Cumbia and vallenato

Two musics, side by side

• Cumbia mixes African drums, indigenous flutes and Spanish lyrics; it was born in the time of slavery in the coastal villages near Cartagena.
• Because enslaved people could not dance together, the woman danced with a candle in her hand and the man circled around her; the candle and the wide skirt are still part of the dance.
• Vallenato's instrument is the accordion, which arrived from Germany by ship at the end of the nineteenth century, accompanied by a caja and a guacharaca.
• Cumbia changed in each country it reached: slower in Mexico; in Argentina, cumbia villera is the music of the poor neighbourhoods.

La cumbia es la más antigua: mezcla tambores africanos, flautas indígenas y letras en español.

Cumbia is the older one: it mixes African drums, indigenous flutes and lyrics in Spanish.

Su instrumento es el acordeón, que llegó de Alemania en barco a finales del siglo diecinueve.

Its instrument is the accordion, which arrived from Germany by ship at the end of the nineteenth century.

Hoy la cumbia se oye en más países que cualquier otro ritmo latinoamericano.

Today cumbia is heard in more countries than any other Latin American rhythm.

Vallenato: sung news in need of safeguarding

The first vallenatos were news: musicians went from village to village singing what had happened. Gabriel García Márquez, who grew up in vallenato country, used to say that "One Hundred Years of Solitude" was a four-hundred-page vallenato.

In 2015 UNESCO placed traditional vallenato of the Greater Magdalena region on its List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding. The listing describes a music that fuses herding songs, the chants of enslaved Africans and the dance rhythms of the indigenous peoples of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta with Spanish poetry, in four rhythmic patterns called airs, played at festivals and at parrandas, informal gatherings of friends and family. The threats it names: the armed conflict fed by drug trafficking, a new wave of vallenato pushing the traditional kind aside, and the loss of street spaces for parrandas.

• The first vallenatos were sung news carried from village to village.
• Gabriel García Márquez used to say that "Cien años de soledad" was a four-hundred-page vallenato.
• Traditional vallenato fuses herding songs, chants of enslaved Africans and the dance rhythms of the indigenous peoples of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta with Spanish poetry; it has four rhythmic patterns, called airs, and is played at festivals and at parrandas.
• UNESCO inscribed "Traditional Vallenato music of the Greater Magdalena region" on the Urgent Safeguarding List in 2015, citing the armed conflict, a new wave of vallenato marginalising the traditional music, and the decline of street spaces for parrandas.
• Every April Valledupar holds the Festival de la Leyenda Vallenata, where the best accordion player is chosen.

Los primeros vallenatos eran noticias cantadas: los músicos iban de pueblo en pueblo contando lo que pasaba.

The first vallenatos were sung news: the musicians went from village to village telling what was happening.

Gabriel García Márquez decía que "Cien años de soledad" era un vallenato de cuatrocientas páginas.

Gabriel García Márquez used to say that "One Hundred Years of Solitude" was a four-hundred-page vallenato.

Cada abril, Valledupar celebra el Festival de la Leyenda Vallenata, donde se elige al mejor acordeonero.

Every April, Valledupar holds the Festival of the Vallenato Legend, where the best accordion player is chosen.

Words of the coast

el tambor

the drum

la flauta

the flute

la letra

the lyrics

agudo

high-pitched

raspar

to scrape

quedarse quieto

to keep still

La flauta de millo, hecha de una caña, da a la cumbia su sonido agudo.

The millo flute, made from a cane, gives cumbia its high sound.

Un colombiano de la costa, cuando oye un acordeón, no puede quedarse quieto.

A Colombian from the coast, when he hears an accordion, cannot keep still.