Latin American Art Song

Taking as a thread the concept of national identity, this book elucidates the sound transformations that have taken place in the world of the Latin American art song since its appearance in the late nineteenth century to the present day. The book focuses in the art songs of Brazil, Argentina, Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, Perú, and Colombia. The book addresses the subject of performance practice of the Latin American song and ends with a proposal for its interpretation.In songs, spaces of representation and cathartic tools thought, language and music have been at the service of some interests, fulfilling specific functions in the construction of the nation. In them, we observe that the construction of identity is a continuous, constant and changing process in which different stories are superimposed. Seen this way, songs are historical texts where social interactions are reflected, and the past, the present and the future are constantly negotiated.The book also addresses the subject of performance practice of the Latin American song and ends with a proposal for its interpretation.

Brava to Dr. Caicedo! Her efforts to bring Latin American Art Song to voice studios, recitals, and performance venues are applauded. The Latin American Art Song: Sounds of the Imagined Nations allows teachers, singers, and aficionados of song to truly imagine a more inclusive world in which repertoire from Latin America is celebrated and cherished. Dr. Caicedo discusses and analyses composers and song repertoire from Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Perú, and Venezuela. She presents song repertoire from three dimensions—socially, historically, and musically—melding folk song with the genre of art song. This book is a treasure trove of information and a rich resource that should be in every singer’s library., With the publication of her new book on the Latin American art-song repertoire, Patricia fills a need that has been felt urgently by all singers, instrumentalists, and composers who are part of the community that loves and values this repertoire, and provides a gateway for those who have not yet discovered its riches. With her immense erudition, deep musicality, and profound advocacy, Dr. Caicedo leads the reader to understand the roots of this repertory and its various contexts: Twentieth-Century Nationalist movements, the revalidation of Folk musics, and the astonishing (but undervalued) technical and musical craft of the best Latin American composers of art-songs. For those who have had the good fortune of hearing Dr. Caicedo lecture and perform (and in my case, perform with her as accompanist), it is a body of work that she also champions through her beautifully sung live concerts and CDs. It goes without saying that Dr. Caicedo is the foremost living authority on the Latin American art-song and its evolution, and is shepherding its continuity through the commissioning of new works, and through her founding and direction of the Barcelona Festival of Song for over a decade. This festival also exposes audiences and informs performers on the beauty and interpretive requirements of Hispanoamerican songs in Catalan, Portuguese, and Indigenous languages of the Americas.

Patricia Caicedo is a Colombian-Spanish soprano. She holds a PhD in musicology from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and a MD from the Escuela Colombiana de Medicina. Patricia is the founder and director of the Barcelona Festival of Song, a summer program dedicated to the study of the history and interpretation of the Iberian and Latin American art song repertoire.