MUSIC
GUARANIA
Guarania is a form of Paraguayan song created by the musician Jose Asuncion Flores in 1925. Since its appearance, Guarania constitutes a major phenomenon for the music of Paraguay in the twentieth century.
POLCA
Polca is a form of dance and song of rapid and rhythmic movement. Its name derives from the European Polka but its rhythm, melody, harmony and contrapuntal characteristics are different. The Paraguayan Polca combines ternary rhythms with binary and syncopated rhythms while the European Polka is a binary rhythm.
PARAGUAYAN SONG
Music derived from the Paraguayan Polca, differentiating itself from it by its slow and rhythmic movement. Generally, the lyrics are in Guarani, Spanish or Jopara (combination of Guarani and Spanish).
ZARZUELA (Spanish Operetta)
This is a musical comedy about national folklore. Towards the beginning of the 1970's, zarzuela was losing popularity due to the drop in quality of the librettos, the music and above all, the mediocre level of the productions. It has now disappeared over the last few years.
RASGUIDO DOBLE
Type of Paraguayan song derived from the Habanera. Its name rasguido comes from the strumming of the guitar and doble (double) for the number of strokes executed by the right hand every two beats.
PARAGUAYAN HARP
This instrument originates from the harp introduced by the Jesuits in the 17th Century. The earliest reference dates back to 1637, reported by Father Ripario.
Source: Musica en el Paraguay
© Centro Educativo Sagrado Corazón de Jesús
Translations and editing by: JoAnn Arbore Mainardi
