VIOLET PARRA

“Then I came to
understand that writing
gives calm to the torments
of the soul, and in mine
there are leftovers; “Today
I will sing enough to
sound the alarm.”
Members: Diego Forjan Juan Torres R.

Chilean writer, poet, musician, composer,

painter, sculptor and ceramist, considered one of
the most important folklorists in America and an
exceptional artist, author of "A Chilean in Paris"
(1965) and "The Last Compositions" (1966).
 * Biography
* Born in San Carlos, in the south of Chile.
His father was a music teacher and his
mother was a farmer.
* Guitarist and singer. He lived his
childhood with his nine siblings in the
countryside.
* He started with his guitar and his voice at
the age of nine, at the age of twelve he
composed his first songs. She was trained
as a teacher at the Santiago Normal
School and at the same time she was
already composing boleros, corridos and
tunes. He works in circuses, bars,
recreation lodges, and small neighborhood
venues.
* In 1952 she married Luis Cereceda. From this
marriage, Isabel and Ángel were born, with whom
they would later perform much of
their musical work.
* That same year she was
encouraged by her brother Nicanor
Parra, and thus traveled through
rural areas recording and collecting
folk music. Thanks to this, he
discovered poetry and popular
singing from various corners of
Chile.
* In 1954, Violeta Parra traveled as a
guest to Poland, toured the Soviet
Union and Europe, staying in
France, where she recorded her folkloric LPs.
* In 1961 she began her tour with her children
*
to Finland, staying for three years and being
invited to different festivals. Biograph
* In 1965 he traveled to film a documentary
in Switzerland.
* In 1966 he traveled to Bolivia, offering
y
concerts in the south of Chile. Upon
returning to Santiago to continue recording
and writing his latest songs there
* On February 5, 1967, in Santiago de Chile ,
depressed and alone, she locked herself in
her tent and, at around six in the
afternoon, shot herself in the temple. He
was forty-nine years old. The next day,
more than ten thousand Chileans parade at
his funeral crying and singing loudly.
 * Style
* Revaluation of
* Popular themes
and social problems
were a constant in
Violeta Parra's
songs. And
although her
political
participation did
not consist of
prominent partisan
militancy, she has
been characterized
as “the voice of the
marginalized.”

* In addition to his
interest in singing,
he developed the need to rescue the Chilean folklore
characteristic of the countryside. Gradually, he began to
investigate folklore and gather the information necessary
to spread it. Starting in the decade that began in 1950,
this work deepened. Through visits, from house to house,
Violeta collected information, rebuilding the cultural
traditions of Chilean singing.
 * Revaluation of
* Violeta Parra gathered an
average of 3,000 songs and national art
created the book that
would later be known as
Chilean Folk Songs.
Thanks to his work, along
with that of others, a
movement emerged to
revalue our national art,
which would acquire
enormous importance in
the so-called New Chilean
Song.
 * Revaluation of
national art

* In 1953 he recorded Que Pena

Siente el Alma and Casamiento de
Negros, two of his best-known
songs.
 * Recognitions
* Based on her work, Violeta began to
become known nationally. In 1954 she
was invited again to participate in a
program on Radio Chilena.

* She was recognized as a social

communicator. Their interest was
reflected in songs, proverbs,
ceremonies and legends.
Additionally, during her prolonged
periods of illness, she remained
active creating burlap, exploring with
clay, and painting.
 * Recognitions
*She took advantage of spaces such
as radio, for example on Radio
Minería and Radio Corporación, to
spread the popular culture that she
rescued. She was awarded by the
Society of Authors and Composers,
Sochaico.

*In 1954 he received a prize in the

“Twelfth Night” contest. In 1956 she
was appointed director of the
Popular Art Museum of the
University of Concepción, a position
in which she did not remain for
long.
■
 *
RE-ISSUES IN LIFE
Discograph
y
Chilean festival, vol. 1 (Collective work) [1958]

Chilean festival, vol. 2 (Collective work) [1958]

Chilean festival, vol. 3 (Collective work) [1959]

Chilean festival, vol. 4 (Collective work) [1959]

FEEMEnla

Let's dance cueca! (Collective work) [1960]

Chilean festival, vol. 5, Let's go to Santiago! (Collective work) [1961]

Chants et danses du Chili (Violeta Parra) [1964]

Musical image of Chile (Collective work) [1964]

Songs of rebellion (Collective work) [1966]

ARCHIVE EDITIONS
*
E05
Canninnes reunited in Paris (Violeta Parra) [1971]

Songs of Chile (Violeta Parra) [1975]

Discograph
Decimas (Violeta Parra) [1976]

Violeta Parra, vol. 3 (Violeta Parra) [1977]

y
* r ~ V ioleta Parra, vol. 6 (Violeta Parra) [1984]

Unpublished songs — Documentary tribute (EP) (Violeta Parra^AQSV}

KI
I The man with his reason (Violeta Parra) [1992]
gee
______I Tenths and Hundredths (Violeta Parra) [1993]

Folklore and passion (Violeta Parra) [1994]

2 Violeta Parra in Geneva (Violeta Parra) [1999]

Canrianpc reunited in Paris (Violeta Parra) [1999]

22 Compositions for guitar (Violeta Parra) [1999]

A
— Latin Universe 9: Violeta Parra (Violeta Parra) [2001]

Chilean songs (Violeta Parra) [2010]

ü Violeta Parra in the Aula Magna of Concepción (Violeta Parra)[2010]

or
Violeta Parra Anthology (Violeta Parra) [2012]
■SINGLES AND EP
Odeón DSOD/E-50040 (EP) (Violeta Parra) [1955]
* Discography
Odeón DSOD/E-50059 (EP) (Violeta Parra) [1955]

Chants et danses du Chili I (EP) (Violeta Parra) [1956]

Chants et danses du Chili II (EP) (Violeta Parra) [1956]

Compositions for guitar (EP) (Violeta Parra) [1957]

Odeon DSOD/E-50097 (EP) (Parra Sisters - Los Campesinos) [1957]

Odeon DSOD/E-50137 (EP) (Parra Sisters - Los Campesinos) [1958]

o- Odeon DSOD/E-50169 (EP) (Parra Sisters - Lagos Brothers)^ 958]

Demon SD-055 (single) (Violeta Parra — Isabel Parra) [1964]

EMI-Odeón MSOD/E-51029 (EP) (Violeta Parra — Gilbert Favre) [1966]

COLLECTIVES

Toute l'Amérique Latine (Collective work) [1965]

Süd- und mittelamerikanische Volksmusik (Collective work) [1965]

Queen's Tent (Collective work) [1966]

A River of Blood (Violeta Parra — Isabel and Ángel Parra) [1974]

imonio (Collective work) [1990]

Chants et rythmes du Chili (Violeta Parra — Isabel and Ángel Parra — Los Calchakis) [1991]

His majesty the cueca, vol. 3 (Collective work) [2009]

COLLABORATIONS
The Long Cueca (EP) (Roberto Parada) [1960]
* Dicography
Au Chili avec los Parra de Chillan (Isabely Ángel Parra) [1963]

Demon SD-0164 (single) (Tita Parra) [1966]

The cuecas of Roberto Parra (Roberto Parra) [1967]

OTHERS

Letters found in books and manuscripts (Violeta Parra)

Songs recorded only by others (1957-1966) (Violeta Parra)

Songs recorded only by others (1967-) (Violeta Parra)

Songs known only by name (Violeta Parra)

= Decimas, autobiography in Chilean verses (book) (Violeta Parra)[1970]

Unpublished (Violeta
Parra) The last compositions of Violeta Parra (Violeta Parra) [1974]

Town in celebration (Collective work) [2007]

-Yo
, Autobiographical Tenths (Violeta Parra) [2010]
N Live in Geneva (Violeta Parra) [2010]
 * Artistic Legacy
His influence was vital for the birth of the most important popular
music movement in the country, the New Chilean Song, but young
rockers also recognize the depth of his music, full of unequivocal
social criticism. At least two of his brothers,
Nicanor (poet) and Roberto (popular singer), are
equally responsible for milestones in Chilean
culture of the 20th century; and two of his
children, Isabel and Ángel, became important
singer-songwriters. Author, also, of valued
arpilleras, sculptures and oil paintings, Violeta
Parra believed that “anyone can make songs.
“Anyone can be an artist and express
themselves in the way that best suits them.”
Her artistic development was that of a self-
taught person, who never learned to write music
nor had agents to promote her work.
 * Artistic Legacy
In order to rescue the figure and legacy of
Violeta Parra, the Violeta Parra Foundation
Violeta Parra
Foundation
was created in July 1991.
Chaired by her daughter Isabel
Parra, she seeks to “gather,
organize and preserve her work;
project it in Chile and abroad so
that student artists and the
general public can access it.
 * Artistic Legacy
* Violeta Parra
Museum
* The Violeta Parra Museum opened to the public on
October 6, 2015, several years late—initially, the
inauguration should have occurred at the end of 2011
—with the primary objective of permanently
displaying the artist's work. Designed by the
architect Cristián Undurraga, it houses his arpilleras,
oil paintings and works in paper mache. The
collection consists of 48 works, including donations
and loans, but "only 23 are exhibited, divided into
the two great themes of Violeta Parra: the human
and the divine."

* Located at 37 Vicuña Mackenna Avenue, in its 1,330

m² it has, in addition to the rooms dedicated to
Violeta's work, other spaces for various cultural
activities, such as workshops, concerts and
conferences. Admission is free.
 * Artistic Legacy
Theater and cinema
* Francisca Gavilán played Violeta in Andrés Wood's
film Violeta se fue a los cielos (2011).
* In Buenos Aires, tribute was paid to her life with
the play Violeta Comes to Birth, an adaptation of
the book And Now, the Resurrected of the Violent
Violeta by the Argentine writer and journalist
Rodolfo Braceli17 performed by the Argentine
actress Virginia Lago in 1993 and 1994.

* In 2011 Andrés Wood released his film Violeta se

fue a los cielos based on the book of the same
name by Ángel Parra and starring Francisca
Gavilán. The film has won several awards,
including the International Grand Jury Prize at the
Sundance Festival (January 2012).21
Music
* Artistic Legacy
* Violeta's children, Ángel Parra (above, 2015) and
Isabel Parra (below, 2006) have sought to keep their
mother's music current.
* Several songs have been dedicated to Violeta:

* 1997 - Violeta Parra, text and music (by her son

Ángel Parra)
* 2001 - After living a century (by various
interpreters)
* 2004 - "Violeta", song from the album Metaphora
(by Ángel Petisme)
* 2006 - Violeta went to heaven (by Ángel Parra)
* 2007 - November Butterfly (by Luis Pastor)
* 2008 - Pascuala sings Violeta (by Pascuala Ilabaca)
* 2009 - "Violetas para Violeta", song from the album
Vinagre y rosas (by Joaquín Sabina)
* 2011 - "Violeta in marchita", song from the album
Volver a la essence (by Alfredo Becker Carrasco)
 * Artistic Legacy
* Her grandson Ángel Parra Orrego released an album with the anticuecas
in 1994, and Tita Parra released a continuation of the décimas in 1998,
with the title Centésimas del alma.

* Violeta Parra has been covered by an innumerable

number of Chilean musicians, from her children Ángel
and Isabel, Víctor Jara, Quilapayún, Illapu, Patricio
Manns, Los Jaivas, Inti Illimani, (who, in addition to
various individual recordings of Violeta's songs,
performed the work of Luis Advis Canto para una seed,
musicalization of the autobiographical Décimas). A rock
tribute produced by Álvaro Henríquez with the
participation of artists such as Los Bunkers, Pettinellis,
Lucybell, Javiera Parra (his granddaughter), Chancho
en Piedra and Juanita Parra (drummer of Los Jaivas)
that was released in 2001 with the title After to live a
century. Even popular balladists such as Myriam
Hernández, Gloria Simonetti and Luis Jara have
incorporated Violeta's music into their repertoires.
 * Artistic Legacy
*Outside of Chile, and both in recordings and live, Violeta Parra has been
performed by prominent artists

*Argentina: Mercedes Sosa, Los Chalchaleros, Fito

Páez, Pedro Aznar, Charly García, León Gieco,
Alberto Cortez, Facundo Cabral, Ligia Piro, Los
Calchakis
* Bolivia: Andean Sap
*Brazil: Chico Buarque, Elis Regina, Milton Nascimento
and Caetano Veloso
* Canada: Michael Bublé
* Chile: Francisca Valenzuela, Los Bunkers
* Colombia: Andrea Echeverri, Juanes, Shakira
* South Korea: Davichi.
*Cuba: Silvio Rodríguez, Pablo Milanés, Issac Delgado
*Spain: Joan Manuel Serrat, Joaquín Sabina, Paloma
San Basilio, María Dolores Pradera, Víctor Manuel,
Rosa León, Miguel Bosé, Alejandro Sanz, Raphael,
Plácido Domingo, Rosario Flores, Baccara, Oskorri
and La Oreja de Van Gogh
 * Artistic Legacy
* United States: Joan Báez, Faith No More * Finland: Arja Saijonmaa
* France: Holden, Richard Clayderman
*Greece: Nana Mouskouri and Danai Stratigopoulou
* England: Robert Wyatt
* Israel: Yasmin Levy
*Italy: Gabriella Ferri, Laura Pausini, Franco Simone
*Mexico: Óscar Chávez, Los Folkloristas, Antonio
Domínguez Hidalgo, Fher Olvera, Chavela Vargas,
Eugenia León, Guadalupe Pineda, Tania Libertad,
Tehua, Ana Gabriel, Hoppo!, Pepe Aguilar
* Peru: Susana Baca, Eva Ayllón
* Dominican Republic: Juan Luis Guerra
* Uruguay: Daniel Viglietti, La Tabaré, Jorge
Drexler, Laura Canoura and Erwin Schrott
* Venezuela: Soledad Bravo
 * Artistic Legacy
* Violeta Parra is mentioned in the song "Protest Song" (from the 2006
album Oye) by the Colombian band Aterciopelados, among the most
representative musical figures of cause and social commitment, named
along with several icons of the genre such as Víctor
Jara, Atahualpa Yupanqui, Mercedes Sosa, León Gieco,
Milton Nascimento, Joan Báez, Manu Chao and other
representatives of the anarchist counterculture. Faith
No More, the rock band from San Francisco, performed
"What have I gotten out of loving you" at their
performances on December 4 and 5 in Santiago. The
Spanish poet, singer and composer Joaquín Sabina
dedicated the last song of his album Vinagre y rosas
(2008) to her: "Violetas para Violeta", a free adaptation
of "La carta", which he also recorded together with
Mercedes Sosa on the album the Argentine Cantora, an
intimate journey. The Cuban Silvio Rodríguez wrote a
song for her called "Carta a Violeta Parra", belonging to
his album Segunda cita. Likewise, her contemporary,
the Peruvian composer Chabuca Granda dedicated her
moving song "Cardo o ashes" to her.
* Violeta Phrases
“For me, painting is the sad and Vine
dark point of life. In it I try to
express the deepest part of the
human being. While upholstery is
the joyful part of life.”

“I recognize, love and venerate the

song to the human and the song to the
divine, from the point of view of the
literary text and the musical point of
view. It is enough to know a divine
verse to know the fine, wise and
delicate spirit of the Chilean singer.”
* Historical images