Ricercare

The piano, the salon tradition, and music education in San Juan de Pasto through the life story of the composer Javier Fajardo Chaves (1950-2011)

Diego Palacio Dávila — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 00:00:00 -0500

Javier Fajardo Chaves was a composer who led the transformation of music education at the Universidad de Nariño in Pasto, Colombia, from the University of Nariño. Biographical studies about Fajardo Chaves have pointed out the impact of his work as a composer and educator in the local context. However, these studies have not explored his early years considering the relationship between Fajardo Chaves' early musical training and his socio-cultural context. By presenting and information gathered in interviews and documentary sources, this article inquires into Fajardo Chaves' early years to study the characteristics of music education in Pasto during the mid-20th century. This three-part analysis considers Pasto's characteristics during the 1950s, the role that salon music tradition played in shaping music education for children in 1950s Pasto, and the impact that the Music School of the University of Nariño had on the musical training of the city. Ultimately, I argue that the study of Fajardo Chaves' childhood suggests that, to understand musical education in Pasto in the mid-20th century, it is necessary to consider practices that articulated the institutional and the private spheres.

“Local-color articles have utmost significance” Insights to the 19th-century salons in Bogotá

Rondy F. Torres L. — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 00:00:00 -0500

This article analyzes “Quejas al Mono de la Pila” (1859) and “El duende en un baile” (1846), two local-color texts by Juan Crisóstomo Osorio Ricaurte (1836-1887) and José Caicedo Rojas (1816-1898). Both works depict situations that contradict hegemonic notions of social distinction and elegance associated with ballroom dances, as commonly represented in musicological studies in 19th-century Colombia. Narrated from a first-person perspective, the authors describe and denounce a series of transgressions to what they understood as good manners. Ultimately, this analysis suggests that local-color literature offers a proto-ethnology that complements information available on travel accounts and iconography. Therefore, these works can extend the scope of sources and information about the diverse spaces that music opened in the 19th century, a diversity often neglected by Colombia's official narrative of music history.

Organist, lawyer, sheriff, and perpetual alderman. Study of the memorial of Luis Díaz Álvarez to the council of Santiago de Cali, 1751-1752

Carolina Abadía Quintero, María Victoria Casas Figueroa — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 00:00:00 -0500

This article analyzes the claim to be recognized as sheriff and perpetual alderman that the organist Luis Díaz de Álvarez sent to the council of Santiago de Cali in 1751-1752, a case discovered while consulting the 17th and 18th centuries documents preserved at the Cali archive. This study takes a qualitative approach, which uses documentary analysis based on the study of sources present in the AHC, the AGN, the ACC, and other documents. The theoretical foundation focuses attention on aspects of urban musicology, cultural history, and historical musicology to examine this case. The article is structured as follows: Background to the project, Santiago de Cali, in the period in which the claim occurs, The profession of an 18th-century musician in a colonial city, The memorial of Díaz Álvarez, and some final considerations.

Editorial

Juan Fernando Velásquez — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 00:00:00 -0500

Geometric and Algebraic Aspects of Neo-Riemannian and Pitch-Class Set Theory

Josué Alexis Lugos Abarca — Thu, 02 May 2024 00:00:00 -0500

In this article, a mathematical method based on lineal algebra is proposed to represent and compose harmonic progressions. First, in relation to chords and sets of notes, the mathematical concepts of the Neo-Riemannian and Pitch-Class-Set Theory are leveraged to obtain the respective equations. Second, with the formula of the distance between two points, the notes are interpreted as points in a Cartesian plane with their two-dimensional vectors. Third, these points serve as a basis for constructing polygons from the pitch-class sets. Fourth, as with notes, the triadic chords are defined as three-dimensional and four-dimensional (i.e., with four variables: x, y, z and t) vectors in seventh chords. Finally, linear transformations are introduced as a mathematical tool to express and generate harmonic progressions.

Sies piezas del album de música de Ana y Cristina Echeverría

Juan Fernando Velásquez — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 00:00:00 -0500

Reseñas biográficas

Juan Fernando Velásquez — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 00:00:00 -0500