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International solidarity Parra was born on the October 4, 1917, in a small southern
Violeta Parra - mother of the ...
town called San Carlos. At an early age, Violeta suffered the
Venezuela
pain of unemployment and the scarcity of resources. Weighed
down by that situation, her family moved from one city to
Discussions
another in search of work. Her father, desperate from Tools
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unemployment, is said to have found refuge in alcohol. Violeta Bookmark This Page
Bolivia Rising completed her primary studies but later abandoned them for Print This Page
Ecuador Rising work. To help her family’s income, she began to sing in trains,
LeftClick small towns, restaurants and circuses.

Live from Palestine

After her father’s death, Violeta moved to Santiago. With her
sister she formed The Parra Sisters, folkloric musical duet.
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Three years later, she married and gave birth to Isabel and
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selected by google. For Angel, both inheritors of her musical tradition. In 1948 she
more info click here. separated from her husband and the following year she
remarried. From this new marriage two girls were born.

Apart form being a great composer, Violeta was one of the

greatest researchers in Chilean folklore. Together with her son
Violeta Parra
and daughter, she travelled throughout Chile offering concerts
Music
Hear all the Violeta and recording popular folk tunes she heard — songs she later
Parra hits. Get cool incorporated into her repertoire. In 1953, after a reading at
exclusives & Neruda’s house, Chile Radio invited her to a number of
downloads! programs that introduce her talent into thousands of homes.
music.yahoo.com

In 1954 Parra was chosen as the best folkloric artist of the

Madrid Santiago year and was invited to Poland. She travelled throughout the
De Chile Soviet Union and Europe. For two years she lived in Paris and
Oferta en eDreams recorded her first long-play record (1956). Following the
hasta el 30 sudden death of her youngest daughters, Violeta returned
noviembre 07
home. She accepted a position at the University of Concepcion
¡Plazas Limitadas!
www.edreams.es where she directed the Museum of Popular Art and continued
with her concerts and her research. She recorded another five
long-play records.
Santiago De Chile
Madrid By the end of the ’50s, she had begun to focus on her
Vuelos desde
painting, her sculpture and ceramics and her famous
Santiago Chile
Vuele ahora con tapestries. Between 1961 and 1964, combining her art work
Aircomet and her music, she toured through Argentina, Europe and the
www.aircomet.com Soviet Union, and settled in Paris again. Violeta achieved
success not only through her music — she was also the first
Latin American artist to exhibit at the Louvre Museum. During
Oferta Vuelos
this period she recorded another album, that included two
Santiago
Todas las ofertas a songs in French. It is also around this time (1962) when she
Santiago en un composed her famous song “La Carta”. While in Paris, she
solo buscador de received a letter informing her that her brother Roberto had
vuelos
been detained after the infamous Jose Maria Caro massacre,
www.logitravel.eu
during the government of Jorge Alessandri.

In 1964 Angel and Isabel returned to Santiago and opened the

 In 1964 Angel and Isabel returned to Santiago and opened the
famous “Pena de los Parra”. Many of Chile’s best known
composers began playing at La Pena, including Quilapayun and
Jara. Today, “La Pena de los Parras” is home to the “Violeta
Parra Foundation” (for more information, visit
<http://www.violetaparra.scd.cl>).

In 1965 Violeta returned and set up her home in a huge tent

on the outskirts of Santiago, “La Carpa de la Reina”, where
she set up a centre for folkloric culture. However, the political
climate was not very positive for her project. For the
government, music committed to the workers’ struggles
became a nuisance. Many radio stations excluded certain
singers, record companies were disinterested in recording the
exponents of the protest-song movement, and the few
programs that dared air their music lose their sponsors. Music
magazines preferred to dwell on foreign music.

“La Pena” enjoyed increasing public support but “La Carpa”

had to struggle to survive. Anguished by this situation and by
her problems with her lover, and following a recurrent crisis of
loneliness, Violeta tried to commit suicide. After this failed
attempt, she killed herself on February 5, 1967. It is ironic
that just before this she composed one of her most famous
songs — “Gracias a la vida” (“Thanks to life”).

This is how the mother of the New Chilean Song Movement

ended her life — a special woman who brought recognition to
our folkloric tradition, who inspires us to feel proud of our
roots and native instruments, who was brave enough to leave
aside the foreign invasion of imperialist rhythms that harassed
our continent. Thanks to life for giving us that unforgettable
woman — thanks Violeta Parra.

[Silvia Cuevas-Morales is a Chilean-Australian poet and writer

who lived in Melbourne from 1975 to the late ’90s. Cuevas-
Morales will give a presentation on her latest books on
November 18 from 2pm at Gardenia’s Restaraunt, Carlton.
Entry is free. Phone Violeta on (03) 9331 2268 or email
chilemagazine@hotmail.com.]

From: Cultural Dissent, Green Left Weekly issue #730 7

November 2007.

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