GUITAR MUSIC CULTURES IN CONTEMPORARY

PARAGUAY
In summer 2011, I embarked on my first ethnographic research trip to Asuncion (Paraguay)
in order to study and understand guitar music cultures in contemporary Paraguay. Here, the
guitar is probably the most ubiquitous instrument, as it is used in classical, indigenous, folk,
popular and even religious music settings. Yet little, if nothing, has been written in the
Anglophone literatures about guitar music of Paraguay: The two most important publications
are concerned exclusively with the life and music of Agustin Barrios Mangore (Stover 1985;
Salcedo Centurion 2007), while others are concerned with Paraguayan music more generally
(Luzko 2005; Watkins 1998). At the same time, no literature—Spanish or English—exists
that adopts an ethnomusicological approach toward guitar music and deals more specifically
with the role played by the guitar in music as it reflects, shapes and models Paraguayan
ideology and national identity.

My research thus seeks to contribute new insights into the cultural and social uses, meanings
and significance of the guitar in contemporary Paraguayan music. I hope to make a
significant scholarly contribution to knowledge about musical activity in a country that until
today remains relatively unknown to the wider world. Specifically, I seek to capture the
various musical styles and repertoires for the Paraguayan guitar as it is used in different
music-cultural contexts; analyse the meanings and symbolisms surrounding the guitar in
terms of identity, tradition and authenticity as these are imagined and constructed by
Paraguayans today; and seek an understanding of the significance of the guitar in Paraguay
for economic regeneration, tourism and global recognition.

References

Luzko, Daniel. 2005. ‘Paraguay’. Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World.
Vol. III. Caribbean and Latin America, edited by John Shepherd, David Horn and Dave
Laing, 323-26. London: Continuum.

Salcedo Centurion, Carlos. 2007. El Inalcanzable Augustin Barrios Magore. Paraguayan

National Congress.

Stover, Richard D. 1985. Six Silver Moonbeams: The Life and Times of Agustin Barrios
Mangore. Querico Pubns. (NOTE: A substantially revised edition of this book has recently
been published in Spanish and is expected to be published in English in the near future.)

Watkins, Timothy D. 1998. ‘Paraguay’. Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South

America, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. Vol. 2, edited by Dale A. Olsen and
Daniel E. Sheehy, 452-65. New York: Garland.
RELEVANT WEB LINKS

“Mangoré eterno”. ABC Color, available at http://www.abc.com.py/edicion-

impresa/suplementos/abc-revista/mangore-eterno-309336.html.

“Musicalmente soy ecléctico”. ABC Color, available at http://www.abc.com.py/edicion-

impresa/suplementos/abc-revista/musicalmente-soy-eclectico-281536.html.

"The Art and Design Academy makes Waves in Paraguay". Liverpool John Moores
http://www.liverpool-ada.co.uk/2011/07/the-art-and-design-academy-makes-waves-in-
paraguay/

"The Music of Paraguay: A Talk by Luis Szaran". Liverpool John Moores University,
available at http://www.liverpool-ada.co.uk/2011/03/the-music-of-paraguay/

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF RELEVANT RESOURCES

Below is a list of books and other resources on the music and culture of Paraguay. Most titles
have been published in limited numbers in Paraguay and are not available for purchase
outside of the country. Many of the below titles are also out of print and no longer available.
If I have missed a specific title, I would appreciate if you could please contact me.

A useful brief summary of relevant resources is also provided in a short annotated

bibliography by Luis Szarán (2010:423-4; see below for full reference). However, this
bibliography contains largely dated resources, and it is somewhat incomplete as it does not
reference many of the key titles listed below.

****

Almada Roche, Armando. 2004. José Asunción Flores: Compañero del Alma, Compañero.
Buenos Aires: Ediciones el Pez del Pez.

Aracri, Manuel José. 2009. Agustin Pío Barrios "Mangoré": La Guitarra y su Genio.
Asunción, Paraguay: Arandurã Editorial.

Boettner, Juan Max. 2008. Musica y Musicos del Paraguay. 4a edición. Asunción, Paraguay:
Imprenta Salesiana.

Cándido Morales, José. 1994. Agustín Barrios Mangoré: "Genio de la Guitarra". San
Salvador: Fundación María Escalón de Nuñez.

Cardozo, Efraim. 1998. Apuntes de Historia Cultural del Paraguay. 6a edición, Biblioteca de
Estudios Paraguayos, Volumen XI. Asunción, Paraguay: Editora Litocolor S.R.L.

Colman Cesar, Alfredo. 2005. The Diatonic Harp in the Performance of Paraguayan
Identity. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis. Austin, Texas: University of Texas at Austin.

____ . 2007. "El arpa diatónica paraguaya en la búsqueda del tekorã: representaciones de
paraguayidad," ["The Paraguayan Diatonic Harp in the Search for the Tekorã:
Representations of Paraguayanness"]. Latin American Music Review, Spring/Summer 28:1-.
____ . 2009. “The Paraguayan Diatonic Harp”. Folk Harp Journal, Winter 145:14-20.

____ . 2010. “The Paraguayan Diatonic Harp – Performance Techniques”. Folk Harp
Journal, Fall 148:26-30.

____ . 2010. “El sueño de Angelita” [Angelita’s Dream]. Arrangement for two harps. Folk
Harp Journal, Fall 148:31-37.

Duarte Prado, Bacón. 1985. Agustín Barrios: Un Genio Insular. Asunción, Paraguay:
Editorial Araverá.

Enciso, Desiderio et. al. 1985. Mangoré. Edicion Especial con Auspicio del Comité de
Homenaje al Centenario del Nacimiento del Maestro Agustin Pio Barrios – Nitsuga
Mangore, 5-Mayo-1885/5 de Mayo-1985. Centro Cultural Paraguayo-Americano & Centro
Social y Cultural Sanjuanino Misionero: Organo de Difusion del Centro Sanjuanino
Misionero de Residentes en Asuncion, año 3, no 4, 1985.

Gimenéz, Florentin. 2007. Rasgos y Pasiones. Editorial Tavaroga.

____ . 1997. La Música Paraguaya. Asunción, Paraguay: El Lector.

Godoy Álvarez, Elisa Concepción. 2007. Cayo Sila Godoy en Programas de Concierto: 8
Décades de Música y Guitarra Clásica. Asunción, Paraguay: Policarpo Centro de Servicios
Culturales.

Godoy, Sila and Luis Szarán. 1994. Mangoré: Vida y Obra de Agustín Barrios. Asunción,
Paraguay: Editorial Don Bosco/Ñanduti.

Lambert, Peter. 2000. ‘A Decade of Electoral Democracy: Continuity, Change and Crisis in
Paraguay’. Bulletin of Latin American Research 19: 379-396.

Lambert, Peter and Ricardo Medina. 2007. ‘Contested Discourse, Contested Power:
Nationalism and the Left in Paraguay’. Bulletin of Latin American Research, Vol. 26, No. 3:
339–355.

Luzko, Daniel. 2005. ‘Paraguay’. Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World.
Vol. III. Caribbean and Latin America, edited by John Shepherd, David Horn and Dave
Laing, 323-26. London: Continuum.

Luzko, Nancy. 2005. An Annotated Bibliography of Paraguayan Music for Piano.

Unpublished D.M.A. thesis. Miami, Florida: University of Miami.

McKenna Ward, Anthony. 2010. Agustín Barrios Mangoré: A Study in the Articulation of
Cultural Identity. Unpublished M.A. thesis. Adelaide, Australia: The Elder Conservatorium
of Music, The University of Adelaide.

Meliá, Bartomeu and Sergio Cáceres Mercado. 2010. Historia Cultural del Paraguay. 1a.
Parte. Colección La Gran Historia del Paraguay 16. Asunción, Paraguay: El Lector.

Mora, Frank O. 1998. ‘From Dictatorship to Democracy: The US and Regime Change in
Paraguay, 1954-1994’. Bulletin of Latin American Research, Vol. 17, No. 1: 59-79.
Ocampo, Mauricio Cardozo. 2005. Mundo Folklórico Paraguayo. 3 Tomos Illustrados
(Primera Parte: Paraguay Folklórico; Segunda Parte: De la Tradición Oral Mitos, Leyendas y
Cuentas Paraguayos; Tercera Parte: Realidades y Leyendas en el Folklore Paraguayo) con
CD. Asunción, Paraguay: ATLAS Representaciones.

Oxley, Victor M. 2010. Agustín Pío Barrios Mangoré: Ritos, Culto, Sacrilegios y
Profanaciones. Asunción, Paraguay: ServiLibro.

Oxley Insfrán, Victor Manuel. 2006. Escenas Imaginarias de una Realidad Recreada.
Publicación Independente.

Ratzlaff, Gerhard. 2001. Ein Leib - Viele Glieder: Die Mennonitischen Gemeinden in
Paraguay. Asunción, Paraguay: Gemeindekomittee (Asociación Evangélica Mennonita del
Paraguay).

Riveros, Nicolas T. 1995. Dos Almas Musicales: Agustín Pío Barrios y José del Rosario
Diarte (Misioneros). Ministerio de Educacion y Culto, San Juan Bautista de la Misiones.

Rubén Álvarez, Mario. 2002. Folklore Paraguayo: Selección e Introducción. Collección:

Hacia un País de Lectores 3. Asunción, Paraguay: El Lector.

Salcedo Centurion, Carlos. 2007. El Inalcanzable Augustin Barrios Magore. Paraguayan

National Congress.

Sánchez Haase, Diego. La Música en el Paraguay: Breve Compendio de su Historia,

Acontecimientos y Características Más Importantes. Collección: Hacia un País de Lectores 5.
Asunción, Paraguay: El Lector.

Sequera, Guillermo and Alejandro Gangui. 2011. ‘The Tom´arˆaho Conception of the Sky’.
“Oxford IX” International Symposium on Archaeoastronomy, Proceedings IAU Symposium
No. 278, 1-8.

Stover, Richard D. 1985. Six Silver Moonbeams: The Life and Times of Agustin Barrios
Mangore. Querico Pubns.

____ con la colaboración del Centro de Proyectos Barrios Mangoré. 2010. Seis Rayos de
Plata: La Vida y Obra de Agustín Barrios Mangoré. 2a edición in español. Asunción,
Paraguay: Centro de Proyectos Barrios Mangoré.

Szarán, Luis. 1997. Diccionario de la Música en el Paraguay. Asunción, Paraguay: Szarán.

(A new second edition is currently compiled by the author and will be published shortly.)

____ . 2010. 'Historia de la Música'. In Historia del Paraguay, edited by Ignacio Telesca,
411-24. Santillana, Paraguay: Taurus.

Szarán, Luis and Jesús Ruiz Nestosa. 1996. Música en las Reducciones Jesúiticas. Asunción,
Paraguay: Ed. Missions Prokur S.J. Nürnberg.

Telesca, Ignacio ed. 2010. Historia del Paraguay. Santillana, Paraguay: Taurus.
Velázquez, Rafael Eladio. 2011 [1989]. Breve Historia de la Cultura en el Paraguay. 12th
edition. Asunción, Paraguay: ServiLibro.

Watkins, Timothy D. 1998. ‘Paraguay’. Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South

America, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. Vol. 2, edited by Dale A. Olsen and
Daniel E. Sheehy, 452-65. New York: Garland.

Zanardini, José and Walter Biedermann. 2006. Los Indigenas del Paraguay. 2nd revised
edition. Asunción, Paraguay: ITAIPU, Binacional.

MUSIC SCORES

Barrios, Lito. 2004. El Piano de Mangoré: Versiones para Piano de la Música de Agustín
Barrios. Asunción, Paraguay.

Cardoso, Jorge and Luis Zanazzo. 2010. Cuando Digo Madera, Digo Guitarra: Lucas
Braulio Areco Obras para Guitarra. Colección Fusas Confusas. Argentina: Editorial
Universitaria Universidad Nacional de Misiones.

Giménez, Florentín. 1993. Cancionero (Tomo I): 200 Composiciones Escogidas de su Vasta
Creación de Música Popular, Con Letras de Destacados Autores. Asunción, Paraguay:
Centro de Publicaciones Universidad Católica “Nuestra Señora de la Asunción”.

____ . 2009(?). Cancionero II: 100 Guaranias Inéditas de su Vasta Creación de Música
Popular con Letras de Destacados Autores. Asunción, Paraguay: Editorial Tavaroga.

Lombardo, Carlos. 1998. Folklore Guaraní Interpretación: Desquite de Guarania. Asunción,

Paraguay: El Lector.

Ramos. Tania. 2008. Paraguay Mbarakapu. Investigación Musical. Conservatorio Nacional

de Música del Paraguay. Asunción, Paraguay: ServiLibro.

Zanazzo, Luis. 2007. Componiendo la Historia: La Obra Completa de César Hugo Latti
(libro y CD). Colección Fusas Confusas. Argentina: Editorial Universitaria Universidad
Nacional de Misiones.

____ . 2009. Raíces. Colección Fusas Confusas. Argentina: Editorial Universitaria

Universidad Nacional de Misiones.