The ''payada'' is a folk music tradition native to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del 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 ...

, southern

Brasil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area an ...

, and south

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

as part of the ''

Gaucho A gaucho () or gaúcho () is a skilled horseman, reputed to be brave and unruly. The figure of the gaucho is a folk symbol of Argentina, Uruguay, Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, and the south of Chilean Patagonia. Gauchos became greatly admired and ...

'' culture and

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

. In

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

it is called ''paya'' and performed by ''

huaso A huaso () is a Chilean countryman and skilled horseman, similar to the American cowboy, the Mexican charro (and its northern equivalent, the vaquero), the gaucho of Argentina, Uruguay and Rio Grande Do Sul, and the Australian stockman. ...

s''. It is a performance of improvised ten-line verse called '' décimas'' usually accompanied by guitar. The performer is called a "''payador''", albeit any guitar performer in the region is called by the same name. In performances of two or more ''payadores'' (the "''payada''"), known as ''contrapunto'', they will compete to produce the most eloquent verse, each answering questions posed by the other, often insulting. The durations of these verse duels can be exceedingly long, often many hours, and they end when one ''payador'' fails to respond immediately to his opponent. Musical styles often used in the ''payada'' are the ''cifra'', the ''huella'' and the '' milonga''.

History

The work of Bartolomé Hidalgo (born in Montevideo in 1788) is considered a precedent of this form of art in the

Río de la Plata The Río de la Plata (, "river of silver"), also called the River Plate or La Plata River in English, is the estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River at Punta Gorda. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean and fo ...

. Hidalgo is regarded as the first

gaucho A gaucho () or gaúcho () is a skilled horseman, reputed to be brave and unruly. The figure of the gaucho is a folk symbol of Argentina, Uruguay, Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, and the south of Chilean Patagonia. Gauchos became greatly admired and ...

poet. His birthdate, August 24, was established as the "Day of the Payador" in Uruguay. In

, July 23 was established as the "Day of the Payador" in commemoration of the famous payada where Juan de Nava and Gabino Ezeiza contended. This payada was held in

Paysandú Paysandú () is the capital of Paysandú Department in western Uruguay. Location The city is located on the banks of the Uruguay River, which forms the Argentina–Uruguay border, border with Argentina. It lies northwest of Montevideo via Rout ...

in 1884, and Ezeiza was proclaimed the winner with the improvisation of his famous ''Saludo a Paysandú''. A recording of this song is the only existing record of Ezeiza's voice. The first registered payador was Simón Méndez (nicknamed ''Guasquita''), a soldier who fought in the

British invasions of the River Plate The British invasions of the River Plate were two unsuccessful British attempts to seize control of areas in the Spanish colony of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata that were located around the Río de la Plata in South America – in p ...

. Both in Argentina and Uruguay, the payada is considered part of the "gauchesca" culture. Santos Vega (to whom writer Rafael Obligado dedicated his most famous poem) is considered "the" payador par excellence, with successors such as Gabino Ezeiza, José Betinoti, Carlos Molina, Abel Soria, Julio Gallego, Gabino Sosa Benítez, Cayetano Daglio, among others. The payada has also been parodied by the comedy-musical group

Les Luthiers Les Luthiers is an Argentine comedy-musical group, very popular also in several other Spanish-speaking countries including Paraguay, Guatemala, Peru, Chile, Ecuador, Spain, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay, Bolivia, Cuba, Costa Rica and Venezuela. They ...

in their ''Payada de la vaca.'' The work of Bartolomé Hidalgo, born in Montevideo in 1788, who is considered the first gaucho poet, can be found as an antecedent to the appearance of this art in the Río de la Plata. The date of his birth (August 24) was established by law as "Payador's Day" in Uruguay.

References

External links

*{{Commonscatinline, Payada Verse contests Spanish-language poems Argentine styles of music Uruguayan culture Chilean folk music Paraguayan styles of music Uruguayan styles of music Argentine poems Argentine folklore Uruguayan poems Uruguayan folklore Chilean folklore Chilean poetry Gaucho culture

History

See also

References

External links