Eco musical

The journal Eco Musical [RIPM code EML] was published in Buenos Aires monthly between 1942 and 1944 under the direction of G. Dennler de La Tour. A total of 13 issues were printed as single column articles overall ranging 34 pages. The main purpose of the journal, as described in its first issue, was to conserve and showcase the converged musical cultures of South America and Europe, particularly folkloric and traditional music influenced by academic music, by giving focus to musical life in the Americas. This first issue was published on October 12, the commemorative date Christopher Columbus and his crew first arrived on the American continent. Although it was initially published only in Spanish, issue no. 10 in July 1943 announced a collaboration with the National Federation of Music Clubs in the United States of America wherein a short summary in English would be provided for each article in following issues. This renewed purpose was to move forward from a solely Latin American scope to a Pan-American one that would establish mutual musical exchanges between North and South America, while also projecting EML towards an English-speaking audience in the US. After celebrating its first anniversary in October 1943, EML’s next publication did not occur until May 1944.

Each issue contains two or three articles concerning historical and current musical research in South America and Europe. The review section of Eco Musical is extensive and divided into sections which include “Discografía,” “Musicografía,” “Folklore,” “Ballet y danzas,” each reviewing musical events, premieres and releases directly relating to the subject. The most comprehensive review section is “Ecos y reflejos” as it focused on concerts, recitals and events held in throughout South America, reporting from Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Venezuela, Chile and more continuously. This section also has its own subsection, “Crónica porteña” that reviews activities in Buenos Aires and makes the “Ecos and reflejos” section more complete.

Amongst Eco Musical’s largest contributions are the two separate issues dedicated to Peruvian composers Theodoro Valcárcel (issue no. 6, 1943) and Daniel Alomía Robles (issue no. 10, 1943), both of which offer an extensive bibliographical article honoring each composer’s artistic lives. Valcárcel’s issue celebrates the first anniversary of his death with articles written by G. Dennler de La Tour, Luis E. Valcárcel, Rodolfo Holzmann, Manuel Beltroy, and also includes an article written by Theodoro Valcárcel himself on his most famous song, “Que significa Suray Surita?”. Robles’ issue includes various transcriptions of letters written honoring his work within the Peruvian folkloric field such as Juan B. Ambrosetti, Rodolfo Barbacci, Antonio González Bravo, L. S. Rowe, and the Pan-American Union. The issue also provides Robles’ own description of historical context and legend traditions to two excerpts from his Collection of Folklore, “Himno al sol” and “Tradición sobre la laguna de Muruguay”.

Ethnomusicological articles relating to Latin American music and instruments are also prevalent throughout Eco Musical’s run. Policarpo Caballero’s article “El Tusuy o la danza incaica” presents the relevance of dance within music and its connection to spiritual manifestations, beliefs and habits within the Incan communities in Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador. Spanning three issues, it delves into the particularities of the dance traditions within the Tahuanti-Cuyo community and the Curacas, painting a picture of how dance was so intricately related to musical activities and everyday life. Similarly, Dick Edgar Ibarra Grasso’s article “El canto en los jeroglíficos indígenas bolivianos” provides a deep ethnographic analysis of prayers originally written as hieroglyphs in the province of Cinti, Chuquisaca in Bolivia. Ibarra also provides a description and history of a pre-Incan shepherd’s pipe or zampoña in issue 11 (1943).

Cecilia Ingenieros describes and analyzes the dance and religious traditions throughout the Aztec communities in “Danzas y tradiciones religiosas de los indios aztecas” (issue 2, 1942), examining significant architectural advances in Tenochtitlan, the different roles of men and women in dance practices, and describes some religious ceremonies based on sacrifice, cruelty, and savagery.

Other notable articles include Alicia Cárdenas García de Valcarcel’s “Música para niños”, “Historia de la música en Nicaragua” by Luis A. Delgadillo, an extensive analytical article on Europe’s greatest luthier schools by Roberto Livon, Rosa E. Figueroa’s hommage to Peruvian composer Rosa Mercedes Ayarza de Morales, Enrique Feinmann’s evaluation on musicotherapy, and a review article for the premiere of Luis A. Delgadillo’s “Las Siete Palabras de Cristo” at the Managua cathedral in Nicaragua. Also included in three issues is the “Enciclopedia musical compositores”, a supplement to EML that focused on one composer per issue, of which Darius Milhaud, Alban Berg, and Theodoro Valcárcel were showcased.

This RIPM index was produced from a copy of the journal held at the Library of Congress.