| Quilapayún | |
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| Origin | Santiago, Chile |
| Genres | Folk music, Andean Music, Protest music, Latin music, Contemporary classical music, Avant-garde, World music |
| Years active | 1965–present |
| Labels | EMI-Odeon, Picap, Warner Music |
| Associated acts | Violeta Parra, Víctor Jara, Inti-illimani, Ángel Parra, Isabel Parra, Luis Advis, Sergio Ortega, Pablo Neruda, Patricio Manns, Illapu, Daniel Viglietti, Atahualpa Yupanqui, Paloma San Basilio, Jean-Louis Barrault, Julio Cortázar |
| Website | Quilapayún Website |
| Members | |
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Principal members: |
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Quilapayún (Spanish pronunciation: [kilapaˈʝun]) are an instrumental and vocal folk music group from Chile and among the longest lasting and most influential exponents of the Nueva Canción Chilena (New Song) movement. Formed in Chile during the mid-1960s, the group became inseparable with the revolution that occurred in the popular music of the country under the Popular Unity Government of Salvador Allende. Since its formation and during its forty year long history - both in Chile and during its lengthy period of exile in France - the group has seen modifications to its personnel lineup, to the subject and content of its work, and controversy regarding irreconciliable differences with the current and former group director; which has led each to maintain a distinctive - yet equally impressive - Quilapayún ensemble: one in Chile (named: Quilapayún-Histórico) and one in France (named: Quilapayún-France).
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Quilapayún originated in 1965 when Julio Numhauser, and the brothers Julio and Eduardo Carrasco formed a folk music trio which they simply called "the three bearded men" (viz. Quila-Payún) in the Mapuche language (viz. Mapudungun – the language of the people native to the region that is now the south of Chile, the Araucanians). Their first public performances were at the Universidad de Chile in Valparaíso organized by their first musical director, Ángel Parra (The son of Violeta Parra). In 1966 Patricio Castillo joined the group and they began performing and winning notoriety for their Andean music as well as their black ponchos which became the group's trademark. During this time they won their first prize, La Guitarra de Oro (The Golden Guitar) in the Primer Festival Nacional del Folkore "Chile Múltiple". (First National Festival of Folklore), they also made their first recording, appearing in one song of Ángel Parra, "El Pueblo" ("The People").
In one of these performances of 1966 in Valparaíso the group met with Víctor Jara with whom the group maintained a close and productive artistic association with for many years. At the request of the group, Víctor Jara becomes Quilapayún's musical director and he worked on the groups discipline, their stage performances and the style and content of the groups music and songs. Jara presents them to the record label Odeon Records, where they would record 5 LPs. Their first album, Quilapayún was basically an Andean music album but they included songs of Ángel Parra, Víctor Jara and new compositions of Eduardo Carrasco such as "La Paloma" and "El canto del cuculi".
Bourgeois society wants art to be another factor contributing to social alienation, we artists should transform it into a revolutionary weapon, until the contradiction that actually exists between art and society finally comes to pass. This surpassing is called revolution and its motor and fundamental agent is the working class. Our group, loyal to the ideals of Luis Emilio Recabarren, sees its work as a continuation of what has already been achieved by many other popular/folk artists. This side of the trenches has been occupied by artists whose names are forever linked to the revolutionary struggle of our people: the first Luis Emilio Recabarren, the latest: Violeta Parra and Pablo Neruda. The example they have given us is the light that guides us.
— Quilapayún (1969)[1]
In 1967 they recorded an album together with Víctor Jara, Canciones folklóricas de América (Folk Songs of America). During this time Julio Numhauser left the group over discrepancies on the style of music the group was pursuing and was replaced by Guillermo "Willy" Oddó. During 1967 they also toured the USSR, Italy, France and other parts of Europe and recorded an LP with the Chilean painter and poet Juan Capra.
In 1968, Quilapayún participated in the launch of a new record label of La Jota (Chile's Communist Party Youth Organization) and here they record their LP X Vietnam which included songs from the Spanish Revolution; to the surprise of many commercial record labels its release became a nationwide success. This album established the group's thematic and aesthetics and created great interest and a following among progressive youth. From the success of this album the label DICAP (Discoteca del Cantar Popular) appeared, which became the springboard of the Nueva Canción Chilena (New Chilean Song) movement. The DICAP label would record up to 60 musical productions until the military coup of September 11, 1973, which banned and literally destroyed the record label. During 1968 Julio Carrasco left the group for political differences, and was replaced by Hernán Gomez. A that time they performed at different university places and made their first two hours show, during two days in Santiago getting a tremendous success.
In 1969 they recorded the ‘Basta’ LP, which included an eclectic and highly political collection of songs from different parts of the world, establishing the fundamental element of the New Chilean Song: its Internationalism. This album was released with a lengthy statement made by the group about the nature of their work and their commitment to the socialist cause.Rodolfo Parada joint the group.
In 1969 they also appeared supporting Víctor Jara in his album, Pongo en tus manos abiertas (Into your open hands) in songs such as "A Cochabamba Me Voy", "El Martillo" and "Movil Oil Special". They also joined Jara at the Primer Festival de la Nueva Cancion Chilena (First Festival of the New Chilean Song) where they jointly interpreted ‘Plegaria a un Labrador’ (Prayer to a Laborer) which ultimately won the festivals award. After three years Víctor Jara and Quilapayún assumed different paths and Eduardo Carrasco became the group's director.
They were forced into exile in France after the right-wing military coup of 1973. The group settled in the city of Colombes, France for more than a decade. Their major works include Santa María de Iquique (1970), an album of spoken history, songs, and instrumentals about a notorious massacre in the city of Iquique, and the song "El pueblo unido jamás será vencido" ("The people, united, will never be defeated"), with lyrics by Quilapayún and music written by famed Chilean songwriter and playwright Sergio Ortega.
Both Quilapayún and Inti-Illimani's recent paths have been marked by internal issues. Over the years some members left with others taking their place. In the case of Quilapayún, formed by the early members Carlos Quezada, Hernán Gomez, Rodolfo Parada, Hugo Lagos, Guillermo García and Ricardo Venegas, joined by Patricio Wang, continues to operate out of France, and has released two albums since 1989. Parada registered the name "Quilapayún" without the authorization of the other members. Because of this, as well as other irregular events, other historic members refused to continue with Parada and Wang, resulting in the group splitting into two, both claiming the name and legacy of Quilapayún, and subsequent litigation. The Chile-based historic faction is celebrating the group's 40 year anniversary performing concerts in Chile, Latin America and Europe together with the "historic" Inti-Illimani. These joint concerts have been advertised and promoted as Inti+Quila. The current "historic" lineup includes Eduardo Carrasco, Rubén Escudero, Ricardo Venegas, Guillermo García, Ismael Oddó (son of Guillermo "Willy" Oddó), Hugo Lagos, Hernán Gómez, Carlos Quezada and Sebastián Quezada (son of Carlos).
On December 5, 2007, the Court of Appeal of Paris forbade Parada and Wang’s group "from making use of the name QUILAPAYÚN, subject to a fine of 10 000 per infringement". This judgement was confirmed by the Highest Court of Appeal (Cour de Cassation de Paris) on the June 11, 2009.