El Cóndor Pasa
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El Cóndor Pasa is a Peruvian zarzuela, or musical play, and its more famous title song.
In 1993 the piece was declared Patrimonio cultural de la Nación, an official part of Peru's cultural heritage. The music was composed in 1913 by Daniel Alomía Robles and the libretto by Julio Baudouin under the pseudonym Julio de La Paz.
The story is set in a mine in Cerro de Pasco, and deals with a tragic conflict between indians and "sajones" (saxons), their European bosses. The exploitative Mr King, owner of the mine, is killed by Higinio, but is soon replaced by another owner, Mr Cup, and the fight continues. The condor of the title symbolises the ideal of freedom.
The song appears in the finale. Originally it was wordless. The tune is a cashua, a kind of Andean dance similar to a huaino. It was inspired by traditional Andean songs.
The words are in Quechua, the language of the Inca Empire which is still spoken by the indigenous people of Peru. The singer calls on the mighty condor of the Andes to take him back to the old Inca kingdom of Machu Picchu.
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[edit] Simon and Garfunkel arrangement
This is possibly the best-known Peruvian song worldwide, partly due to a cover version by Simon and Garfunkel in 1970 on their Bridge over Troubled Water album, which is called "El Condor Pasa (If I Could)" in full. Paul Simon used only the melody and wrote entirely new, unrelated lyrics. Later that year, Perry Como released a cover of Simon's English version on his album It's Impossible, while Julie Felix took advantage of Simon and Garfunkel's decision not to release their version as a UK single, and had a UK Top 20 hit with it. [1]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- This article is based on a translation of an article from the Spanish Wikipedia.
- ^ By Request: A Perry Como Discography, accessed May 8, 2006
