Waltz, from Austria to Venezuelan traditions

ylich (67)in #music • 6 years ago (edited)

Although almost all Venezuelan culture is marked by indigenous, Spanish or African roots, there are some very interesting exceptions, and even if it may seem strange, one of the most notable musical manifestations, which also spread throughout the length and breadth of the country and passed to become part of our musical heritage by enriching itself, precisely with Spanish, indigenous and African cultural elements, until becoming something totally Venezuelan; it came from the old continent, but from a country that nourished not only Venezuela but most Latin American countries and big part of the world. That country is Austria and the great musical contribution that it made to our culture was the waltz.

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First of all, I must clarify that these articles express my opinion and vision of the cañonera music, which has been investigated very little, but to which I have dedicated almost 40 years of my life. These are my conclusions from this experience.

Despite the fact that the "experts" in commercial music insist that what is sold are the binary rhythms, the waltz, which is ternary, usually three quarter notes per bar, or what is called 3/4, has been a phenomenon at all times and has had its fervent followers, both in its European version, which prevailed in much of the world, and in the countries where it acquired its new nationality, including Venezuela.

About the origin

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Well, although Austria has been the main protagonist in the origin of this rhythm and, in fact, the best-known style in that line is the Viennese waltz, for Vienna, the capital of that country; It is necessary to give credit also to Germany and Switzerland, because between these three countries is where this dance is born.

And I say dance, because that's how it was born, like a dance of couples, of peasant origin. The origin is attributed to another previous dance called "Ländler", which was considered low class and has a bad reputation. Antecedents of this musical form can be found up to the 12th century, but it is at the end of the XVIIIth when the Waltz appears as such. This as a result of the inclusion of this genre in opera and operetta, and therefore, when entering the great dance halls. That means, when it is accepted by high society.

Arrival in Venezuela

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There are claims that the waltz came to our land with the arrival of the Spaniards, which is absurd if we take into account that the waltz has its birth shortly before the 19th century. More serious studies indicate that it was after our independence and specifically that the president Guzmán Blanco (1829-1899), was a promoter of this music.

This is a statement that has a lot of validity, because Guzmán Blanco was a promoter of the Central European and especially French culture in our country. And France was one of the countries that had fallen to the charm of this danceable rhythm.

And very soon this music was adopted by musicians, music lovers and Venezuelan dancers.

Researchers like Luis Felipe Ramón Y Rivera affirm that in Venezuela this musical form took two directions, by creating two tendencies: the salon waltz and the popular waltz.

Although both began to adopt their own characteristics in our land, one kept a classical instrumentation, where the piano and the violin stood out; while in the popular regional instruments were added, where the cuatro and maracas stand out in the first place, being this last instrument the indigenous ingredient that has been included in almost all Venezuelan music.

Our waltz

Among the two main changes experienced by the waltz, in its nationalization process, the main one was the original accentuation that was 3 beats per time was replaced by a half note and a quarter note, a figure that plays the bass (the same rhythm that claps who listen to it and that is also characteristic of our joropo) and that becomes the guide for the other instruments.

The second one is the rhythmic element added by the cuatro and the maracas, which seem to play in a rhythm of 6/8, since the accents fall on the third and sixth eighth note.

The low notes correspond to the bass or bass strings of the harp, when percussion is used, it corresponds to the leather of the drum or bass drum.

The notes in (x) are the accent of the maracas, the muted or braked sound of the cuatro and/or the guitar, the "stick" on the drum or the ring shot on the snare drum.

The Venezuelan waltz is usually divided into three parts and with respect to the melodies Luis Felipe Ramón y Rivera says:

It is set in a melody of eight measures, it is choppy and insinuating, breaking boldly with the European metric.

Its presence

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This music acquired presence in all areas of Venezuela, became part of the repertoire of serenades (as romantic themes), communication (with their parodies and jocular themes), religiosity (to be included in traditions of a spiritual nature) and dance (as it did in joropo parties, in the Andean zone and in cañonera music).

It is noticeable to say that there was an interesting phenomenon of competitiveness in musical skill with the waltz, which led authors to write very fast songs of technical complexity as a way to challenge each other. The greatest exponent of these challenges is the song "El diablo suelto", which, due to its speed, many believe that it is a joropo.

In the academic field, authors such as Antonio Lauro, created a repertoire of waltzes so beautiful, that they became world standards for the study of the guitar, as they are especially Waltz No. 2 and No. 3 ("Natalia", dedicated to his daughter).