Violeta Parra, Singer -Songwriter, Poet And Artist

Violeta Parra, singer -songwriter, poet and artist

Violeta Parra was a singer -songwriter, poet, artist and teacher born in San Carlos, Ñuble in 1917, since childhood she sang in bars and theaters of Santiago, with her family. He lived in France for several years, where he decided to spread and exhibit his art, popularizing him. Then, when he returned to Chile, he worked with the popular culture of Chile, until his suicide in 1967. It is considered one of the great Latin American folklorists, Parra helped in the rediscovery of rural sounds, instruments and traditions of Latin America, which survived from the colony. Among the rediscovered instruments is the charango, the bread flute, the quena, among others. 

In Violeta Parra, an intention is recognized for reunitting with the experiences of interculturality of his childhood, this is demonstrated in the merger that he made between Mapuche and Hispanic musical elements, as can be evidenced, his life experiences and his vision of the world determined their formto compose and interpret songs. Parra is also recognized for the purpose of his songs: transforming the world through the word, which is why he uses his songs to perform concrete actions about the world, in addition, during his stay in Europe, he shared and exposed this way of doingart, which led to everything mentioned above crossed the Chilean borders.

Violeta Parra fundamentally influenced later musicians, groups and composers such as Víctor Jara, Quilapayún, Inti Illimani, Ángel Parra, among others.

Violeta Parra is considered a pioneer of one of the Latin American genres, called the new Chilean song, made up of the artists mentioned above, who were inspired by Violeta Parra. The members of this genre were characterized because they achieved their songs reflecting the experiences and context of the time, these artists were a fundamental part of Chilean social and political life from 1960 onwards, thus emerging a Latin American cultural identity based on musicand in its verbal content.

The gardener is one of the songs composed and interpreted by Violeta Parra, as stated above, Violeta performed concrete actions about the world to transform it through his songs. In the case of the gardener, it was composed with the aim of healing and healing itself. The lyrics of this song are about Violeta’s sadness for love affairs and the hope that he has to be able to overcome the memory of the cause of his sadness, to forget it, he proceeds to cultivate the earth, planting various plants and flowers, according toThe emotions you feel, such as sadness or passion. Finally, Violeta says that, if she came to be absent before the deceased regrets, she will inherit the flowers and will have them to go to heal with them.

As stated earlier, this composer merged elements of the Mapuche and Hispanic world, in the case of the gardener, Violeta incorporates part of the Mapuche worldview, in which Mother Earth is a central aspect of Az Mapu, the set of customs and lawsthat govern social coexistence. Mother Earth for Mapuches, can be defined as “from which it comes and to which it returns when we die, and that includes natural morphologies, climate, etc."Basically, it refers to the specific place that saw us born, not any land. To this land refers to the song, this land is what can cure its love wounds, in addition to offering them to the cause of their suffering, leaving aside the melodramatic structure that was used to following in art in the art formerly.

Taking all this into account, you can understand the context and why of the elements of the composition, as the importance that the composer gives to the land or the purpose of the composition.