Quilapayún () are a
folk music
Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...
group from
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 among the longest lasting and most influential ambassadors of the ''
Nueva Canción Chilena'' movement and genre. Formed during the mid-1960s, the group became inseparable with the revolution that occurred in the popular music of the country under the
Popular Unity Government of
Salvador Allende.
Since its formation and during its forty-year history both in Chile and during its lengthy period of exile in France the group has seen modifications to its personnel lineup and the subject and content of its work. Controversy regarding irreconcilable differences with the current and former group directors led to the division into two distinctive Quilapayún ensembles; one in Chile (Quilapayún-Histórico) and one in France (Quilapayún-France).
History
Quilapayún originated in 1965 when
Julio Numhauser and the brothers Julio and
Eduardo Carrasco formed a folk music trio, which they simply called "the three bearded men" (viz. ''Quila-Payún'') in the
Mapuche
The Mapuche ( , ) also known as Araucanians are a group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging e ...
language (viz.
Mapudungun – the language of the people native to the region that is now the south 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 ...
, the
Araucanians). Their first public performances were at the
Universidad de Chile in
Valparaíso, organized by their first musical director,
Ángel Parra (son of
Violeta Parra).
In 1966 the group won notice for its
Andean music as well as the members' black
poncho
A poncho (; ; ; "blanket", "woolen fabric") is a kind of plainly formed, loose outer garment originating in the Americas, traditionally and still usually made of fabric, and designed to keep the body warm. Ponchos have been used by the Indige ...
s, which became the group's trademark. During this time they won their first prize, La Guitarra de Oro (The Golden Guitar) in the Primer Festival Nacional del Folklore "Chile Múltiple" (First National Festival of Folklore). They also made their first recording, appearing on one song of
Ángel Parra, "El Pueblo" ("The People").
At a 1966 performance in Valparaíso, the group met with
Víctor Jara, with whom the group maintained a close and productive artistic association for many years. At the request of the group, Jara became Quilapayún's musical director and worked on the group's discipline and stage performances, and the style and content of the music. Jara presented them to the record label
Odeon Records, where they recorded five LPs. Their first album, ''
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 ...
'', was basically an
Andean music album, but included songs of
Ángel Parra, Víctor Jara and new compositions of
Eduardo Carrasco such as "La Paloma" and "El canto del
cuculi".
In 1967 Quilapayún recorded an album together with Víctor Jara, ''
Canciones folklóricas de América'' (''Folk Songs of America''). During this time Julio Numhauser left the group over disputes over the group's style of music, and was replaced by
Guillermo "Willy" Oddó. During 1967 they also toured the USSR, Italy, France and other parts of Europe, and recorded an LP with the Chilean painter and poet Juan Capra.
In 1968, Quilapayún participated in the launch of a new record label of ''La Jota'' (
Chile's Communist Party Youth Organization). To the surprise of many commercial record labels, their LP ''
X Vietnam'', which included songs from the
Spanish Revolution, became a nationwide success. This album established the group's thematic and aesthetics, and created great interest and a following among progressive youth. From the success of this album the label DICAP (Discoteca del Cantar Popular) appeared, which became the springboard of the ''Nueva Canción Chilena'' (New Chilean Song) movement. DICAP recorded up to 60 musical productions until the
military coup of September 11, 1973, which banned and literally destroyed the record label.
During 1968 Julio Carrasco left the group for political differences, and was replaced by Hernan Gomez. At that time they performed at various universities, and made, with Victor Jara, their first two-hour show during two days in Santiago, which was a tremendous success.
In 1969 they recorded the ''
Basta'' LP, which included an eclectic and highly political collection of songs from different parts of the world, establishing the fundamental element of the New Chilean Song: its
Internationalism. This album was released with a lengthy statement by the group about the nature of their work and their commitment to the socialist cause. Rodolfo Parada joined the group at this time.
In 1969 they also appeared supporting Víctor Jara on his album, ''
Pongo en tus manos abiertas'' (''Into your open hands'') in songs such as "A
Cochabamba
Cochabamba (; ) is a city and municipality in central Bolivia in a valley in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital (political), capital of the Cochabamba Department and the list of cities in Bolivia, fourth largest city in Bolivia, with ...
Me Voy", "El Martillo" and "Movil Oil Special". They also joined Jara at the ''Primer Festival de la Nueva Cancion Chilena'' (First Festival of the New Chilean Song), where they jointly interpreted "Plegaria a un Labrador" (Prayer to a Laborer), which won the festival award. After three years Víctor Jara and Quilapayún took different paths, and
Eduardo Carrasco became the group's director.
Quilapayún was forced into exile in France after the right-wing military coup of 1973. The group settled in the city of Colombes, France, for more than 15 years. Their major works include ''
Santa María de Iquique'' (1970), an album of spoken history, songs, and instrumentals about a notorious massacre in the city of
Iquique, and the song "
El pueblo unido jamás será vencido" ("The people, united, will never be defeated"), with lyrics by Quilapayún and music by famed Chilean songwriter and playwright
Sergio Ortega.
Split
Quilapayún's path has been marked by internal issues over the years, with some members leaving and others taking their place. In 1987 Willy Oddo, its most charismatic member, decided to leave France to be closer to Chile. He chose to live in Argentina. In October 1988, Pinochet was overthrown by a referendum. After 15 years of exile Quilapayun could return to Chile and performed tours in 1988, 1989, 1991 and 1992. In 1989 Eduardo Carrasco returned to Chile while most of the group continued to live in France and perform around the world. In November 1991 Willy Oddo was murdered by an offender in Santiago.
After Rodolfo Parada registered the name "Quilapayún" without the authorization of the other members, other historic members refused to continue with Parada and Wang, resulting in the group splitting into two, both claiming the name and legacy of Quilapayún, and leading to subsequent litigation. The Chile-based historic faction is celebrating the group's 40 year anniversary performing concerts in Chile, Latin America and Europe, together with the "historic" version of
Inti-Illimani, another important Chilean group. These joint concerts have been advertised and promoted as
Inti+Quila. The current "historic" lineup includes Eduardo Carrasco, Rubén Escudero, Ricardo Venegas, Guillermo García, Ismael Oddó (son of
Guillermo "Willy" Oddó), Hugo Lagos, Hernán Gómez, Carlos Quezada and Sebastián Quezada (son of Carlos).
On December 5, 2007, the
Court of Appeal of Paris forbade Parada and Wang's group "from making use of the name QUILAPAYÚN, subject to a fine of 10 000 euros per infringement". This judgement was confirmed by the Highest Court of Appeal (Cour de Cassation de Paris) on June 11, 2009. In 2015 the band's career reached its fiftieth year and both factions celebrated this anniversary. Parada's group performed three big shows at the end August in Santiago, together with other well-known Chilean artists while the "historic" faction made a big concert in front of Palacio de la Moneda in Santiago and announced several other anniversary concerts in Chile, Colombia and Spain on its website. In November 2015, the Chilean trademark conflict ended, since the Instituto Nacional de Patentes Industriales (INAPI), after a thirteen years process gave the exclusive right for using the mark "Quilapayun" to the group headed by Carrasco.
[http://ion.inapi.cl:8080/Marca/BuscarMarca.aspx Register number: 1185441]
Notable members
*
Eduardo Carrasco: wind instruments (
quena,
pincuyo,
zampoña etc.); voice:
bass
* Carlos Quezada: percussion instruments, guitar; voice:
tenor
A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...
*
Guillermo "Willy" Oddó: guitar, percussion instruments; voice: baritenor (died in 1991)
* Hernán Gomez: guitar,
charango; voice:
bass-baritone.
* Hugo Lagos: string instruments, quena, zampoña; voice:
baritone
A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...
* Guillermo García: guitar, percussion instruments; voice: baritone
* Ricardo Venegas Carhart: bass guitar, quena, baritone
*
Victor Jara (murdered by Pinochet military, Sept. 16, 1973)
Discography
Studio albums
* ''
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 ...
'' (1966)
* ''
Canciones folklóricas de América'' (1967) (Quilapayún &
Víctor Jara)
* ''
X Vietnam'' (1968)
* ''Quilapayún Tres'' (1968)
* ''
Basta'' (1969)
* ''Quilapayún Cuatro'' (1970)
* ''
Cantata Santa María de Iquique'' (1970) (Quilapayún & Héctor Duvauchelle)
* ''Vivir como él'' (1971)
* ''Quilapayún Cinco'' (1972)
* ''La Fragua'' (1973) (text and music by
Sergio Ortega)
* ''El pueblo unido jamás será vencido (Yhtenäistä Kansaa Ei Voi)'' (1974)
* ''
El Pueblo Unido Jamás Será Vencido'' (1975)
* ''Adelante'' (1975)
* ''
Patria'' (1976)
* ''La marche et le drapeau'' (1977)
* ''
Hart voor Chili'' (various artists) (1977)
* ''Cantata Santa María de Iquique (Nueva versión)'' (1978) (Quilapayún &
Jean-Louis Barrault)
* ''Umbral'' (1979)
* ''Darle al otoño un golpe de ventana...'' (1980)
* ''La revolución y las estrellas'' (1982)
* ''Tralalí Tralalá'' (1984)
* ''Survarío'' (1987)
* ''Los tres tiempos de América'' (1988) (Quilapayún +
Paloma San Basilio)
* ''Latitudes'' (1992)
* ''Al horizonte'' (1999)
* ''Siempre'' (2007)
* ''Solistas'' (2009)
* ''Encuentros'' (2013)
Live albums
* ''Enregistrement public'' (1977)
* ''Alentours'' (1980)
* ''Quilapayún en Argentina'' (1983) (Live in Argentina)
* ''Quilapayún en Argentina Vol II'' (1985) (Live in Argentina Vol. II)
* ''Quilapayún en Chile'' (1989) (Live in Chile)
* ''A Palau'' (2003)
* ''El Reencuentro'' (2004)
* ''Musica en la Memoria - Juntos en Chile'' (2005) (
Inti-Illimani + Quilapayún)
Compilations
* ''
Quilapayún Chante Neruda'' (1983)
* ''Antología 1968-1992'' (1998)
* ''La vida contra la muerte''
ife against death(2005)
* ''La fuerza de la historia''
he force of history(2006)
References and other sources
Section: Historia / 1965-1970 / Los Orígenesof www.quilapayun.org 2006
Section: Discografía de Quilapayúnof www.trovadores.net 2006
External links
* http://www.quilapayun.com
Resources in Spanish
Quilapayún (official website of Chile faction
Nueva Cancion Chilena Singers discography - Inter aliaLetras/Textos- songs of Quilapayún dedicated to
Ernesto Che Guevara
Resources in English
Eye For Talent - The Best in World Music''Chile: The Siege of Santa Maria de Iquique - A People's Cantata''at
Smithsonian Folkways
Art depictions of Jara
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quilapayun
Andean music
Chilean folk musical groups
Latin music groups
Musical groups established in 1965
Nueva canción musicians
1965 establishments in Chile