Folk Chant: Gualíes
These chant-like songs are lullabies and romances commonly sung during the funeral services of recently deceased children. African-Colombian communities celebrate the belief that a deceased child will become an angelito (little angel). In contrast to Catholic tradition, they believe that children that die before they are older than seven or eight years old, are saved from the original sin, so their departure to the afterlife is a joyful life event.
Romances de Gualí
Manuel Zapata Olivella, Colombian Anthropologist and writer, describes romances de gualí as children's songs of Spanish heritage with the same responsorial structure of alabaos. The first stanza of the romance de gualí titled "Estaba la blanca Juana" illustrates the child-like character of the lyrics and the structural similarities with the alabao:
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Performers
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Lyrics
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Verse | Cantaora Soloist | Estaba la blanca Juana arrimada a la candela con sus dos hijas preciosas |
Cantaora Soloist and Second Solo Cantaora |
Blanca Flor y Filomena | |
Refrain | Tutti | con sus dos hijas preciosas Blanca Flor y Filomena |
Arrullos
Unlike the romance examples above (alabaos and romances de gualí), arrullos are not strictly octosyllabic. Typically they combine verses of six and eight syllables. Their stanzas are comprised of four verses presented by a soloist cantaora followed by one or two verses sung by a choir of cantaoras. "Carmela viene bajando" (Carmela is coming down) exemplifies this structure:
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Performers
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Lyrics
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Verse | Soloist | Carmela viene llegando como que viene de Roma con su vestido de brillo se lo han mojado las olas |
Refrain | Choir | se lo han mojado las olas
se lo han mojado las olas. |
Although the characteristics mentioned above are frequently found in the diverse repertoire of arrullos across the Colombian Pacific Region, other variations of poetic and formal structure are also common.
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Performers
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Lyrics
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Verse | Soloist | Se vino la luz y el brillar desde pueblo, afuera cante Esa es la avanzada que viene arrimando con la vacilante |
Refrain | Soloist | Ya llegó la virgen, Y hasta que te trajo |
Choir | Bajen los balones, súbanle los brazos. | |
Refrain | Soloist | Ya llegó la virgen, Y hasta que te trajo |
Choir | Bajen los balones, súbanle los brazos. |
In contrast to the alabaos and romances de gualí, arrullos can include instrumental accompaniment. Vocal-instrumental arrullos are performed above traditional rhythmic patterns, mainly from currulao.
Composer: 0
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"Grupo Naidy - ¡Arriba Suena Marimba! Currulao Marimba Music"
String instruments did not exist in the Peru region prior to the Spanish conquest