Chilean Music
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Chilean music refers to all kinds of
music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...
developed in
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
, or by Chileans in other countries, from the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors to the modern day. It also includes the native
pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...
music from what is today Chilean territory.


Music in Chile


Pre-Columbian and colonial times

Prior to the arrival of the European conquerors, the modern national borders that make up the Americas did not exist, so one cannot refer to music from "Chile", or any other South American country, from this time. However, music existed in the Americas for centuries before
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
an conquest, and many of the characteristics and instruments of pre-Hispanic music have formed part of the folkloric and musical tradition of Chile and of Latin America. Archaeological excavations have unearthed many musical instruments showing the existence of a variety of musical cultures in the area long before even the
Inca The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...
period. Scientific research into remains left by the
Nazca Nazca (; sometimes spelled Nasca; possibly from ) is a city and system of valleys on the southern coast of Peru. The city of Nazca is the largest in the Nazca Province. The name is derived from the Nazca culture, which flourished in the area be ...
and Mochica peoples has shown the existence of complex theoretical musical systems, with the presence of minor intervals, semitones, chromaticism and musical scales of five, six, seven and eight notes, equivalent to contemporaneous cultures in Asia and Europe. Sociologist Carlos Keller has compared the Inca occupation of the Andean region with the
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
occupation of
Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
or the
Aztec The Aztecs ( ) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the Post-Classic stage, post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central ...
conquest of the
Maya Maya may refer to: Ethnic groups * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Mayan languages, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (East Africa), a p ...
. Like the Aztecs and Romans, the Incas took the knowledge and traditions of the cultures they found and incorporated them into their own. Inca music was formed by elements of
Nazca Nazca (; sometimes spelled Nasca; possibly from ) is a city and system of valleys on the southern coast of Peru. The city of Nazca is the largest in the Nazca Province. The name is derived from the Nazca culture, which flourished in the area be ...
,
Chimú Chimor (also Kingdom of Chimor or Chimú Empire) was the political grouping of the Chimú culture (). The culture arose about 900 CE, succeeding the Moche culture, and was later conquered by the Inca emperor Topa Inca Yupanqui around 1470, fi ...
, Colla – Aymara and other cultures. It is also believed that the Incas were the first American people to develop some kind of formal music education. ;Atacama people When the Incas advanced over the north of Chile, they encountered different native peoples and absorbed elements of their culture, especially the Atacameños (
Atacama people The Atacama people, also called Atacameño, are an Indigenous people from the Atacama Desert and altiplano region in the north of Chile and Argentina and southern Bolivia, mainly the Antofagasta Region. According to the Argentinean Census in 2010 ...
). The Atacameños - themselves highly influenced by the Nazca - were an organized society that inhabited parts of the
Atacama Desert The Atacama Desert () is a desert plateau located on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of South America, in the north of Chile. Stretching over a strip of land west of the Andes Mountains, it covers an area of , which increases to if the barre ...
, mainly in the east and central sectors of the region, and spread as far as
Central Chile Central Chile (''Zona central'') is one of the five natural regions into which CORFO divided continental Chile in 1950. It is home to a majority of the Chilean population and includes the three largest metropolitan areas—Santiago, Valparaí ...
. They were conquered by the Incas in the 15th century, but today still speak and sing some of the ancient songs in cunza, the original language of their people. ;Mapuche people The
Mapuche people The Mapuche ( , ) also known as Araucanians are a group of Indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups ...
were the main indigenous people populating the region running from
Copiapó Copiapó () is a List of cities in Chile, city and communes of Chile, commune in northern Chile, located about 65 kilometers east of the coastal List of towns in Chile, town of Caldera, Chile, Caldera. Founded on December 8, 1744, it is the capi ...
in the north to Chiloé in the south. The Mapuche were never conquered by the Incas, so their music and musical instruments differ from the northern cultures that fell under Andean influence. Spanish chroniclers observed their musical rituals with interest, and their observations have allowed historians to compare this early music with the Mapuche music of the modern day. Historian Samuel Marti writes that the Mapuche “do not dance or sing to demonstrate knowledge and skill, or to entertain spectators, but to honour their gods”. Mapuche music today, despite the influence of Christianity, is still an expression of faith, hopes or fears to the traditional gods, because the conquest did not change the spirit of these peoples, even though it introduced new cultural elements. The
Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...
missionary Geronimo de Ore (
Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...
,
Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
, circa 1598) noted that Mapuche children learned songs from a very young age and demonstrated excellent memory and sense of rhythm. De Ore, realizing that these skills could be used as an evangelization and religious indoctrination tool, proposed that Christian prayers should have been taught in the native language and sung to native or European tunes. The same method was used in Chile by Jesuit priests. Jesuit priest Bernardo Havestadt came to Chile in 1748 and worked as missionary in La Mocha Concepción, Rere and Santa Fe. In 1777, he published a document in Westphalia that contains 19 Mapuche songs accompanied by European-style music. Unlike the Andean peoples, the Mapuches did not develop a theoretical musical system, but in practice one is imposed by the limitations of their instruments. The technique of playing these instruments has been preserved from generation to generation and melodies are formed by linking periods. There are no long notes in Mapuche music and the scales and melodic schemes of their music have no relation to the panphonic Andean music. In the seventeenth century, chronicler Gonzalez de Najera described the music as “more sad than happy” and the instruments as basic drums and flutes made of the shin bones of Spaniards and other native enemies. Other chroniclers agreed with Gonzalez de Naveja's observations, including the
jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
Juan Ignacio Molina Fr. Juan Ignacio Molina (; (June 24, 1740 – September 12, 1829) was a Chilean-Spanish Jesuit priest, natural history, naturalist, historian, translator, geographer, botanist, ornithologist, and linguist. He is usually referred to as Abate Moli ...
(Abate Molina). ;Mapuche musical instruments
wind instrument A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator (usually a tube) in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into (or over) a mouthpiece set at or near the end of the resonator. The pitch ...
s include: Trutruca, or trutruka: a kind of trumpet, straight or spiral-shaped, made of colihue wood (
Chusquea culeou ''Chusquea culeou'', the Chilean bamboo, () is a species of flowering plant in the grass family Poaceae. An evergreen bamboo native to South America, unlike most species within the genus ''Chusquea'', it is frost-tolerant and thus widely cultiva ...
) with a terminal or lateral mouthpiece and a cattle horn to amplify the sound. : similar to the trutruca but smaller, made of ñolkin cane, a native plant species. Pingkullwe: a transverse flute with 5 holes, made of colihue wood (
Chusquea culeou ''Chusquea culeou'', the Chilean bamboo, () is a species of flowering plant in the grass family Poaceae. An evergreen bamboo native to South America, unlike most species within the genus ''Chusquea'', it is frost-tolerant and thus widely cultiva ...
). Pifüllka or : a vertical flute with a closed end, made of wood and played in pairs. Kull kull: a small trumpet made of bull horn. Of the string instruments, the best known is the Kunkulkawe, known in other cultures as the Pawpaweñ, Latajkiaswole, or Alenta-Ji-Wole. It consists of a bow that is rubbed against another bow, with some chroniclers also describing a mouth bow.
Membranophone A membranophone is any musical instrument which produces sound primarily by way of a acoustic membrane, vibrating stretched membrane. It is one of the four main divisions of instruments in the original Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument ...
instruments include the Makawa, or kakel kultrung, a double-headed drum; and the Kultrun or Cultrun, a ceremonial drum and the most important musical instrument in Mapuche culture, used by the machi (healer or sorcerer) for religious and cultural rituals.
Idiophone An idiophone is any musical instrument that creates sound primarily by the vibration of the instrument itself, without the use of air flow (as with aerophones), strings (chordophones), membranes (membranophones) or electricity ( electrophone ...
instruments include the Kadkawilla or, a leather strap with jingle bells attached, which is played alongside the Cultrun; and the Wada or Huada, a rattle made of a pumpkin filled with small pebbles or seeds. ;Fueguinos Music in the southernmost regions of modern Chile was produced by the Fueguino peoples, native inhabitants of
Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South America, South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main is ...
, including the Onas, the Yaganes, the Yamanas and the Alacalufes). The Fueginos caught the attention of explorers in the early of the twentieth century, with North American Colonel Charles Wellington Furlong the first to record phonograph records of Selkʼnam and
Yagan Yagan (;  – 11 July 1833) was an Aboriginal Australian warrior from the Noongar people. Yagan was pursued by the local authorities after he killed Erin Entwhistle, a servant of farmer Archibald Butler. It was an act of retaliation aft ...
songs between 1907 and 1908. German priest and ethnologist
Martin Gusinde Martín Gusinde (29 October 1886, in Breslau – 10 October 1969, in Mödling, Austria) was an Austrian priest and ethnologist famous for his work in anthropology, particularly on the Fuegians. He was one of the most notable anthropologists in Ch ...
studied and recorded their music, and in a letter from July 23, 1923, wrote of ceremonies with music and dancing very similar to those observed in the Amazon, which he described as sad, solemn and very limited in tonal range.


Development of music in Chile

Chilean music is closely related with Chile's history and
geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...
. The landscape, climate and lifestyle vary greatly from north to south and have a deep impact on cultural traditions. Popular music in the colonial period and during the struggle for independence was highly influenced by military bands and by the church. There were few musical instruments and very little opportunity to learn to play an instrument outside of military bands or churches if you were not from a wealthy family. ;Nineteenth century In the nineteenth century, with the end of the colonial period and the transition to an independent republic, music and other aspects of culture gradually began to acquire a national identity. During the first years of the republic, most of the leading musicians came from abroad. In 1823, a wave of professional musicians came to Chile, including: Bartolome Filomeno and Jose Bernardo Alzedo from Lima, Peru; Juan Crisóstomo Lafinur from Córdoba, Argentina; and the Spaniard,Isidora Zegers y Montenegro (1803-1869)
www.memoriachilena.cl Memoria Chilena - Algunos derechos reservados – 2014, retrieved on September 18, 2014
one of the most important figures of Chilean music of this period. Having studied the harp, guitar, piano and singing with Federico Massimino in Europe, Isidora's superior musical knowledge was welcomed in the Chilean Tertulias (social gatherings of the wealthy, like a
salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...
). She formally contributed to the development of Chilean music when she helped found both the first National Conservatory of Music and the Academy of Music in 1852. Some of the first opera and ballet performances in Chile also took place around this time. By the end of the nineteenth century, musical clubs and other private organisations had sprung up in Santiago, Concepción,
Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...
,
Valdivia Valdivia (; Mapuche: Ainil) is a city and commune in southern Chile, administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder, Pedro de Valdivia, and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle, Valdivia, and ...
and other cities, including: “Club Musical de Santiago” (Santiago, 1871), “Sociedad Musical Reformada“ (Valparaíso, 1881), “Deutscher Verein” (1853) and “Club de la Union” (Valdivia, 1879), “Sociedad de Musical Clasica” (Santiago, 1879), and “Sociedad Cuarteto” (Santiago, 1885). Some of the leading Chilean composers of the twentieth century were born at the end of the nineteenth century, including: Celerino Pereira Lecaros (1874), Prospero Bisquertt (1881), Carlos Lavin (1883), Javier Rengifo (1884), Alfonso Leng (1884), Enrique Soro Barriga (1884), Pedro Humberto Allende (1885), Carlos Isamit (1887), Acario Cotapos (1889), Armando Carvajal (1893), Samuel Negrete (1893), Roberto Puelma (1893), Juan Casanova Vicuña (1894) and Domingo Santa Cruz (1899). ;Twentieth century By the twentieth century Chile had established its own musical scene, but, as in most of the American countries, the national identity had struggled to assert itself in a world where European styles were still dominant. Composer says of the influence of European styles: “The young American music is hill from aesthetic elements that hasn’t been digested”. This had led to an almost complete disregard for native folklore and tradition. From 1900 onwards, music began to take a more central place in Chilean society. The first Chilean recording label, Fonografía Artística (which produced both
cylinders A cylinder () has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infinite ...
and discs), began its functions in Santiago around 1908. In 1912 the “Orchestral Society of Chile” was created and, over the next year, performed the nine symphonies of Beethoven, published the journal “La Orquesta” (The Orchestra), and debuted performances of Bach. Influential families began to cultivate music and take part in the creation of music appreciation societies. Once these influential families got involved in the music scene, musicians’ reputation in society started to change - previously seen as undesirable, they become to be viewed as an important part of culture, and having musical knowledge became essential for the cultured person. Around 1928, the Bach Society, a civil organization of musicians and intellectuals, began to harshly criticise formal music education in Chile, especially at the “Conservatorio nacional” (National Conservatory). The society claimed that the number of students admitted to the conservatory was excessive and that the conservatory lacked long term planning, and criticised the cult of Italian opera as “retrograde”. The Ministry of Education set up a commission to look at reforming the organization, which eventually led to a new stage in the development of music in Chile, with the creation of organizations dedicated to creating music, teaching music and supporting musicians and composers. Another institution that contributed to the development of music in Chile was the
Universidad de Chile The University of Chile () is a public research university in Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the co ...
(University of Chile), when it created its High Arts Faculty in 1929. But even in 1802, long before the creation of the High Arts Faculty, there had been efforts within the institution to take the music culture and teaching to a highest level. In 1802, a group of professors from San Felipe University (which would later become the University of Chile) agreed that any teaching of music in their institution should be based not on the skills of musicians or the quality of a singer's voice, but instead on scientific and mathematical principles. The creation of the High Arts Faculty had an immediate effect. Soon after, a library was founded, a collection of albums produced, and several contests and activities held to promote Chilean musicians and composers. The second half of the twentieth century saw many events and new institutions that contributed to the development of music in Chile, such as: The creation of the “Instituto de extencion musical”, in 1940, which went on to found the (Chilean Symphonic Orchestra) in 1941, and the "Revista Musical Chilena" (Chilean Music Journal) in 1945. The creation of the "Instituto de investigacion folklorica" (the Institute of Folkloric Research) in 1943, which would become the “Instituto de investigacion musical” (Institute of Music Research). The institute would become very active in promoting Chilean music, sponsoring and funding many Chilean musicians and composers. In 1948, the High Arts Faculty split into a music and an art faculty, allowing both institutions to grow. The creation of the "Orquesta filarmonica de Chile" (Chilean Philharmonic Orchestra) in 1955, which later changed its name to "Orquesta filarmonica municipal" (Municipal Philharmonic Orchestra). Also in 1955, the “Taller experimental del sonido” (Experimental Sound Laboratory) was set up in the “Universidad Catolica de Santiago” (Catholic University of Santiago). Following a visit to Chile by physicist
Werner Meyer-Eppler Werner Meyer-Eppler (30 April 1913 – 8 July 1960), was a Belgian-born German physicist, experimental acoustician, phoneticist and information theorist. Meyer-Eppler was born in Antwerp. He studied mathematics, physics, and chemistry, ...
in 1958, experimentation with electronic music got scientific support and work began on an electronic music laboratory. The "Departamento de música" (Music Department) at the "Universidad Catolica de Santiago" (Catholic University of Santiago) was created in 1959. The university already had an Institute of Music and a chamber orchestra, and also recorded and released music albums. In the same year, Jose Visencio Asuar published a thesis entitled "Generación mecánica y electrónica del sonido musical" (Mechanical and Electronic Generation of Musical Sound), and to demonstrate his thesis he composed "Variaciones espectrales" (Spectral Variations), the first piece of electronic music in Chile. In the 1960s, the trend continued and several institutions dedicated to promoting music were set up throughout the country, including the "Asociación de Coros de Tarapaca" (Tarapaca Choirs Association) in the
Tarapacá Region The Tarapacá Region (, ) is one of Chile's 16 first-order Administrative divisions of Chile, administrative divisions. It comprises two provinces, Iquique Province, Iquique and Tamarugal Province, Tamarugal. It borders the Chilean Arica y Par ...
and the "Orquesta de la Universidad Austral de Valdivia" (Austral University of Valdivia Orchestra). This university and its music conservatory have made a great contribution to music in the south of Chile 1961 saw the launch of the “Folkloric Weeks”, an event organized by the Institute of Music Research. The same year, the “Orquesta Clásica Pro Música de Viña del Mar” (Viña del Mar Classical Music Orchestra) was born in
Viña del Mar Viña del Mar (; meaning "Vineyard of the Sea") is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune on Zona Central, Chile, central Chile's Pacific coast. Often referred to as ("The Garden City"), Viña del Mar is located withi ...
, and in Antofagasta the “Orquesta Sinfónica de la Universidad de Chile” (Symphony Orchestra of the University of Chile) was founded. In 1962, the
Organization of American States The Organization of American States (OAS or OEA; ; ; ) is an international organization founded on 30 April 1948 to promote cooperation among its member states within the Americas. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, the OAS is ...
and the Faculty of Science and Musical Arts created the “Instituto Interamericano de Educación Musical” (Interamerican Institute of Musical Education). Between 1962 and 1968, Jose Visencio Asuar released several albums of
electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...
in Germany (Karlsruhe) and Venezuela (Caracas), and Tomás Lefever composed 19 tracks in this genre. The
University of Concepción Universidad de Concepción (UdeC) is a traditional Chilean private university. The work of the Penquista community, it is one of the most prestigious in Chile, and considered complex due to its extensive research in the various areas of knowled ...
created its “Escuela superior de música” (Music College) in 1963, and in Lota, coal miners created the “Coro Polifonico de Lota” (Lota Polyphonic Choir). In La Serena in 1965, the Basic Music School was created, based on the experiences of the Children's Orchestra from the same city. The same year in Osorno, a Philharmonic Orchestra was created, along with a music college in the city's university. In 1966, the institute of music research released the first anthology album of Chilean folkloric music. In the same year, at the Universidad Catolica, Samuel Claro released his second electronic music album, “Estudio N°1”. In 1967, the first electronic albums were released, with Asuar's “Tres ambientes sonorous” (1967) and Amenábar's “Klesis” (1968). From 1966-1968, the education reforms led by the government caused a big impact on music education in schools, with more, better trained teachers required and new methods of study used. Around this time, in the second half of the 60s and first half of the 70s, the ''Nueva Canción Chilena'' (New Chilean Song) movement began to emerge with
Violeta Parra Violeta del Carmen Parra Sandoval (; 4 October 1917 – 5 February 1967) was a Chilean composer, singer-songwriter, folklorist, ethnomusicologist and visual artist. She pioneered the Nueva Canción Chilena (The Chilean New Song), a renewal and a ...
's efforts to preserve over 3,000 Chilean songs, recipes, traditions, and proverbs. Other members of this movement included
Víctor Jara Víctor Lidio Jara Martínez (; 28 September 1932 – 16 September 1973) was a Chilean teacher, theatre director, theater director, poet, singer-songwriter and PCCh, Communist political activist. He developed Chilean theater by directing a bro ...
,
Patricio Manns Iván Patricio Eugenio Manns de Folliot, better known as Patricio Manns (3 August 1937 – 25 September 2021) was a Chilean singer-songwriter, composer, author, poet, novelist, essayist, journalist and writer. Manns has been a prominent represen ...
,
Isabel Parra Violeta Isabel Cereceda Parra (born 29 September 1939), better known as Isabel Parra, is a famous Chilean singer-songwriter and interpreter of Latin American musical folklore. Early years Parra was born in Chile in 1939 and began her career in ...
, Ángel Parra, Osvaldo “Gitano” Rodríguez, and the bands
Quilapayún Quilapayún () are a folk music group from Chile and among the longest lasting and most influential ambassadors of the ''Nueva canción, Nueva Canción Chilena'' movement and genre. Formed during the mid-1960s, the group became inseparable with t ...
, Inti Illimani and
Illapu Illapu are a Chilean folk and Andean musical ensemble that was formed in 1971 in Antofagasta, in northern Chile, by the brothers José Miguel, Jaime, Andrés and Roberto Márquez Bugueño. A later addition to the group was Osvaldo Torres.https:/ ...
. In 1969, the Music Department of the University of Chile in
Antofagasta Antofagasta () is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2015 census, the city has a population of 402,669. Once claimed by Bolivia follo ...
was created, and in 1970, the Symphony Orchestra of Chile performed the first televised concert broadcast via satellite, which was seen across almost all of the continent. The “Opera Nacional” (National Opera) was also founded under the “Instituto de Extencion Musical” and continuously incorporated national themes into their works. After the
1973 Chilean coup d'état The 1973 Chilean coup d'état () was a military overthrow of the democratic socialist president of Chile Salvador Allende and his Popular Unity (Chile), Popular Unity coalition government. Allende, who has been described as the first Marxist ...
, music, like almost all forms of culture, suffered a major setback, especially popular music, due to the political affiliation of some musicians. In the 1980s, the generation that grew up under the military regime slowly began to recover some cultural ground from the supporters of the regime. Punk and rock were a means to express political discontent, and were used as a form of protest. During this time, some bands distribute their material via homemade cassettes, and by the end of the regime, bands like
Los Prisioneros Los Prisioneros ("The Prisoners") was a Chilean rock band formed in San Miguel, Chile, San Miguel, Santiago Province, Chile, Santiago, in 1982. Considered one of the most influential Latin-American bands of all time, they've been evaluated as pio ...
would gain international recognition. In the 1990s, Chile reconnected with the world and trends from Europe and the USA became part of Chile's popular culture. The national music industry that had almost disappeared during the military regime was reborn, and local branches of the big record labels attempted to promote local bands, with varying results.


Chilean folk music


Northern Chilean folk music

Northern traditional music in the territories between the regions of
Arica y Parinacota The Arica y Parinacota Region ( ) is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. It comprises two provinces, Arica and Parinacota. It borders Peru's Department of Tacna to the north, Bolivia's La Paz and Oruro departments to the east ...
and
Coquimbo Coquimbo is a port List of cities in Chile, city, Communes of Chile, commune and capital of the Elqui Province, located on the Pan-American Highway, in the Coquimbo Region of Chile. Coquimbo is situated in a valley south of La Serena, Chile, La S ...
has been highly influenced by
Andean music Andean music is a group of styles of music from the Andes region in South America. Original chants and melodies come from the general area inhabited by Quechua people, Quechuas (originally from Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile), Aymara people, Aymar ...
and by the
Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several Indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, an Indigenous South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language ...
,
Aymara Aymara may refer to: Languages and people * Aymaran languages, the second most widespread Andean language ** Aymara language, the main language within that family ** Central Aymara, the other surviving branch of the Aymara(n) family, which today ...
,
Atacama The Atacama Desert () is a desert plateau located on the Pacific coast of South America, in the north of Chile. Stretching over a strip of land west of the Andes Mountains, it covers an area of , which increases to if the barren lower slopes ...
and other cultures who lived around the area occupied by the
Inca Empire The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...
prior the European arrival. Other elements that influenced northern folklore included Spanish colonial military bands and the Catholic Church, due to the fact that both institutions had music as part of their ceremonies, and were therefore some of the only people who had musical instruments and the means to teach music methodically. Traditional music has a dominant role in religious celebrations, which, in this zone of the country as in many other parts of the Americas, blends pre-Columbian and Christian forms of celebrating holy days. One example of this mixture is the Diabladas (Devil Dance) ritual, a colourful mix of dances and instrumental music. The La Tirana Festival, which takes place every July 16 in the town of
La Tirana La Tirana is a Chilean town in the commune of Pozo Almonte in El Tamarugal Province, Tarapacá Region. The town lies in an oasis in the middle of the Pampa del Tamarugal, about 72 km inland from the port of Iquique. The town is notable for i ...
, is a fine example of both diabladas and Christian devotion. * Northern Chile music instruments ;Traditional musical instruments of northern Chile Some traditional musical instruments in this area were brought by the Spanish, while others are inherited from the native peoples. They include: *
Quena The quena (hispanicized spelling of Quechua ''qina'', sometimes also written ''kena'' in English) is the traditional flute of the Andes. Traditionally made of cane or wood, it has 6 finger holes and one thumb hole, and is open on both ends or ...
(
Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several Indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, an Indigenous South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language ...
): Also known as “Kena”, this is the traditional flute of the
Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...
. Traditionally made of totora, it has six finger holes and one thumb hole. *
Zampoña Siku (, , also sicu, sicus, zampolla or ) is a traditional Andes, Andean panpipe. This instrument is the main instrument used in a musical genre known as sikuri. It is traditionally found all across the Andes but is more typically associated wit ...
: The siku (, , also "sicu," "sicus," "zampolla" or
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
zampoña), is a traditional Andean
panpipe A pan flute (also known as panpipes or syrinx) is a musical instrument based on the principle of the closed tube, consisting of multiple pipes of gradually increasing length (and occasionally girth). Multiple varieties of pan flutes have been ...
. This is the main instrument used in a musical genre known as
sikuri Sikuri is a musical style from Peru and Bolivia consisting of siku players and drum accompaniment. There are usually around twenty siku players. As each siku cannot play all the notes of a scale, the siku players use an interlocking technique to ...
. It is traditionally found all across the
Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...
but is more typically associated with music from the Kollasuyo, or
Aymara Aymara may refer to: Languages and people * Aymaran languages, the second most widespread Andean language ** Aymara language, the main language within that family ** Central Aymara, the other surviving branch of the Aymara(n) family, which today ...
speaking regions around Lake
Titicaca Lake Titicaca (; ; ) is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. Titicaca is the largest lake in South America, both in terms of the volume of ...
. *
Ocarina The ocarina (otherwise known as a potato flute) is a wind musical instrument; it is a type of vessel flute. Variations exist, but a typical ocarina is an enclosed space with four to twelve finger holes and a mouthpiece that projects from the bo ...
: This is a common instrument around the world. In the Americas, it dates from the time of the Incas and is used for festivals, rituals and ceremonies in some areas of the
Arica y Parinacota The Arica y Parinacota Region ( ) is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. It comprises two provinces, Arica and Parinacota. It borders Peru's Department of Tacna to the north, Bolivia's La Paz and Oruro departments to the east ...
and
Tarapacá San Lorenzo de Tarapacá, also known simply as Tarapacá, is a town in the region of the same name in Chile. History The town has likely been inhabited since the 12th century, when it formed part of the Inca trail. When Spanish explorer Diego ...
regions. Ocarinas in this part of the world are made of clay with 8–9 holes, sometimes shaped like an animal. *
Charango The charango is a small Andes, Andean stringed instrument of the lute family, from the Quechua people, Quechua and Aymara people, Aymara populations in the territory of the Altiplano in post-Colonial times, after European stringed instruments we ...
: The charango is a small
Andean The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long and wide (widest between 18°S ...
stringed instrument In musical instrument classification, string instruments, or chordophones, are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer strums, plucks, strikes or sounds the strings in varying manners. Musicians play so ...
of the
lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck (music), neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lu ...
family. It originated in
Quichua Kichwa (, , also Spanish ) is a Quechuan language that includes all Quechua varieties of Ecuador and Colombia ('' Inga''), as well as extensions into Peru. It has an estimated half million speakers. Classification Kichwa belongs to the Nor ...
and
Aymara Aymara may refer to: Languages and people * Aymaran languages, the second most widespread Andean language ** Aymara language, the main language within that family ** Central Aymara, the other surviving branch of the Aymara(n) family, which today ...
populations in post-Columbian times, after the Americas came across the European stringed instruments, and survives in what are today the Andean regions of
Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...
,
Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
, north of
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
and the northwest of
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
, where it is widespread as a popular music instrument. About 66 cm long, the charango was traditionally made with the shell of an ''
armadillo Armadillos () are New World placental mammals in the order (biology), order Cingulata. They form part of the superorder Xenarthra, along with the anteaters and sloths. 21 extant species of armadillo have been described, some of which are dis ...
'' (''quirquincho'', ''mulita'') and can also be made of wood, which is the most common material found today and considered more resonant. The charango is primarily played in traditional Andean music, but is sometimes used by other Latin American musicians. It typically has 10 strings in five
courses Course may refer to: Directions or navigation * Course (navigation), the path of travel * Course (orienteering), a series of control points visited by orienteers during a competition, marked with red/white flags in the terrain, and corresponding ...
of 2 strings each, but other variations exist. A charango player is called a ''charanguista''. * Bombo nortino: Literally “Northern bass drum”, this is a regional variation of the
Bass drum The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter usually greater than its depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. The head ...
, traditionally made of wood and covered in leather. It is used in most of the religious and pagan ceremonies.


Central Chilean folk music

The "Valle central" (Central Valley) is the extension of land that runs from the Chacabuco mountain range, which separates the
Aconcagua Aconcagua () is a mountain in the Principal Cordillera of the Andes mountain range, in Mendoza Province, Argentina. It is the highest mountain in the Americas, the highest outside Asia, and the highest in both the Western Hemisphere and the ...
and Maipo Valleys in the north of the Valparaiso region, to the
Bio Bio river Bio or BIO may refer to: Computing * bio(4), a pseudo-device driver in RAID controller management interface in OpenBSD and NetBSD * Block I/O, a concept in computer data storage Politics * Julius Maada Bio (born 1964), Sierra Leonean politician ...
. The folklore in central Chile, as in southern Chile, is closely linked to rural life and Spanish heritage. The most iconic figure is the
Huaso A ''huaso'' () is a Chilean countryman and skilled horseman, similar to the United States, American cowboy, the Mexico, Mexican ''charro'' (and its northern equivalent, the ''vaquero''), the ''gaucho'' of Argentina, Uruguay and Rio Grande Do S ...
, a countryman and skilled horseman, similar to the American cowboy, Mexican charro or the gaucho of Argentina. In
Central Chile Central Chile (''Zona central'') is one of the five natural regions into which CORFO divided continental Chile in 1950. It is home to a majority of the Chilean population and includes the three largest metropolitan areas—Santiago, Valparaí ...
, the
cueca Cueca () is a family of musical styles and associated dances from Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia. In Chile, the cueca holds the status of national dance, where it was officially declared as such by the Pinochet dictatorship on September 18, 19 ...
and
tonada The ''tonada'' is a folk music style of Spain and some countries of Hispanic America (mainly Argentina, Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Venezuela). In modern-day Spain, the traditional sung piece known as ''tonada'' is considered as having been originated ...
dances and songs are the most characteristic styles. In this area of the country the most popular instruments are the accordion (introduced by the German immigrants through the south),
guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
,
harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...
,
tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, thoug ...
and the tormento, a Chilean instrument of colonial times used in the
salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...
parties or “tertulias”, similar to a
xylophone The xylophone (; ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets. Each bar is an idiophone tuned to a pitch of a musical scale, whether pentatonic or heptatonic in the case of many African ...
. Among the other dances and music that are part of central Chilean folklore are the "Sajuriana", originally from Argentina, "the Refalosa" introduced from the north, and the "Vals", inherited from Europe and very popular during the first half of the nineteenth century among the upper classes. Others that are less well-known today include the "Corrido", "La Porteña", "El Gato", "La Jota", "El Pequén", "El Cuando", "El Aire", "El Repicao", "La Polka", "La Masurca", the "Guaracha campesina" and the "Esquinazo". ;Cueca The ''
cueca Cueca () is a family of musical styles and associated dances from Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia. In Chile, the cueca holds the status of national dance, where it was officially declared as such by the Pinochet dictatorship on September 18, 19 ...
'' (short for ''zamacueca'') has long been considered the "most traditional music and dance of Chile". Some of the earliest records of the cueca suggest it came into being around the 1820s, though its origins are debated. Since September 18, 1979, cueca has been affirmed as the official national dance. Cueca is written in a combination of 6/8 and 3/4 at the same time and has a very rigid structure that is divided into three sections: the “cuarteta”, which contains four verses in eight syllables with rhymes in the second and fourth verses; the “seguidilla”; and the “remate”. The structure looks like this: *Cuarteta.......A-B-B-A-B-B............TOTAL: 24 measures *Seguidilla.....A-B-B-A-B-(B)...........TOTAL: (20) 24 measures *Remate........ A ...........................TOTAL: 4 measures According to Pedro Humberto Allende, a Chilean composer, "neither the words nor the music obey any fixed rules; various motives are freely intermingled." There are some variants of cueca in some areas of the country In the northern regions, the cueca has no lyrics and is danced during religious feasts and carnival. The instruments used to perform it here include some of Andean origin, like sicus, zampoñas and brass (trumpets and tubas). In the central regions, the cueca has lyrics and the instruments most commonly used to perform it are the guitar, tambourine, accordion and bombo. On the island of Chiloe, the main difference in cueca consists of the absence of the initial “cuarteta”. The verses of the seguidilla are repeated and there is a greater emphasis placed on the interpretation of the lyrics by the singer rather than on the music or the dance. Cueca brava (urban cueca) is a variation of the cueca that originated in the 1860s in the rougher neighbourhoods of cities, where it was sung and danced in places like bars and brothels. ;Tonada The
Tonada The ''tonada'' is a folk music style of Spain and some countries of Hispanic America (mainly Argentina, Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Venezuela). In modern-day Spain, the traditional sung piece known as ''tonada'' is considered as having been originated ...
is another important form of Chilean traditional song, arising from the music brought by Spanish settlers. It is not danced and is distinguished from the cueca by an intermediate melodic section and a more prominent melody in general. Several groups have taken the tonada as their main form of expression, such as Silvia Infantas y Los Baqueanos - Los Cóndores, Los Huasos Quincheros, Los Huasos de Algarrobal, Los de Ramon and others. The modern rural ''tonada'' is typically simple and "monotonous", as described by Raquel Barros y Manuel Dannemann.


Southern Chilean folk music

The challenging landscape, the persisting population of
Huilliche people The Huilliche (), Huiliche or Huilliche-Mapuche are the southern partiality of the Mapuche macroethnic group in Chile and Argentina. Located in the Zona Sur, they inhabit both Futahuillimapu ("great land of the south") and, as the Cunco or Ve ...
, and the Spanish heritage which did not fade as much as elsewhere in the country, has given southern Chilean music some particular characteristics. One of the places where this is most distinct is Chiloé. During the war of independence, Chiloé remained loyal to the Spanish Crown and royalist soldiers introduced to the islands dances like the “chocolate” and the “pericón”. The main feature of Chilote music is its vitality, a quality that is apparent in dances of agile and lively pace A good part of the colonization of southernmost Chile carried out by Chilotes (the people of Chiloe), so their culture spread with them through southern Chile, including their music and dances. On the other hand, the German migrants that came to the provinces of
Valdivia Valdivia (; Mapuche: Ainil) is a city and commune in southern Chile, administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder, Pedro de Valdivia, and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle, Valdivia, and ...
, Osorno and Llanquihue brought with them some of their customs and instruments, the most influential being the accordion, which quickly integrated into the existing music. Typical music and dances include: * “Pericona” One of the most popular dances among Chilotes, this is danced by two loose couples, handkerchiefs in hands. It most likely came from Argentina where it is called "Perico", and evolved in Chiloe, acquiring the name or “Pericona”. * “El Costillar” El Costillar, literally the "rack", in reference to a rack of beef or pork, is a common dance in Chillan and in most isolated areas of southern Chile, most likely originating in Chiloé. It is a festive and competitive dance where the couples loosely dance around a bottle that has the function of a totem. The couple that knocks the bottle loses and has to leave the dance floor. As a “competition” dance, it can be danced by men only or by mixed couples. * “La Trastrasera” Native to Chiloé, but probably brought from Argentina by drovers who crossed the mountains with their cattle and goods, this dance was established in Chiloé and become part of the Chilean folklore. It is an easy dance to perform and can be adapted as rhythmic play for young children. The movements follow the instructions in the song lyrics. * La trastrasera lyrics:
Mariquita dame un beso que tu mama lo mandó. Tu mama manda en lo suyo y en lo mío mando yo. tu mama manda en lo suyo y en lo mío mando yo. Tras tras por la trastrasera y también por la delantera, tras tras por un costao también por el otro lao. Darán una media vuelta y también una vuelta entera, se tomarán de la mano y harán una reverencia. Tras tras por la trastrasera y también por la delantera, tras tras por un costao también por el otro lao.
* “El Chapecao” “Chapecao” in
Mapudungun Mapuche ( , ; from 'land' and 'people', meaning 'the people of the land') or Mapudungun (from 'land' and 'speak, speech', meaning 'the speech of the land'; also spelled Mapuzugun and Mapudungu) is either a language isolate or member of the s ...
means braiding, and refers to the nature of the dance that accompanies this song. The song starts with a guitar playing solo and the couples taking part move around while the guitar plays. Suddenly the guitar stops and the dancers stop with it. This happens three times and then a cueca is played and danced, but the choreography allows the couples to exchange partners. After several exchanges the couples end with the same partner with which they started. * “El Pavo” This is a partner dance which simulates the courting rituals of the turkey, or “el pavo” in Spanish. The music of El Pavo is very similar to the cueca, though it lacks the concluding couplet, and its structure is based on an octosyllabic quatrain and rollovers. * “Vals chilote” The “Vals Chilote”, or Chilote Waltz, is deeply rooted in southern folklore and is also common in the central area of Chile. In the Chilote waltz, the man and woman dance in hold and the main difference with a normal
Waltz The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the ...
is that the pace is more pronounced, resulting in very intense and energetic steps. * Southern Chilean musical instruments


Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

Easter Island folk music has different origins from those of continental Chilean music. Instead, traditional music from the island consists of choral singing and chanting, similar to
Tahitian music Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the music of Tahiti was dominated by festivals called ''heiva''. Dancing was a vital part of Tahitian life then, and dances were used to celebrate, pray and mark almost every occasion of life. Examples includ ...
and the traditions of other Polynesian cultures. Families often performed as choirs, competing in an annual concert. They accompanied their chanting with a
trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...
made from a
conch Conch ( , , ) is a common name of a number of different medium-to-large-sized sea snails. Conch shells typically have a high Spire (mollusc), spire and a noticeable siphonal canal (in other words, the shell comes to a noticeable point on both ...
and a
percussive A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...
dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
r jumping onto a stone which is set over a
calabash Calabash (; ''Lagenaria siceraria''), also known as bottle gourd, white-flowered gourd, long melon, birdhouse gourd, New Guinea bean, New Guinea butter bean, Tasmania bean, and opo squash, is a vine grown for its fruit. It can be either harvest ...
resonator A resonator is a device or system that exhibits resonance or resonant behavior. That is, it naturally oscillates with greater amplitude at some frequencies, called resonant frequencies, than at other frequencies. The oscillations in a reso ...
. Other instruments used include the kauaha, created from the
jaw The jaws are a pair of opposable articulated structures at the entrance of the mouth, typically used for grasping and manipulating food. The term ''jaws'' is also broadly applied to the whole of the structures constituting the vault of the mouth ...
bone of a horse; the
accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...
; and stones, which are clapped together for percussive effect. The most characteristic dances are: The "Sau Sau", a dance of Samoan origin that was introduced in the 1940s. The dance emphasizes female grace and sensuality and in the choreography, the couple performs flexible movements of the hips and hands. The "Ula Ula", a dance of Tahitian origin that is usually performed during local festivities. The couples dance separated undulating their hips laterally. The "Tamuré" also a Tahitian dance, is very fast and acrobatic and requires highly skilled dancers. The
Rainstick A rainstick is a long, hollow tube of bamboo or dried cactus that is partially flooded with small pebbles, rice, dried beans, or other hard granular matter. The inside surface of the tube has small pins or thorns arranged helically. When the st ...
,
Ukulele The ukulele ( ; ); also called a uke (informally), is a member of the lute (ancient guitar) family of instruments. The ukulele is of Portuguese origin and was popularized in Hawaii. The tone and volume of the instrument vary with size and con ...
,
Drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...
, and flute are instruments typically used in Rapa Nui music.


City folk music

* "Música Tipica" From the 1920s onwards, Chilean folk music or "Música Tipica" (traditional music) experienced a rebirth. This rebirth brought rural music and folklore into the cities, on to the radios and caught the attention of a flourishing music industry, which took some of the more refined versions of Chilean "Tonada" and transformed them into a spectacle for the cities. One of the first groups that can be linked to this style are "Los Huasos de Chincolco", who started a trend that inspired the public, although their music had little in common with real rural folk music. In the 1930s and after, groups like “ Los Huasos Quincheros”, “ Los Cuatro Hermanos”, “ Ester Sore”, “Silvia Infantas y los Cóndores”, and “Francisco Flores del Campo” kept this style alive and became very popular. During the 1940s and 1950s, this refined version of folkloric music became a national emblem, mainly for its aesthetic and as a spectacle to celebrate patriotism. One of the characteristics of the folkloric trend is its use of patriotic themes and a romantic, idealized view of rural life. That idealized view would be questioned in the following decades by
Víctor Jara Víctor Lidio Jara Martínez (; 28 September 1932 – 16 September 1973) was a Chilean teacher, theatre director, theater director, poet, singer-songwriter and PCCh, Communist political activist. He developed Chilean theater by directing a bro ...
,
Violeta Parra Violeta del Carmen Parra Sandoval (; 4 October 1917 – 5 February 1967) was a Chilean composer, singer-songwriter, folklorist, ethnomusicologist and visual artist. She pioneered the Nueva Canción Chilena (The Chilean New Song), a renewal and a ...
and the other musicians that formed the “Nueva Cancion Chilena” movement.


''La Nueva Canción Chilena''

The
Nueva Canción (European , ; 'new song') is a left-wing social movement and musical genre in Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula, characterized by folk music, folk-inspired styles and socially committed lyrics. is widely recognized to have played a profou ...
(New Song) is a movement that appeared in the mid 1960s and involved not just Chile but the rest of Latin America and Spain. The movement incorporated strong political and social themes and was used as a tool for expressing political and social conscience. The Nueva Canción Chilena (New Chilean Song) broke with the prevailing folkloric styles of its time, which presented an idealized view of the rural world and ignored the situation of marginalized workers on the “Fundos” (large estates) and in isolated rural areas of the country. In a period of political struggle across
Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
, the “Nueva Canción” became associated with political activism and reformers like the Chilean
Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 1970 until Death of Salvador Allende, his death in 1973 Chilean coup d'état, 1973. As a ...
and his Popular Unity government. It soon emerged in other countries like Argentina, where the movement was called “Nuevo Cancionero” and was led by
Mercedes Sosa Haydée Mercedes "La Negra" Sosa (; 9 July 1935
at BrainyHistory.com
– 4 October 2009) was an
and
Armando Tejada Gómez Armando may refer to: * Armando (given name) * Armando (artist) (1929–2018), the name used by Dutch artist Herman Dirk van Dodeweerd * Armando (producer) Armando Gallop (sometimes written as Armando Gallup) (February 12, 1970 – December 17, ...
among others. The foundations of the movement were laid through the efforts of
Violeta Parra Violeta del Carmen Parra Sandoval (; 4 October 1917 – 5 February 1967) was a Chilean composer, singer-songwriter, folklorist, ethnomusicologist and visual artist. She pioneered the Nueva Canción Chilena (The Chilean New Song), a renewal and a ...
to revive over 3,000 Chilean songs, recipes, traditions, proverbs and folkloric characters, like the '' payadores'' (improviser-singers). Violeta Parra, and artists like her, acted as a vehicle for a folkloric tradition that otherwise would have remained unknown for many Chileans in the cities. Violeta Parra and her brothers paved the way for other key Chilean folkloric artists like
Rolando Alarcón Rolando Alarcón Soto (August 5, 1929 – February 4, 1973) was a Chilean singer-songwriter and teacher, who was one of the main figures of the movement Nueva canción chilena. He was the artistic director of Cuncumén, one of the most important ...
, Payo Grondona, Patricio Castillo, Homero Caro,
Tito Fernández Humberto Waldemar Asdrúbal Baeza Fernández (9 December 1942 – 11 February 2023), also known as Tito Fernández, El Temucano, was a Chilean singer-songwriter and folklorist. He recorded and released more than 40 albums from the 1970s to the p ...
, Kiko Álvarez,
Patricio Manns Iván Patricio Eugenio Manns de Folliot, better known as Patricio Manns (3 August 1937 – 25 September 2021) was a Chilean singer-songwriter, composer, author, poet, novelist, essayist, journalist and writer. Manns has been a prominent represen ...
and
Víctor Jara Víctor Lidio Jara Martínez (; 28 September 1932 – 16 September 1973) was a Chilean teacher, theatre director, theater director, poet, singer-songwriter and PCCh, Communist political activist. He developed Chilean theater by directing a bro ...
. Jara emerged as one of the major voices of the Nueva Canción and began its traditions of criticising government officials and policies. Since September 1973, the new military government of
Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean military officer and politician who was the dictator of Military dictatorship of Chile, Chile from 1973 to 1990. From 1973 to 1981, he was the leader ...
threatened Nueva Canción artists, driving them underground during the 1970s. Cassette tapes of artists like Inti-Illimani and
Quilapayún Quilapayún () are a folk music group from Chile and among the longest lasting and most influential ambassadors of the ''Nueva canción, Nueva Canción Chilena'' movement and genre. Formed during the mid-1960s, the group became inseparable with t ...
were circulated in a clandestine manner. The groups continued to oppose Pinochet's government from exile, and helped inspire Nueva Canción singers from
Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...
(
Daniel Viglietti Daniel Alberto Viglietti Indart (24 July 1939 – 30 October 2017) was an Uruguayan folk singer, guitarist, composer, and political activist. He was one of the main exponents of Uruguayan popular song and also of the ''Nueva Canción'' or "New ...
),
El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...
( Yolocamba l'ta),
Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...
( Kin-Lalat), Mexico ( Amparo Ochoa),
Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...
( Carlos Goodys and
Luís Enrique Mejía Godoy Luis Enrique Mejía López (born September 28, 1962) is a Nicaraguan-American singer-songwriter and musician. He is known as "El Príncipe de la Salsa" (''The Prince of Salsa''). A grammy-award-winning artist, he has released over 20 albums an ...
), as well as
Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
n
Nueva Trova Nueva Trova (, "new trova") is a movement in Cuban music that emerged around 1967–1968 after the Cuban Revolution of 1959, and the consequent political and social changes. Nueva Trova has its roots in the traditional trova, but differs from it ...
artists like
Pablo Milanés Pablo Milanés Arias (24 February 1943 – 22 November 2022) was a Cuban guitar player and singer. He was one of the founders of the Cuban nueva trova, along with Silvio Rodríguez and Noel Nicola. His music, originating in the Trova, Son and ...
.


Popular music


Rock and roll

Rock and roll music was first produced in Chile in the late 1950s by bands that imitated and were inspired by international
rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...
hits from the U.S., often translating these songs for the Chilean market. This movement was known as the ''
Nueva Ola The nueva ola (; Spanish for "new wave") was a loosely affiliated group of musicians, mainly in Spanish-speaking South America, who played and introduced rock 'n roll and other American and European music of the 1950s and 1960s to their countries ...
'' (New Wave).Nueva Ola
www.musicapopular.cl. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
During the second half of the 1960s, after the success of rock and roll music, the ''Fusión latinoamericana'' (Latin American fusion) and ''Nueva Canción'' (New Song) genres were born in Chile, bringing together rock and roll and Latin American folk music.
Los Jaivas Los Jaivas is a Chilean musical group who perform in folk, rock, psychedelic, and progressive rock styles formed in 1963 in Viña Del Mar, Chile. They are considered one of the most important and influential artists of all time in Latin America ...
are an example of this fusion between the two convergent styles. In the 1970s, however, the country's rock scene declined due to political repressionMorris, Nancy. 1986. Canto Porque es Necesario Cantar: The New Song Movement in Chile, 1973-1983. ''Latin American Research Review'', Vol. 21, pp. 117-136. The 1980s saw the beginning of a revival of rock music in Chile which has continued until the modern day, with the growth of many rock subgenres and many Chilean bands finding success on the international market in recent years. Some of the most successful Chilean rock bands are:
Los Prisioneros Los Prisioneros ("The Prisoners") was a Chilean rock band formed in San Miguel, Chile, San Miguel, Santiago Province, Chile, Santiago, in 1982. Considered one of the most influential Latin-American bands of all time, they've been evaluated as pio ...
,
Lucybell Lucybell is a Chilean rock band formed by four students from the Universidad de Chile's Faculty of Art in 1991, in Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital city, capital and largest city of Chi ...
, La Ley,
Javiera Mena Javiera Alejandra Mena Carrasco (born June 3, 1983) is a Chilean singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer based in Madrid, Spain. She started her musical career in the Chilean indie music scene in 2001 and achieved wider success after t ...
,
Francisca Valenzuela Francisca Valenzuela (; born March 17, 1987, in San Francisco, California) is an American-born Chilean singer, poet, and multi-instrumentalist. Valenzuela was born and raised in San Francisco, California, where she resided until the age of 12, be ...
,
Los Jaivas Los Jaivas is a Chilean musical group who perform in folk, rock, psychedelic, and progressive rock styles formed in 1963 in Viña Del Mar, Chile. They are considered one of the most important and influential artists of all time in Latin America ...
,
Los Tres Los Tres is a Chilean rock band, formed in 1987 in Concepción, Chile, Concepción by Álvaro Henríquez, Roberto "Titae" Lindl, Francisco Molina and Ángel Parra Jr. They are one of the most influential rock en español bands. History The ...
, Chancho en Piedra, Panico, Sol y Lluvia, Nicole, Los Miserables, Buddy Richard.


Hip-hop and rap

Since the mid to late 1980s,
hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...
music have had a considerable influence on the Chilean music scene and culture. People of Chile had their first contact with this genre through the television and radio. First to appear and gain popularity were
Breakdance Breakdancing or breaking, also called b-boying (when performed by men) or b-girling (women), is a style of street dance originated by African Americans and Puerto Ricans in The Bronx borough of New York City. Breakdancing consists mainly ...
and breakers groups: “Montaña Breakers”, “B14”, “T.N.T.”, “Floor Masters”. Breakers from all over the capital would gather in Bombero Ossa Street in Central
Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...
to share music and have breakdance “battles”. Then came the first Chilean rap groups, such as “Los Marginales” and “Panteras Negras”. The return of immigrants after the end of the dictatorship could also have been a factor that increased the popularity of hip-hop and rap, with examples such as Jimmy Fernandez (ex La Pozze Latina) returning from Italy, or “Floor Masters” front man who came from Los Angeles. However, it wasn't until the mid-1990s that hip-hop gained mainstream popularity with successful groups such as
Tiro de Gracia Tiro de Gracia was a Chilean hip hop group. Known for their raw lyrical style, the group initially performed using cassette tapes looped by DJ Raff, former member of La Pozze Latina. During this time, they recorded two independent albums tit ...
, Los Tetas, Makiza, Zaturno and La Pozze Latina. Commercial success was confirmed in 1997, when “Tiro de Gracia” and “Makiza” got Golden and Silver Discs and filled venues along the country. During the 2000s, some bands connected hip-hop with other styles like dancehall, reggae, and Latin rhythms. Also in the 2000s, political rap became popular, with groups like, “Panteras Negras”, “LB1”, “Subverso”, “Guerrillerokulto” and “Salvaje Decibel”. Como Asesinar a Felipes is the first
Experimental hip-hop Alternative hip-hop (also known as alternative rap and experimental hip-hop) is a subgenre of hip-hop music that encompasses a wide range of styles that are not typically identified as mainstream. AllMusic defines it as comprising "hip-hop group ...
band that has achieved a considerable success, being produced by
Koolarrow Records Koolarrow Records is an American independent record label based in San Francisco, set up by Faith No More's bass guitarist Billy Gould. Current artists * 7notas, 7colores * Alexander Hacke * Brujeria * Como Asesinar a Felipes * Don Cikuta * ...
. Most recently, Chilean rapper
Ana Tijoux Anamaría Tijoux Merino (, ; born 12 June 1977), commonly known by her stage name Ana Tijoux or Anita Tijoux (), is a French-born Chilean musician. Her music contains political and popular themes. She became famous in Latin America as the master ...
(formerly of Makiza) has become one of the most successful rap artists, collaborating with Mexican musician
Julieta Venegas Julieta Venegas Percevault (; born 24 November 1970) is a Mexican singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, and producer who specializes in pop-rock-indie music in Spanish. She embarked on her musical journey by joining several bands, including the ...
and having tracks featured on the
EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they imitated real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" (EASN) ...
video game ''
FIFA 11 ''FIFA 11'', titled ''FIFA Soccer 11'' in North America, is a football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts worldwide under the EA Sports label. It was released on 28 September 2010 in North America, 30 Se ...
''. Her music has appeared in the popular TV series ''
Breaking Bad ''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan for AMC (TV channel), AMC. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Breaking Bad), Walter White (Bryan Cran ...
'' ( season 4, episode 5).


Chilean electronic music

The electronic music movement as we know it today reached Chile in the 1990s, but there are some earlier milestones worth mentioning, like the sound experiments of engineer and scientist Jose Visencio Asuar in 1959 after the 1958 visit of physicist
Werner Meyer-Eppler Werner Meyer-Eppler (30 April 1913 – 8 July 1960), was a Belgian-born German physicist, experimental acoustician, phoneticist and information theorist. Meyer-Eppler was born in Antwerp. He studied mathematics, physics, and chemistry, ...
, and the production of the first electronically generated music records in the 1960s. “Electronica” has given Chile more international success than any other style of music; Chilean DJs and electronic music producers are among the most important in the international scene. Many Chilean DJs are based in Europe, particularly in Germany. Some were children of political exiles while others moved to Europe to develop their careers and then stayed following their great success. Some of the most important and best known electronic music artists are:
Ricardo Villalobos Ricardo Villalobos (born 6 August 1970) is a Chilean-born German electronic music producer and DJ. He is well known for his work in the minimal techno and microhouse genres, and is one of the most significant figures in the minimal techno scene. ...
, Andrés Bucci, Cristian Vogel, Latin Bitman, Danieto,
Luciano Luciano is an Italian, Spanish and Portuguese given name and surname. It is derived from Latin ''Lucianus'', patronymic of '' Lucius'' ("Light"). The French form is '' Lucien'', while the Basque form is '' Luken''. Single name * Luciano (rap ...
, Pier Bucci,
Nicolas Jaar Nicolas Jaar (, ; né Nicolás Jaar; born January 10, 1990) is a Chilean-American composer and musician. Among his notable works are the albums '' Space Is Only Noise'' (2011), ''Sirens'' (2016), and '' Cenizas'' (2020). He has also released th ...
and Jorge González.


Chilean cumbia

Cumbia style has its origins in the caribbean climates of Colombia, Venezuela and Panama, and was introduced to Chile in the mid 1960s by the Venezuelan Luisín Landáez. Later in the same decade, Colombian musician Amparito Jiménez would record and release albums in Chile and had great success with the song “La pollera colora”, one of the most emblematic Colombian songs. Later, the Chilean band Sonora Palacios would bring cumbia to mass popularity among the Chilean population. Since the beginning, Chile has developed its own kind of
cumbia Cumbia refers to a number of musical rhythms and folk dance traditions of Latin America, generally involving musical and cultural elements from American Indigenous peoples, Europeans, and Africans during colonial times. Cumbia is said to have com ...
known as "''cumbia sonora''" or just "'' traditional Chilean cumbia''", with long standing orchestras such as Orquesta Huambaly, La Sonora de Tommy Rey, Sonora Palacios, Los Vikings 5, Giolito y su combo and Pachuco y la Cubanacán. These have been some of the most popular acts in the last 50 years and still enjoy mainstream popularity, seen as part of Chile's musical culture and identity. Chilean cumbia added brass instruments, piano and a faster percussion to the original cumbia style. The process of adaptation and evolution created a sub style that can be easily identified from the original. Chilean cumbia bands are called “Combos”, “Sonoras” or simply “Orquestas” (orchestras) and are formed by 10 or more musicians where the brass and the drums have an important role. Cumbia developed this orchestral performance style in the 1960s, adapting from the tropical orchestras that had played rhythms such as the cha-cha-cha,
mambo Mambo most often refers to: *Mambo (music), a Cuban musical form *Mambo (dance), a dance corresponding to mambo music Mambo may also refer to: Music * Mambo section, a section in arrangements of some types of Afro-Caribbean music, particul ...
,
rumba The term rumba may refer to a variety of unrelated music styles. Originally, "rumba" was used as a synonym for "party" in northern Cuba, and by the late 19th century it was used to denote the complex of secular music styles known as Cuban rumba ...
,
bolero Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It h ...
, and merengue in the 1920–1940s. Some subgenres that were not originally from Chile also became popular in the country: In the 1990s, cumbia sound, known in other countries of Latin America as Technocumbia, is a style of dumbia where there is a fusion between electronic sounds generated by electronic drums, and electric guitar. "Technocumbia" was a name given to the subgenre in Mexico to describe this type of music. However, the style was developed throughout South America with different names: “Sound” in Chile. emerged, a style where great emphasis was placed on the (usually romantic) lyrics and where the artists can be a solo male or female singer rather than a band. Unlike Technocumbia, cumbia romantica arrangements tend to be acoustic. Some performers in this subgenre are La Noche and
Américo Domingo Johnny Vega Urzúa (born December 24, 1977), commonly known as Américo, is a Chilean singer. He became known as the lead artist of Américo y la Nueva Alegría. He is the son of a locally known boleros singer, Melvin "Corazón" Améri ...
). Also in the 2000s, a style called
New Chilean cumbia The New Chilean Cumbia also known as New Chilean Cumbia Rock (Spanish: ''Nueva cumbia chilena'', ''Nueva cumbia rock chilena'') is a subgenre of cumbia music that originated in Chile in the early 2000s and that largely surfaced in mainstream me ...
or “Cumbia Rock” emerged, led by bands like ( Chico Trujillo, La Mano Ajena, and Juana Fe). This new Chilean cumbia is highly influenced by rock and some hip hop groups, although in some cases the influence of Andean music, Balkan music
Klezmer Klezmer ( or ) is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for listening; these wou ...
,
Salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (food), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: Arts and ent ...
and
Bolero Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It h ...
can be heard. It main exponents are Chico Trujillo, Banda Conmoción, Juana Fe, La Mano Ajena, Cholomandinga, Villa Cariño, Combo Ginebra, etc.


Mexican music in Chile

Among the Chilean upper class, Mexican music has gained more acceptance since the 2000s. In part, this trend is explained by the popularity of the musical talent show '' Rojo Fama contra Fama'' on TVN, which aired for the first time in 2002.
María José Quintanilla María José Quintanilla (born 17 February 1990), also nicknamed “Coté”, is a Chilean singer, songwriter, and actress. She began singing as a child and participated in numerous singing contests in her teens. She signed with Sony Music's Chil ...
in particular gained acclaim on the program by singing
ranchera Ranchera () or canción ranchera is a genre of traditional music of Mexico. It dates to before the years of the Mexican Revolution. Rancheras today are played in the vast majority of regional Mexican music styles. Drawing on rural traditional fo ...
songs.


Chilean Jazz

The practice of ''
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
'' is one of the most popular manifestations of popular music in Chile. The most regular tracks appear towards the 1920s around the figure of the composer, violinist and researcher
Pablo Garrido Pablo Garrido Lugo (born June 22, 1938) was a Mexican athlete who competed in the late 1960s. He was born in Jilotepec de Abasolo, State of Mexico. He finished 26th in the men's marathon at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. Garrido also ...
, manager of the first ensembles and local jazz orchestras. From 1940, a new generation of young musicians aligned themselves with jazz improvisation beyond the predecessor jazz, which they considered commercial, baptizing it hot jazz. This would result in the founding of the
Club de Jazz de Santiago Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises * ...
in 1943 and the formation of the first national all-stars, The Chilean Aces of Jazz, in 1944 and 1945. Modern jazz broke into the 1960s at the initiative of the pianist Omar Nahuel, at the head of the Nahuel Jazz Quartet. The band was not only a pioneer in the development of new jazz forms, such as
bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early to mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo (usually exceeding 200 bpm), complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerou ...
or cool, but also brought together enthusiastic musicians of the figure of
Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz Saxophone, saxophonist, bandleader, and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of beb ...
and his descendants. In the 1970s, as in the rest of the world, the electric jazz installed a new expressive form and gave rise to new soloists in Chile. Since the 1980s, jazz has had in Chile the possibility of training professional musicians thanks to the creation of ''ProJazz'', the ''Escuela Moderna de Música'' and the School of Music of the SCD, which has allowed the development of the jazz language during the following decades. With the creation of the Festival Internacional Providencia Jazz in the year 2002, along with other communal festivals, jazz has achieved greater diffusion for the non-expert public in the 21st century. Currently, the national scene stands out for the multiplicity of styles, among which stand out: the group La Marraqueta in the avant-garde of the so-called ''jazz criollo'', a wide variety of groups in the Latin American fusion, and the
big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...
s, such as the Conchalí Big Band or Los Andes Big Band, in the traditional jazz as
bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early to mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo (usually exceeding 200 bpm), complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerou ...
or the swing. Among the figures of contemporary Chilean jazz stand out: Jorge Vera, Ricardo Arancibia,
Mariano Casanova Mariano is a masculine name from the Romance languages, corresponding to the feminine Mariana (disambiguation), Mariana. It is an Italian, Spanish and Portuguese variant of the Roman Marianus which derived from Marius (name), Marius, and Marius d ...
, Cristián Cuturrufo, Camila Meza, Federico Dannemann, Sebastián Jordán, Mario Feito, Christian Gálvez, Pedro Greene, Martin Joseph, Ronnie Knoller, the Lecaros Family; Mario Lecaros, Pablo Lecaros, Roberto Lecaros, Agustín Moya, Gonzalo Palma, Ángel Parra Orrego, Andrés Pérez, Lautaro Quevedo, Felipe Riveros, Carla Romero, Moncho Romero,
Melissa Aldana Melissa Aldana (born 3 December 1988) is a Chilean tenor saxophone player, who performs both as a soloist and with her band Melissa Aldana & Crash Trio. Life and career Early life and training Aldana was born in Santiago, Chile. She began playi ...
, Miguel Sacaan and Nicolás Vera,
José Gil José Gil may refer to: * José Gil (philosopher) (born 1939), Portuguese philosopher * José Luis Gil (born 1957), Spanish actor * José Gil Gordillo (born 1960), Spanish footballer * José Miguel Gil (born 1971), Spanish diver * José Gil So ...
, Antonio Lambertini, Jorge Caraccioli and the groups La Marraqueta, Contracuarteto, Los Titulares,
Ángel Parra Trío Ángel Parra Trío is a Chilean jazz band led by guitarist and composer Ángel Parra Jr. and created in 1989. History Ángel Parra Trío consolidated itself as the first substantive project in the renovation of the Chilean jazz scene once ...
, Holman Trío, Caravana Trío and Ensemble Quintessence, among many others.


Academic music

Since the beginning of the Chilean republic, the need for highly trained musicians in educational institutions and in the classical music scene was evident. Initially, this need was fulfilled by artists coming from nearby Peru (Viceroyalty of Peru), both former important viceroyalties of Spain. In 1823, a wave of professional musicians came to Chile, including: Bartolome Filomeno and Jose Bernardo Alzedo from Lima, Peru; and the Spaniard, From 1900 onwards, music began to take a more central place in Chilean society. In 1912 the “Orchestral Society of Chile” was created and, over the next year, performed the nine symphonies of Beethoven, published the journal “La Orquesta” (The Orchestra), and debuted performances of Bach. Once the influential families got involved in the music scene, musicians’ reputation in society started to change - previously seen as undesirable, or just entertainers, they started to be viewed as an important part of culture, and having musical knowledge became essential for the cultured person. The most prolific period of classic music in Chile began in the 1950s, with the founding of several projects aiming to educate, promote and research music, along with the implementation of educational reforms and the foundation of Youth and Children's Orchestras - like that created in the city of La Serena, led by conductor and composer Jorge Peña Hen. This process continued until 1973 when political repression hit culture and music across the board. The music industry, live performances, the media, and even musical education were affected, with musical education officially suppressed as a mandatory high school subject. One of the most traditional classical music events in Chile is the “Semanas musicales de Frutillar” (Frutillar musical weeks) in the southern city of
Frutillar Frutillar is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune located in southern Chile, Chilean Patagonia, in Llanquihue Province, within the Los Lagos Region, the lake district. The bay of Frutillar is placed on the banks of Lake L ...
in
Los Lagos Region Los Lagos Region ( , 'Region of the Lakes') is one of regions of Chile, Chile's 16 regions, which are first order administrative divisions, and comprises four provinces: Chiloé Province, Chiloé, Llanquihue Province, Llanquihue, Osorno Provin ...
(Region of the Lakes). The festival take place between January and February every year, and consists of 40 or more classical concerts performed by both Chilean and international artists. The construction of a new venue, the Teatro del Lago (Lake Theatre) which opened in 2010, has given the festival a boost, providing space for more performances and larger audiences. Since the 1990s, classical music has slowly recovered its place in Chilean culture and education, with projects like “FOJI” (the Foundation for Youth and Children's Orchestras), a non-profit organization that works to form orchestras and educate young people in several cities around Chile. Their programme reaches more than 12,000 teens and children every year, and their orchestras perform concerts that reach an audience of almost a million. Among the best known Chilean classical composers are José Zapiola Cortés,
Enrique Soro Enrique Soro Barriga (July 15, 1884 – December 03, 1954) was a Chilean composer and pianist. He won the National Prize of Art of Chile in 1948. Considered one of the first Chilean symphonists, he carried out his first studies in Concepción wit ...
and Pedro Humberto Allende. Allende put special effort to include some elements of Chilean tradition and folklore in his work, with works such as the symphonic poem “La Voz de las Calles” (The Voice of the Streets); “Doce Tonadas para Piano” (Twelve Tunes for Piano); and the “Concierto Sinfónico para Violoncello y Orquesta” (Symphonic Concerto for Cello and Orchestra), whose rhythmic richness was praised by
Claude Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...
. Other important Chilean composers include Vicente Bianchi known for his compositions based on
Pablo Neruda Pablo Neruda ( ; ; born Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto; 12 July 190423 September 1973) was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature. Neruda became known as a poet when he was 13 years old an ...
poems;
Alfonso Leng Alfonso Leng Haygus (11 February 1884 – 11 November 1974) was a post-romantic composer of European classical music, classical music. He was born in Santiago, Chile. He wrote the first important symphony, symphonic work in Chilean traditio ...
, one of the most influential Chilean classical composers with a mystic and romantic style influenced by
Wagnerian Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most ...
Post-romanticism; Luis Advis, Luis Advis Vitaglich, known by his work (Santa María de Iquique (cantata), “Cantata de Santa Maria de Iquique”); Carlos Riesco; Domingo Santa Cruz Wilson; Roberto Falabella, Roberto Falabella Correa; Nina Frick, Nina Frick Ajenjo; Carlos Isamitt; Juan Orrego-Salas; Alfonso Letelier; Gustavo Becerra-Schmidt; Sergio Ortega (composer), Sergio Ortega; Leon Schidlowsky; Leni Alexander; Fernando García (composer), Fernando García; Juan Allende-Blin; Cirilo Vila; Santiago Vera-Rivera; Andrés Alcalde; René Amengual; Próspero Bisquertt; Gabriel Brncic; Salvador Candiani; Acario Cotapos; Alejandro Guarello; Hans Helfritz; María Elena Hurtado; Tomás Lefever; Eduardo Maturana; Claudio Spies; Jorge Urrutia Blondel and Darwin Vargas, among many others. Among the most prominent conductors are Fernando Rosas Pfingsthorn, Armando Carvajal, Juan Pablo Izquierdo, Sebastián Errázuriz and Víctor Tevah. One of the best-known performers is pianist Claudio Arrau, known for his vast repertoire spanning from baroque music, baroque to 20th-century classical music, 20th-century composers, especially Ludwig van Beethoven, Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Schubert, Frédéric Chopin, Chopin, Robert Schumann, Schumann, Franz Liszt, Liszt and Johannes Brahms, Brahms. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century. Other great include Rosita Renard, Oscar Gacitúa Weston, Roberto Bravo (pianist), Roberto Bravo, Elena Waiss, Elisa Alsina, Liza Chung, Alfredo Perl and currently Valentín Trujillo (pianist), Valentín Trujillo, who has interpreted a repertoire of classical as well as popular music, and is well known for taking part in television programmes. Today, Chilean classical music has had a strong boost thanks to the efforts of the International Society for Chilean Music (SIMUC)SIMUC (www.simuc.org)
/ref> and outstanding performers such as Luis Orlandini, Eulogio Dávalos Llanos, Nicolas Emilfork, Romilio Orellana, Carlos Pérez (guitarist), Carlos Pérez, Cristián Alvear Montecino and Juan Antonio Escobar. These have had a significant influence on the work of younger composers, such as: Juan Antonio Sánchez, Antonio Restucci and Horacio Salinas, who have moved beyond their classical education to incorporate folk and fusion music.


See also

* Music of Easter Island *
New Chilean cumbia The New Chilean Cumbia also known as New Chilean Cumbia Rock (Spanish: ''Nueva cumbia chilena'', ''Nueva cumbia rock chilena'') is a subgenre of cumbia music that originated in Chile in the early 2000s and that largely surfaced in mainstream me ...
* Chilean Electronic Music * Chilean rock * Youth and Children's Orchestras Foundation of Chile * Nueva Canción Chilena


Notes


References

*Brill, Mark. Music of Latin America and the Caribbean, 2nd Edition, 2018. Taylor & Francis * Fairley, Jan. "An Uncompromising Song". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), ''World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific'', pp 362–371. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. * Samuel Claro Valdés, Jorge Urrutia Blondel, “Historia de la Musica en Chile”, Universidad de Chile, Instituto de Investigaciones Musicales, ORBE (Ed.) – Santiago, Chile, 1973.


External links


Musica de Chile (ES) - Web dedicated to Chilean music

Orgullo Nacional (ES) - Chilean music radio

Musicologia (ES) Chilean music magazine

Sociedad Chilena del Derecho de Autor (ES) (Copyright Chilean society)

Musica Popular (ES) - Chilean popular music encyclopedia

Memoria Chilena (ES) - Web dedicated to Chilean culture



Chile Culture, Arts music and Literature (ES)- Chile Cultural Society

Music of Chile - Web dedicated to promote Chilean Culture
{{DEFAULTSORT:Music Of Chile Music of Chile,