Reply #106: Víctor Jara

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Víctor Lidio Jara Martínez (September 28, 1932 – September 15, 1973) was a Chilean teacher, theatre director, poet, singer-songwriter, and political activist. A distinguished theatre director, he devoted himself to the development of Chilean theatre, directing a broad array of works from locally produced Chilean plays, to the classics of the world stage, to the experimental work of Ann Jellicoe.

Simultaneously he developed in the field of music and played a pivotal role among neo-folkloric artists who established the Nueva Canción Chilena (New Chilean Song) movement which led to a revolution in the popular music of his country under the Salvador Allende government.

Shortly after the U.S.-backed September 11, 1973 Chilean coup he was arrested, tortured and ultimately shot to death by machine gun fire—his body was later thrown out into the street of a shanty town in Santiago. The contrast between the themes of his songs, on love, peace and social justice and the brutal way in which he was murdered transformed Jara into a symbol of struggle for human rights and justice across Latin America.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Jara


Violeta del Carmen Parra Sandoval (14 October 1917 – 5 February 1967) was a notable Chilean folklorist and visual artist. She set the basis for "New Song," La Nueva Canción chilena, a renewal and a reinvention of Chilean folk music which would absorb and extend its influence far beyond Chile.

Violeta Parra was a member of the prolific Parra family. Her brother is the notable modern poet, better known as the "anti-poet", Nicanor Parra. Her son, Ángel Parra, and her daughter, Isabel Parra, were also important figures in the development of the Nueva Canción Chilena. Their children have also mostly maintained the family's artistic traditions.

Violeta Parra committed suicide with a gunshot to her head in 1967, because of her depression over the breakup of her relationship with Gilbert Favre.

Her most renowned song, Gracias a la Vida (Thanks to Life), was popularized throughout Latin America by Mercedes Sosa and later in the US by Joan Baez. It remains one of the most covered Latin American songs in history.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violeta_Parra



Atahualpa Yupanqui (31 January 1908 - 23 May 1992) was an Argentine singer, songwriter, guitarist, and writer. He is considered the most important Argentine folk musician of the 20th century.

Yupanqui was born as Héctor Roberto Chavero Aramburo in Pergamino (Buenos Aires Province), in the Argentine pampas, about 200 kilometers away from Buenos Aires. His family moved to Tucumán when he was ten. In a bow to two legendary Incan kings, he adopted the stage name Atahualpa Yupanqui, which became famous the world over.

In his early years, Yupanqui travelled extensively through the northwest of Argentina and the Altiplano studying the indigenous culture. He also became radicalized and joined the Communist Party of Argentina. In 1931, he took part in the failed uprising of the Kennedy brothers in order to press the government de facto of Uriburu and to give air to the democratic radical project anti facist in support to Hipólito Yrigoyen and was forced to seek refuge in Uruguay. He returned to Argentina in 1934.

In February of 1968, Yupanqui was named Gentleman of the Arts and the Letters of France by the Ministry of Culture of that country, by the work realised throughout 18 years to act and to offer its Literature to the Gallic country. Some of his songs are included in the programs of Institutes and Schools where Castilian Literature is taught.

In 1989, an important cultural center of France, the University of Nanterre, asked Yupanqui to write the lyrics of a Cantata to commemorate the Bicentennial of the French Revolution. The piece, entitled “The Sacred Word” (Parole Sacree), was released before high French authorities. It was not a recollection of historical facts but rather a tribute to all the oppressed towns that freed themselves. Yupanqui died in Nimes, France in 1992 at the age of 84; his remains were cremated and dispersed on his beloved Colorado Hill on 8th June, 1992.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atahualpa_Yupanqui