixinguinha etc
Columbia
