Culture
Living culture
A bilingual country where Guaraní is spoken on the street, on the radio and at home. Ñandutí lace, harp, polka and guarania, myths still told and festivals handed down.
Instrument
Paraguayan harp
It usually has 36 strings, though there are versions with anywhere from 32 to 43; it is made entirely of wood and has no pedals, so the tuning is diatonic. It is played seated, and the great harpists pull off effects that imitate birds, trains or waterfalls. Together with the guitar it is the backbone of the polka and the guarania, and you'll hear it at festivals, restaurants and serenades.
June 9 is National Paraguayan Harp Day, the anniversary of the death of Félix Pérez Cardozo, whose hometown was declared the 'National Cradle of the Paraguayan Harp'. In Guaraní it is called Paraguái ysapu. It is the country's national instrument and arose when Guaraní musicians reshaped the European harp that the Jesuits had brought to the missions in the late 17th century.
Listen to: Harp versions of 'Pájaro campana' and 'Tren lechero'; recordings by Félix Pérez Cardozo, Luis Bordón, Digno García and Nicolás Caballero.
Genre
Paraguayan polka
Despite the name, it has little to do with the European polka. Its hallmark is that the melody moves in two beats while the accompaniment marks three, creating an unmistakable sway. It was born on harp and guitar and branched out into the polca canción (song-polka), kyre'ỹ, syryry and the electronic polka, or jahe'o, of country dances. Today it is also fused with rock and jazz.
Under Law 4366/2011, September 15 is Paraguayan Polka Day; the date marks the anniversary of the deaths of both Luis Alberto del Paraná and Emiliano R. Fernández. The first written mention of Paraguayans dancing their own polka dates from 27 November 1858, in the newspaper El Semanario. Over the years variants appeared such as the galopa, the popó, the jekutu and the polca correntina.
Listen to: 'Galopera', 'Pájaro campana', 'Campamento Cerro León' and 'Carreta guy', among the oldest and best-known polkas.
Genre
Guarania
The guarania is a slow-tempo vocal and instrumental genre, almost always in a minor key, that allows for long, expressive melodic lines. Flores took the name from the poem 'Canto a la raza' by Guillermo Molinas Rolón. It is sung in Guaraní and Spanish, with guitar, harp or full orchestra, and it is the music of nostalgia and love for the homeland. Its roots lie in the purahéi asy ('sorrowful song' in Guaraní), a slow, melancholic rural song that was common across the countryside.
From the 1940s on, the guarania became hugely popular in Brazil, where the duo Cascatinha e Inhana scored a big hit with 'Índia' in Portuguese.
Listen to: 'India', 'Nde rendápe aju', 'Recuerdos de Ypacaraí', 'Mis noches sin ti' and 'Panambi verá'.
Dance
Galopa and the galoperas
At many patron-saint festivals, a popular brass-and-percussion band plays galopas while the galoperas dance in a circle, sometimes balancing a clay jug or a bottle on their heads, fulfilling promises made to the saint or the Virgin. That tradition gave rise to 'Galopera', Mauricio Cardozo Ocampo's polka that became an international classic of the Paraguayan repertoire.
The stage galopera, dressed in ao po'i and wearing an ornamental comb, is the most widespread image of Paraguayan dance abroad.
Listen to: 'Galopera' (Mauricio Cardozo Ocampo) and recordings of koygua (village) bands at patron-saint festivals.
Dance
Bottle dance
Its origin is uncertain: one theory traces it to the galopa, which was danced with clay jugs on the head. The dancer performs the basic steps, spins and crouches while balancing one, two or even ten or more bottles stacked on her head. You'll see it at folk shows, dinner shows in Asunción and festivals around the country, accompanied by harp and guitar to a polka or galopa beat.
There's no fixed number of bottles: it can be anywhere from one to ten or more, depending on the dancer's skill. The bottles often wear a tricolour ribbon recalling the Paraguayan flag, or are decorated with flowers.
Listen to: 'Galopera' and other fast polkas usually accompany the act; look for a folk ballet show.
Artist
Agustín Pío Barrios 'Mangoré'
A composer and concert performer, he wrote more than 300 works that blend European technique with Latin American airs, such as 'La catedral', 'Las abejas', 'Julia Florida', 'Danza paraguaya' and 'Una limosna por el amor de Dios'. He toured the Americas and Europe and died in El Salvador, where he spent his final years. Today his music is essential repertoire for classical guitarists worldwide.
In 1932 he performed in Bahia, Brazil, as 'Nitsuga Mangoré': Nitsuga is Agustín spelled backwards, and Mangoré was a legendary Guaraní chief. He is considered the first classical guitarist to make commercial recordings on 78 rpm records.
Listen to: 'La catedral', 'Una limosna por el amor de Dios' and 'Danza paraguaya', in recordings by Berta Rojas or John Williams.
Artist
José Asunción Flores
He was born in the Ricardo Brugada neighborhood — Asunción's Chacarita — worked as a shoeshine boy and at 12 joined the Police Band, where he trained as a musician. In 1925 he created the guarania, and with the poet Manuel Ortiz Guerrero he composed timeless works. His political activism sent him into exile, and he died in Buenos Aires; his remains returned to Paraguay in 1991.
On July 24, 1944, the Paraguayan government declared his guarania 'India' the 'national song'. His remains rest in Asunción, in the Manuel Ortiz Guerrero–José Asunción Flores square.
Listen to: 'India', 'Nde rendápe aju', 'Panambi verá' and 'Kerasy'.
Artist
Félix Pérez Cardozo
Born in Hyaty, in the Guairá department, he expanded the harp's technical possibilities: more strings, independent hands and new effects. He found success in the River Plate region and composed pieces such as 'Tren lechero', 'Llegada' and 'El arriero', as well as his celebrated version of 'Pájaro campana'. He died of a heart attack at his home in Buenos Aires on June 9, 1952, at the age of 43.
His hometown was renamed Félix Pérez Cardozo, and the Argentine folk singer Atahualpa Yupanqui dedicated the 'Canción del arpa dormida' to him, with music by Herminio Giménez.
Listen to: 'Tren lechero', 'Llegada' and 'Pájaro campana'.
Work
Pájaro campana (The Bellbird)
It is one of the most-performed Paraguayan pieces at home and abroad: the harp reproduces the metallic clang of the bare-throated bellbird (Procnias nudicollis) with trills, strikes and glissandos that put the performer to the test. It's a showpiece at any harp concert and a staple of peñas (folk music venues) and dinner shows. It is also known in Guaraní as Guyra campana.
Félix Pérez Cardozo made it famous with his harp version (listed among his works as 'Guyra campana'). The bellbird has been the national bird since 2004.
Listen to: Versions by Félix Pérez Cardozo and by Luis Alberto del Paraná y Los Paraguayos.
Work
Recuerdos de Ypacaraí (Memories of Ypacaraí)
With music by Demetrio Ortiz (sketched in 1948) and lyrics by the Argentine Zulema de Mirkin, it tells of a summer romance by the lake that never returned. It was inspired by the composer's encounter with a young woman in San Bernardino. It premiered in 1951 and has been recorded by Julio Iglesias, Mercedes Sosa, Caetano Veloso, Javier Solís and Jorge Drexler, among many others. According to Ortiz's biography, he composed it in 1948 while performing in Córdoba (Argentina) as a guitarist in Félix Pérez Cardozo's ensemble.
The lyrics use the Guaraní word kuñataĩ, 'young woman'. Julio Iglesias sang it in Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese.
Listen to: Versions by Los Cuatro Hermanos Silva, Luis Alberto del Paraná, Julio Iglesias and Caetano Veloso.
Work
India
With music by José Asunción Flores and lyrics by the Villarrica-born poet Manuel Ortiz Guerrero, 'India' sings the beauty of a Guaraní woman through images of forest and river. It is one of the most solemn and beloved pieces in the repertoire: you'll hear it at official ceremonies, at festivals and in the voices of the great performers from Paraguay and abroad.
It was declared Paraguay's national song in 1944.
Listen to: Versions by Luis Alberto del Paraná y Los Paraguayos; choral and orchestral arrangements also exist.
Work
Mis noches sin ti (My Nights Without You)
Demetrio Ortiz, born in Piribebuy, composed it in February 1943 in Concepción and called it his 'first traveling guarania'. He dedicated it to his mother, whom he adored and who died in 1946. Its nostalgic melody made it a classic of Latin American song, recorded by countless performers.
Demetrio Ortiz also wrote the music for 'Recuerdos de Ypacaraí'.
Listen to: Versions by Luis Alberto del Paraná y Los Paraguayos and by Latin American bolero singers.
Ensemble
Recycled Orchestra of Cateura
It was born in Cateura, the neighborhood surrounding Asunción's largest landfill, from a music school set up in 2007 within a recycling project where environmental technician Favio Chávez had been working since 2006. Luthier Nicolás 'Colá' Gómez, a former waste picker, builds violins, cellos and guitars from cans, pipes and scrap. The documentary 'Landfill Harmonic' made it famous and took it to stages in Europe, North America and Asia.
In March 2014 it opened for Metallica on the band's South American tour.
Listen to: The documentary 'Landfill Harmonic' and videos of the orchestra playing classical and Paraguayan music.
Ensemble
Luis Alberto del Paraná y Los Paraguayos
Luis Alberto del Paraná (Altos, 1926 – London, 1974) formed the Trío Los Paraguayos in 1953 with Digno García and Agustín Barboza, and later the group Los Paraguayos with his brother Reynaldo Meza, Rubito Medina and harpist José de los Santos González. Paraná recorded more than 500 songs and performed in over 70 countries, from the Olympia in Paris to the London Palladium and Madison Square Garden, carrying polkas, guaranias and boleros around the globe.
On November 4, 1963, he performed at the Royal Variety Performance in London — the same night as the Beatles.
Listen to: His versions of 'India', 'Recuerdos de Ypacaraí', 'Pájaro campana' and 'Galopera'.
Artist
Berta Rojas
A concert performer and teacher, she has taken Mangoré's work and Paraguayan music to concert halls around the world and collaborated with musicians such as Paquito D'Rivera. In 2022 she won the Latin Grammy for Best Classical Album with 'Legado', after three previous nominations. Her tours and educational projects bring the guitar to new audiences.
'Legado' also won the Latin Grammy for Best Contemporary Classical Composition for 'Anido's Portrait', written by Sergio Assad.
Listen to: 'Legado' (2022) and her recordings of works by Agustín Pío Barrios.
Genre
Paraguayan rock, pop and fusion today
Paraguayan rock grew after the return to democracy in 1989. In the 2000s Paiko scored a hit with a rock version of 'Kurusu vera', and bands such as Salamandra, Revolber, Flou and Ese Ka'a packed venues; La Secreta fused the polka's 6/8 with rock. Kchiporros (Asunción, 2006) mixes ska, cumbia and pop, and the indie scene has grown with EEEKS and other groups. Before that, in the late 1960s, beat groups such as Los Rebeldes, Los Blue Caps and the duo IODI made the first Paraguayan rock records, and in 1983 Pro Rock Ensamble released 'Música para los perros', the first full-length album by a clearly rock-oriented Paraguayan band.
In 2025 Kchiporros released the album 'Todo el mundo está kaliente!' and tours Latin America and Europe.
Listen to: Kchiporros ('Los ojos rojos'), Paiko ('Kurusu vera'), Flou, Revolber and La Secreta.
Genre
Purahéi asy y purahéi jahe'o
Purahéi means 'song' in Guaraní, and purahéi asy is the 'sorrowful song': a slow, heartfelt tune sung in rural Paraguay long before the guarania existed. Music writers trace the guarania back to this tradition. In everyday speech, this kind of plaintive song is sometimes called, a bit mockingly, purahéi jahe'o ('crying song').
A present-day Paraguayan jazz and soul band chose the name Purahéi Soul: 'song' in Guaraní plus 'soul' in English.
Listen to: Listen to classic guaranias sung in Guaraní and notice how the slow melody and plaintive voice come from this tradition.
Genre
Kyre'ỹ
The kyre'ỹ (also spelled kyre'y) is one of the Paraguayan polka's variants, traditionally played on guitars and harps. Scholars describe it as close to the polka and the galop in form, but carrying the expressive stamp of the guarania; the literature ties it to José Asunción Flores. It lives alongside other polka variants such as the galopa, the polca syryry or the popo.
Sources spell it two ways, kyre'y and kyre'ỹ; this guide uses the nasal-tilde spelling.
Listen to: Ask a harpist to play a polka and then a kyre'ỹ back to back: the difference is in the pulse and the more soulful feel of the second.
Genre
Variantes de la polca paraguaya
The Paraguayan polka mixes binary and ternary rhythms, which is where its distinctive swing comes from. Over time it branched into several variants: the galopa, the kyre'ỹ, the syryry, the popo, the saraki, the jekutu and the correntina, among others. They share a base rhythmic pattern but differ in tempo, mood and style depending on the composer. There is also the sung 'polka canción', and for decades an electronic version played on synthesizers that is very popular in the countryside.
The typical meter of the Paraguayan polka is 6/8, a pulse found across the music of the river-plate littoral and much of Latin America.
Listen to: Listen to a galopa, a polka song and an instrumental harp polka to hear the differences within the same family.
Genre
Compuesto
The compuesto is a style of sung storytelling: it recounts real or invented events with deep feeling. Among the best known are the ballads about Pancha Garmendia or about Emilio and Lucía, spread by the 'compuesteros' of Carapeguá. It is an oral tradition that works as popular chronicle, and is often associated with the rasguido doble.
Herminio Giménez, one of Paraguay's great composers, wrote a piece dedicated to Panchita Garmendia.
Listen to: Ask a local guitarist to sing you a compuesto: the fun lies in following the story verse by verse.
Genre
Rasguido doble
The rasguido doble (also called sobrepaso) is a lively, exuberant musical style and dance with Afro-American influence, belonging to Paraguayan and river-plate folk music. It is often mistaken for the chamamé, but the two are distinct styles. According to the literature, the first to become popular was 'Rojas Silva rekávo', written by Emiliano R. Fernández in 1927; other famous rasguidos include 'Despierta mi Angelina' and 'Flor de caña'. In northeast Argentina, 'El rancho 'e la Cambicha' from the 1940s became a hit.
'Rojas Silva rekávo' is sung in Guaraní and rallies Paraguayans; it is the piece usually cited as the first known rasguido doble.
Listen to: 'Rojas Silva rekávo', 'Despierta mi Angelina' and 'Flor de caña' in guitar and harp versions.
Genre
El chamamé en Paraguay
The chamamé is a music and dance from Corrientes and northeast Argentina, inscribed by UNESCO in 2020 as Intangible Cultural Heritage at Argentina's request. It is also played in Paraguay, southern Brazil and northwest Uruguay. Its origin is debated: the strongest theory ties it to Guaraní tradition, blended with the influences of the European immigrants of the littoral. In Paraguay it lives alongside the polka and the rasguido doble, sharing a borderland feel with them.
The sharp cry called sapukái, typical of the chamamé, comes from a Guaraní word meaning 'to shout'.
Listen to: Keep your ears open at festivals in the south and the river littoral, where chamamé and rasguido doble are played.
Genre
La avanzada
The avanzada is a folk-inspired genre created by composer and arranger Oscar Nelson Safuán. It grew out of a fusion of the Paraguayan polka and the guarania, with influences from bossa nova and the ballad. Safuán researched the idea from 1974 and presented it in Asunción in 1977 with 'Tema paraguayo'. In his own words it is neither polka nor guarania but a new rhythm born from both. It won important supporters, and also critics among traditionalists.
Safuán discovered bossa nova during his years in Brazil and wondered why Paraguayans could not also invent a new rhythm.
Listen to: 'Tema paraguayo' and Safuán's 'Nacionales', to hear a polka passed through bossa nova.
Genre
Nuevo Cancionero paraguayo
The Nuevo Cancionero was a singer-songwriter movement, inspired by similar currents across Latin America, that brought lyrics about poverty, struggle and oppression into Paraguayan music during the dictatorship. It was led by Maneco Galeano, Ricardo Flecha and Alberto Rodas, and groups such as Juglares, Sembrador and Ñamandú sang its songs. It is remembered today as one form of cultural resistance in those years; Maneco Galeano's 'Despertar' and 'Soy de la chacarita' are classics of the movement.
Its leading figure, Maneco Galeano, died at the age of 35, in 1980.
Listen to: 'Despertar' and 'Soy de la chacarita' by Maneco Galeano.
Genre
Rock paraguayo: del beat de los 60 al primer LP
In the mid-1960s Paraguayan beat-rock bands appeared. Los Rebeldes recorded a four-song record in 1968–1969 before moving to Brazil; Los Blue Caps, signed to a major label, settled in Argentina and recorded three EPs between 1969 and 1971; the duo IODI also signed with a big label. The first rock LP recorded in the country was 'Música para los perros' by Pro Rock Ensamble, launched on 23 November 1983. After 1989 the scene multiplied, and since the 1950s there were also dance orchestras and jazz ensembles.
Jazz has its own date in Asunción: every year the city marks International Jazz Day.
Listen to: Look for 'Música para los perros' to hear Paraguayan rock of the 1980s.
Instrument
Takuapu (bastón de ritmo)
The takuapu (or tacuapú) is a 'rhythm staff' of the Guaraní peoples: a piece of takuara cane up to two meters long, hollow and sealed at the lower end. It is held at the middle and dropped against the ground, producing a deep sound that carries far. Pebbles are sometimes added so it also works as a rattle. Traditionally it is played only by women, and its sound carries ritual symbolism.
The name joins takua (a kind of cane) and pu (sound): 'cane that sounds'.
Listen to: You will hear it at ceremonies and gatherings of Guaraní communities; out of respect, ask permission before recording or photographing.
Instrument
Mimby (flautas guaraníes)
Among the Guaraní, mimby is the name for flutes. They are made of cane, bone or horn, are blown against an edge and have at most five holes, not always arranged to Western scales. There are the mimby guasu (large), the mimby tarará (trumpet-type) and the mimby chu'e (turtle-type), plus panpipes of three or four canes. It is usually a solo instrument, not played in special ceremonies.
Kuarahy mimby, 'the flute of the sun', is also the Guaraní name of the whistling heron, and the title of a 1944 symphonic poem by Juan Carlos Moreno González.
Listen to: Look for the symphonic poem 'Kuarahy mimby' to hear how a Paraguayan composer transformed the sound of these flutes.
Instrument
Mbaraka y sonajas
The gourd rattle is made by filling a gourd with pebbles or seeds and fitting a wooden handle. It accompanies songs and dances and has sacred value: it is a ritual instrument of shamans. It is used among the Mbya, Paĩ Tavyterã, Chiripá, Maká and Mataco peoples, among others. Rattles are also made of deer or peccary hooves strung on a cord, worn at wrists or ankles, and used in female puberty ceremonies. In Guaraní, mbaraka is the word used for this kind of rattle, and also for the guitar.
Gourd rattles produce simple rhythmic figures that 'prepare' the accent of the music rather than keep a fixed beat.
Listen to: Listen for it at gatherings and festivals of Indigenous peoples, always as a respectful guest.
Instrument
Guitarra paraguaya
The guitar arrived with the Spanish and spread in the Jesuit missions alongside the harp and violin. In Paraguay it became the accompaniment for nearly all popular music: polkas, guaranias, compuestos and serenades. In the 20th century a Paraguayan guitar school emerged, driven by Gustavo Sosa Escalada, and classical guitar reached world fame through Agustín Pío Barrios 'Mangoré', called 'the Paganini of the guitar of the Paraguayan jungle'. Luque has a tradition of building guitars and harps.
In Guaraní the guitar is also called mbaraka.
Listen to: Pair a guitar-and-harp polka with a classical guitar piece by Mangoré to see the two worlds of the instrument.
Dance
Santa Fe o cielito chopí
The cielito chopí, known in Argentina as Santa Fe, is a dance for loose couples with its own music. Its name comes from the chopí, a common bird called 'tordo' in Spanish, recognizable by its song. A descendant of the contradanza and the cielito, like the pericón and the quadrille, it was widely danced in the López era and during the Great War, even in the camps. Today folk-dance groups keep it alive.
During the Great War, dances were organized in the camps to keep spirits up; the chopí was among the most popular.
Listen to: Ask to watch a folk-dance show at a festival or cultural center; the chopí is often on the program.
Dance
Golondriana
The golondriana is a dance for loose or independent couples. Its name comes from the swallow, whose flight the gentle movements try to imitate. It has its own music with varied rhythms, and two very similar versions survive, sharing the same parts of the original structure. It was one of the most practiced dances of the 19th century, together with the Londón karapé, the polka and the mazurka.
The contradanza brought many ballroom dances to Paraguay, and the people adapted them until they felt entirely their own.
Listen to: Watch folk performances: the golondriana is recognizable by its soft turns.
Dance
Londón karapé
The Londón karapé is a couples' dance with its own music, with two choreographic and musical versions. One popular explanation of the name links it to the squatting move in its choreography and a Guaraní expression associated with partying. Some of the music used was collected by Juan Max Boettner and Julián Rejala. It was danced in the ballrooms of the López era and in the camps of the Great War.
In the literature, 'London Karape' is listed among the oldest polkas in the Paraguayan repertoire.
Listen to: Look for 'London Karape' in harp and guitar recordings.
Dance
Valseado o polca valseada
The valseado is the polka danced with a smooth body movement to slow music. The choreography has seven parts: bow, waltz (men only), molinete, mazurka in a circle, slow waltz, the men's waltz, and a final bow. In the last turn only the women spin, while the men walk to their partners and bow on one knee as a closing salute.
It is danced to slow music, unlike the polka, which is fast, lively and cheerful.
Listen to: A good chance to see it is at a dance festival or a patron-saint party with dancing.
Dance
Pericón y cielito en el Paraguay
The pericón is a folk dance for a group of eight loose, interdependent couples, danced in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay; some authors see it as an evolution of the cielito. The cielito, in turn, is a traditional river-plate dance that served as song and dance in the Independence era. In Paraguay, the English contradance reached via Spain influenced the formation of several dances, among them the pericón, the quadrille, the cielito and the chopí.
The first references to the pericón date to 1794.
Listen to: It appears in the folk-dance repertoires of schools and festivals.
Dance
Danzas de salón de la época de los López
Under the Lópezes, European engineers, architects and artists came to Asunción, and with them the fashion for ballroom dances. Madame Lynch, partner of Marshal López, promoted these dances at the Club Nacional: lancers, quadrille, contradanza, londón, palomita, waltz, mazurka and polka were danced. Over time the people adopted them with modifications and folded them into the popular repertoire. The palomita already appears in Luis Cavedagni's 'Álbum de los Toques más Populares del Paraguay' (1887).
That 1887 album, published in Buenos Aires, is the oldest printed music edition in the country's history.
Listen to: Some of these pieces remain in the repertoire of bands and dance groups.
Work
Galopera
'Galopera' is a composition by Mauricio Cardozo Ocampo, a central figure of Paraguayan music's 'golden generation'. According to his biography, it ranks among the three most widely circulated works in the entire history of Paraguayan music. Its lively rhythm evokes the galopa dance, in which dancers balance jugs or bottles on their heads.
In southern Brazil and Argentina the 'galopa' has its own versions (galopera, galopa misionera).
Listen to: Look for 'Galopera' in harp versions: it often closes folk repertoires.
Work
Paraguaya linda
'Paraguaya linda' is among the best-known works of Mauricio Cardozo Ocampo, an author of over three hundred folk-inspired compositions on Paraguayan rhythms. His work stands out for capturing the feelings of country people and for its melodic delicacy. With 'Galopera', 'Regalo de amor' and 'Che morenamí', it is one of the pieces that define him.
Cardozo Ocampo was also a folklore researcher who lectured on the harp, the galopa and Paraguay's instruments.
Listen to: Ask for it in guitar-and-voice versions at any folk music night.
Work
Cascada
'Cascada' is one of the fundamental works for the Paraguayan harp, composed by Luque-born Digno García. For years it served as the opening theme of Vatican Radio's programs for Latin America. García recorded it with Los Paraguayos for a Dutch label, together with 'Pájaro campana', and both pieces reached a worldwide audience.
According to his biography, Spanish artist Salvador Dalí admired Digno García's virtuosity and dedicated to him a rock-crystal work called 'La guitarra'.
Listen to: Listen on harp and notice how the title turns into music.
Work
Mi dicha lejana
'Mi dicha lejana' is a love guarania composed by Emigdio Ayala Báez, born in Escobar (Paraguarí). In 1941 Félix Pérez Cardozo's ensemble recorded it, and the author became hugely popular. It now ranks among the classic guaranias, together with 'Recuerdos de Ypacaraí', 'Mis noches sin ti' and 'Lejanía'.
Ayala Báez lived for decades in Buenos Aires and returned to Paraguay in the late 1980s; he dedicated 'A mi pueblito Escobar' to his hometown, where he died in 1993.
Listen to: Ask for a voice, guitar and harp version.
Work
Oración a mi amada
'Oración a mi amada' is one of Paraguay's most popular love songs. Eladio Martínez and Emigdio Ayala Báez wrote it during the Trío Olímpico's trip to Europe in 1948, when they were invited to the London Olympic Games to stand in for the absent Paraguayan athletes.
The trio sang on BBC programs, at Oxford University and before the British royal family.
Listen to: Look for classic versions with guitar and harp.
Work
Ñasaindype
'Ñasaindype' is a guarania by José Asunción Flores on a poem by Félix Fernández. In 1934, sung by Agustín Barboza, it was the first guarania ever put on record. Barboza, an Asunción native who had arrived in Buenos Aires as a teenager, met Flores a year earlier, in 1933, and later became a soloist of the 'Orquesta Ortiz Guerrero' that Flores led.
The guarania was created in 1925; nine years later, with this disc, it started to circulate on record.
Listen to: Look for historical recordings of Flores's guaranias to hear the birth of the genre.
Work
Jejuí
'Jejuí' is cited as the first guarania, by José Asunción Flores, and with it the genre immediately found acceptance. 'Kerasy', 'Arribeño resay' and 'India' followed. Later Flores developed a symphonic style of guarania, with orchestral poems such as 'Mburicaó' and 'Pyharepyte'. Flores composed it in 1925, and it is regarded as the birth of the guarania as a genre.
Flores later took the guarania to the symphonic format, with orchestral poems such as 'Mburicaó'.
Listen to: Listen to 'Jejuí' and then 'India' to hear how the genre evolved.
Work
Che la reina
'Che la reina' is a polka by Emiliano R. Fernández and Félix Pérez Cardozo. With this piece, Eladio Martínez, representing Villarrica, won first prize in a folk contest for amateurs at Asunción's Municipal Theater, a moment that pushed him to turn professional. It is among the classic polkas of the Paraguayan repertoire.
Emiliano R. Fernández, a poet and musician, also wrote 'Rojas Silva rekávo', the first known rasguido doble.
Listen to: Ask for it in a guitar-and-harp version at any folk night.
Work
Ha mboriahú
'Ha mboriahú' ('and the poor') is a poem by Teodoro S. Mongelós, the 'poet of the humble', set to music by Emilio Bigi in 1943. Elvio Romero considered it the most painfully beautiful social plea on behalf of Paraguay's dispossessed. Mongelós, who fought in the Chaco War at 17, wrote many Guaraní-language lyrics that are classics today.
Mongelós died in exile in São Paulo; his remains were repatriated to Ypacaraí in 1994.
Listen to: Look for 'Ha mboriahú' and 'Nde resa kuarahyame', another of his lyrics, set to music by Julián Alarcón.
Work
La tejedora de ñandutí
'La tejedora de ñandutí' is a zarzuela by Juan Carlos Moreno González with a libretto by Juan Manuel Frutos Pane. It premiered on 15 August 1956 at Asunción's Teatro Municipal Ignacio A. Pane and is considered the first Paraguayan zarzuela. In the 1950s Moreno González and Frutos Pane created a musical-comedy genre inspired by Spanish zarzuela, with rural and folk themes, that filled theaters for nearly two decades.
The premiere was on 15 August, the anniversary of Asunción's founding.
Listen to: Check the schedule of the Teatro Municipal Ignacio A. Pane and cultural centers.
Work
Himno Nacional Paraguayo (versión de Remberto Giménez)
After the War of the Triple Alliance, several musicians reconstructed the anthem from what surviving soldiers remembered. The authorship of the music was debated for decades and attributed to three possible musicians. In 1933 President Eusebio Ayala commissioned Remberto Giménez to arrange it, and in 1934, after a national survey and a commission's ruling, the government declared his version authentic; it is the one used to this day. The official text is by Francisco Acuña de Figueroa.
In 1958 Remberto Giménez became the first Paraguayan musician to conduct a European symphony orchestra.
Listen to: It is sung at official events and matches; a school or municipal choir will gladly show you the full version.
Work
Juana de Lara
'Juana de Lara' is considered the first Paraguayan opera, and its composer, Florentín Giménez, also wrote six symphonies, symphonic poems and concertos. Giménez also wrote 'Así canta mi patria' and directed the National Conservatory of Music and the National Symphony Orchestra. It premiered in 1987.
His Sixth Symphony is dedicated to Agustín Pío Barrios 'Mangoré' on the fiftieth anniversary of his death.
Listen to: Ask the National Conservatory or the symphony orchestra about concerts with Giménez's music.
Artist
Herminio Giménez
Herminio Giménez (General Caballero, 1905 – Asunción, 1991) was a prodigy: he wrote his first polka at 11. He was part of the orchestra that in 1927 recorded the first album devoted entirely to Paraguayan music. During the Chaco War he led a military band, and later lived in exile in Argentina, mostly in Corrientes. He composed guaranias, polkas, dances and waltzes, including 'Lejanía', 'Cerro Corá', 'Che trompo arasá' and 'Canción del arpa dormida', and scored several films. He returned to Paraguay after 1989.
In 1975 he presented his 'Misa Folklórica Paraguaya' in Asunción, despite being an exile.
Listen to: 'Lejanía' is the first track; follow with 'Canción del arpa dormida'.
Artist
Demetrio Ortiz
Demetrio Ortiz (Piribebuy, 1916 – Buenos Aires, 1975) was a musician, composer, playwright and choreographer of Paraguayan dances. As a boy he shined shoes and sold newspapers; he learned guitar from a neighbor. In 1943, in Concepción, he composed 'Mis noches sin ti', his first 'travelling' guarania, dedicated to his mother. In 1948, playing in Córdoba (Argentina) with Félix Pérez Cardozo's ensemble, he composed 'Recuerdos de Ypacaraí', which crossed borders. He also wrote an autobiography, 'Una guitarra… un hombre'.
He was among the first to teach Paraguayan folk dances to the community in Buenos Aires, in memory of his mother, who was a galopera dancer.
Listen to: Listen to 'Mis noches sin ti' and 'Recuerdos de Ypacaraí' back to back.
Artist
Mauricio Cardozo Ocampo
Mauricio Cardozo Ocampo (Ybycuí, 1907 – Buenos Aires, 1982) was a composer, performer and researcher. With Eladio Martínez he formed the famous Martínez-Cardozo duo, the first Paraguayan act to perform at Montevideo's Auditorio Nacional del Sodre. He was a founder of SADAIC in Argentina and a founding secretary of APA. He composed over three hundred works, among them 'Galopera' and 'Paraguaya linda', and wrote books on Paraguayan folklore. He eventually returned to Paraguay and created the Perú Rimá ensemble.
All his children took up music; one of them, pianist Oscar Cardozo Ocampo, had an international career.
Listen to: 'Galopera', 'Paraguaya linda', 'Regalo de amor' and 'Che morenamí' make a good starting point.
Artist
Eladio Martínez
Eladio Martínez (Paraguarí, 1912 – Asunción, 1990), nicknamed 'El Grande', was a folk singer and composer. He settled in Asunción in 1928 and in 1931 traveled to Montevideo and then Buenos Aires, where he hosted radio programs for fifteen years. He composed 'Lucerito alba' and 'Noches guaireñas', among others. In 1948 he formed the Trío Olímpico to travel to London. He wrote the music for the film 'El trueno entre las hojas', with a screenplay by Augusto Roa Bastos. In 1979 he performed in Japan as part of cultural events around a youth football World Cup.
In 1979 he founded a giant ensemble of seven harps and five guitars in Asunción.
Listen to: Look for his recordings with Mauricio Cardozo Ocampo, the Martínez-Cardozo duo.
Ensemble
Trío Olímpico
The Trío Olímpico was made up of composer and singer Eladio Martínez, harpist Albino Quiñónez and composer Emigdio Ayala Báez. It was sent to the 1948 London Olympic Games to represent Paraguay in place of athletes, hence the name. They sang on the BBC in London before delegations from different countries, at Oxford University and before the British royal family, and extended the tour to several European cities.
'Oración a mi amada' was born on that journey.
Listen to: Look for 'Oración a mi amada' in the trio's version.
Artist
Digno García
Digno García (Luque, 1919 – Geraardsbergen, Belgium, 1984) was a composer and performer on the Paraguayan harp, credited with spreading it widely across the Americas and Europe. He toured Central America with Gumersindo Ayala Aquino's ensemble and from 1952 joined the trio Los Paraguayos with Luis Alberto del Paraná. He composed 'Cascada', 'A mi Paraguay' and 'Mi nostalgia', and lived in Belgium from 1962. He received the Orden Nacional del Mérito.
He began at 12, as a singer in Julián Rejala's ensemble.
Listen to: 'Cascada' is the ideal entry point.
Artist
Agustín Barboza
Agustín Pío Barboza (Asunción, 1913 – 1998) was a singer and composer. He traveled to Buenos Aires at 16, worked as a dockhand and sang a cappella at gatherings. In 1933 he met José Asunción Flores and the next year recorded 'Ñasaindype', the first guarania put on disc. He joined Flores's 'Orquesta Ortiz Guerrero'. He wrote around 80 compositions, among them 'Alma vibrante', 'Flor de Pilar' and 'Mi patria soñada'. In 1994 he received the Orden Nacional al Mérito and in 1996 published 'Ruego y camino'.
In 1953 he joined the trio Los Paraguayos alongside Luis Alberto del Paraná.
Listen to: Look for his 'Flor de Pilar' and 'Alma vibrante'.
Artist
Florentín Giménez
Florentín Giménez (Ybycuí, 1925 – Asunción, 2021) started at 15 in the Capital Police band. He formed the orchestra 'Ritmos de América' and later a modern típica orchestra. In 1953 he was detained for resisting authoritarian governments, and in 1956 left the country. He composed six symphonies, symphonic poems and the first Paraguayan opera, 'Juana de Lara'. Law 858/96 created the National Conservatory of Music, which he directed, and he led the National Symphony Orchestra.
His Sixth Symphony is dedicated to Mangoré.
Listen to: 'Así canta mi patria' is a good gateway.
Artist
Juan Carlos Moreno González
Juan Carlos Moreno González (Asunción, 1911 – 1983) studied in São Paulo on a scholarship between 1938 and 1940. His style is classical-romantic, influenced by Beethoven, and he also wrote works on Indigenous and folk themes, such as the symphonic poem 'Kuarahy mimby' (1944). With writer Manuel Frutos Pane he created the Paraguayan zarzuela. From 1964 he directed the Municipal Conservatory of Music and served as Director of Culture of the Municipality of Asunción.
In 1929 he won a national contest in Argentina with his tango 'Margarita'.
Listen to: Look for 'Kuarahy mimby' and a zarzuela in the municipal theater's repertoire.
Artist
Maneco Galeano
Maneco Galeano, stage name of Félix Roberto Galeano Mieres (Puerto Pinasco, 1945 – Asunción, 1980), was a musician, journalist and teacher. In 1962 his family moved to Buenos Aires; back in Paraguay, he helped found the newspaper ABC Color in 1967. He taught music at Colegio San José. He is regarded as the pioneer and leading figure of the Nuevo Cancionero. His last work, 'Poncho de sesenta listas', took second prize at the first Festival Ypacaraí de la Composición Musical in 1980; he died that same year at 35.
His last song pays tribute to a piece of the country's heritage: the 60-stripe poncho.
Listen to: 'Despertar' and 'Soy de la chacarita'.
Artist
Oscar Safuán
Oscar Nelson Safuán (San Estanislao, 1943 – Rio Grande do Sul, 2007) formed a trio as a young man and in 1962 traveled to Foz do Iguaçu and Curitiba to take Paraguayan music to Brazil. He settled in São Paulo, studied solfège and theory, and worked as an arranger. In 1974 he began researching a fusion of guarania and polka, and in 1977 presented the avanzada in Asunción. His trio, 'Los tres soles', improvised a sixty-stripe poncho from a striped fabric they found.
His father was of Lebanese descent and wanted him to be proud of it.
Listen to: 'Tema paraguayo' and the 'Nacionales'.
Artist
Remberto Giménez
Remberto Giménez (Coronel Oviedo, 1898 – Asunción, 1977) studied at the Ateneo, in Buenos Aires, Paris and Berlin. From 1928 he settled in Paraguay. He played in the Asunción Quartet, organized the first full symphonic concert and in 1940 founded the Escuela Normal de Música. In 1957 he launched the Asunción City Symphony Orchestra (OSCA), which he conducted until his death. His version of the national anthem was declared official.
His 'Rapsodia paraguaya' was performed by a German orchestra in 1958.
Listen to: The OSCA keeps concert seasons going; check its schedule.
Ensemble
Pro Rock Ensamble
Pro Rock Ensamble formed in Asunción in early 1980. Late that year it debuted with a single. In 1982 it opened a concert for Argentine acts, and the success encouraged an LP. 'Música para los perros', recorded at a studio in Asunción, was launched with a concert on 23 November 1983 and has nine songs. It is regarded as the first full-length rock album in Paraguay's history.
Earlier there were discs by Paraguayan groups recorded abroad, but this was the first rock LP produced in the country.
Listen to: 'Los Junior's Beat' was one of the songs most played on radio.
Artist
Fernando Centurión
Fernando Centurión (1886–1938) studied at the conservatories of Liège and Paris. In 1911 he founded the Haydn quartet and directed the performers' school 'Gimnasio Paraguayo'. He wrote the country's first symphonic works, including 'Marcha heroica', 'Serenata guaraní' and 'Capricho sobre un tema paraguayo'.
He trained in the Capital Police band, where Remberto Giménez taught.
Listen to: Ask the National Conservatory about programs of early Paraguayan symphonic music.