Argentina: Tritonic Musics of the North-West

The early peoples of Andean northwest Argentina lost many of their cultural traits in the course of occupation by the Incas and colonization by the Spanish. But in vocal and instrumental music, they conserved the pre-Columbian tritonic system. The songs here, sung in Spanish, are striking in their indigenous character. The musical instrumentation consists of one or more cajas, a type of hand-held drum, and two types of horns, the erque and the erquencho. The large erque is traditionally made of sections of interlocking reed with a lateral mouthpiece and is typically played during the winter months.The erquencho, a rustic clarinet, is played during the summer months. The music was recorded during the annual carnival season in the summer months of 1988, and is reflective of the type of music performed at that time of year. The liner notes, in English and French, provide geographic and ethnographic background and detailed musicological information. This album is part of the UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music.

Track Listing

101	Misachico	Esteban Sajama	01:48
102	Toque quebradeño	Domingo Sajama	02:02
103	Toque abrapampeño	Mario Mendoza	02:00
104	Toque vallista de Iruya	Mario Mendoza	02:24
105	Tonada de carnaval	Juana Francisca Siares	08:19
106	Contrapunto	Doña Agueda de Callata and a guest of the Cuevas family	05:39
107	Coplas del abrapampeño	Unidentified singer from Abra Pampa, province of Jujuy	01:17
108	Coplas de carnaval	José Mendoza's family and guests	09:59
109	Tonada "Chañar caído"	Rosa Guanco	03:35
110	Tonada "La flor de Tafí"	Isidora Alvarez de Guanco	02:13
111	Tonada "Qué haré con llorar" and Arribeñas	Rosa Guanco	03:32
112	Tonada "Aquí he venido" and Arribeña "Palomita carcelera"	Rosa Guanco	04:32
113	Arribeñas	Isidora Alvarez de Guanco	01:45
114	Tonada "Tafí del Valle"	Rosa Guanco	04:14
115	Tonada "Ya me voy"	Rosa Guanco, Isidora Alvarez de Guanco	04:20
116	Bagualas carnavaleras	Vicenta Viñabal, Celestino Meriles, Marta Maria Taritolay, Calixto Cardoza, Leucatia Cardoza, Gabino Diaz	10:20