Music of Uruguay
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Uruguay has a number of local musical forms. The most distinctive ones are candombe, an Afro-Uruguayan percussion-based form, and murga, a form of musical theatre, which both occur yearly during the Carnival period. There is also milonga, a folk guitar and song form deriving from Spanish traditions and related to similar forms found in many Hispanic-American countries. Uruguay is also known for its tango; the famed tango singer Carlos Gardel is rumoured to have been from the Uruguayan town of Tacuarembó.
The popular music of Uruguay, which focuses on rock, jazz and many other Western forms, frequently makes reference to the distinctly Uruguayan sounds mentioned above. The group Los Shakers, 1960s imitators of The Beatles, deserve a special mention as the band that kickstarted the Argentinean rock scene. Also, cumbia, a music style popular throughout most of Central and South America is widely enjoyed by the Uruguayan people, particularly in the rural areas.
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Folk music (Música típica)
Candombe
Main article: Candombe
Candombe originates from the Rio de la Plata, where African slaves brought their dances and percussion music. The word tango then referred to the traditional drums and dances, as well as the places where dancing occurred. Candombe rhythms are produced by drum ensembles, known as cuerdas, which include dozens of drummers and feature three drum sizes: tambor repique, tambor chico and tambor piano).
Popular candombe musicians include Hugh Fattoruso and Rubén Rada. Fattoruso has been a longtime part of both the Uruguayan and Latin American music scene, including as a member of rock band Los Shakers, and swing band The Hot Blowers, as well as Milton Nascimento's Latin jazz group, Opa.
Milonga
Main article: Milonga
The milonga was a South American style of song that was popular in the 1870s. The milonga was derived from an earlier style of singing known as the payada de contrapunto.
The song was set to a lively 2/4 tempo, and often included musical improvisation. Over time, dance steps and other musical influences were added, eventually giving rise to the tango. Milonga music is still used for dancing, but the milonga dancing of today is derivative of tango.
Murga
Main article: Murga
Murga is a kind of Montevidean musical theater for Carnival celebrations. A traditional murga group is comprised of a chorus and three percussionists and this is the type of murga performed on stages at Carnival. The singers perform in harmony using up to five vocal parts. Vocal production tends to be nasal and loud with little variation in volume. The percussion instruments, derived from the European military band, are the bombo (a shallow bass drum worn at the waist and played horizontally), redoblante (snare drum) and platillos (cymbals). The two most important pieces of the performance are the opening song (saludo) and the exit song (retirada or despedida). These get played on the radio during the Carnival period and some of them, such as the Saludo Araca La Cana 1937, are cherished by Uruguayans as cultural icons.
Popular music
Canto popular
Main article: Canto popular
Canto popular (popular song), which arose around 1975, eschewed contemporary instrumentation, including electric instruments, allowing only native styles and rhythms. This can be compared to pan-Latin singer-songwriter developments like nueva canción, nueva trova and tropicalismo. Daniel Viglietti was by far the most important Uruguayan exponent of canto popular; his song "A Desalambrar" became an international popular classic. Canto popular peaked in about 1977.
Uruguayan artists involved in canto popular included Los Eduardos, Los Que Cantaban, Universo, Carlos Benavides, Carlos Maria Fossatti, Eduardo Darnuchans, Anibal Sampayo, Marks Velázquez, Alfred Zitarrosa, José Carbajal ("El Sabalero"), Los Olimareños and Hector Numa Moraes.
Uruguayan rock
Main article: Uruguayan rock
Rock and roll first broke into Uruguayan audiences with the arrival of British band The Beatles in the early 1960s. A wave of bands appeared in Montevideo, including Los Shakers and Los Mockers, both of whom became major figures in the so-called Uruguayan Invasion of Argentina. With the coming of the military dictatorship in 1973, the Uruguayan rock scene effectively died; since the mid-1980s it has resurged.
Uruguayan tango
Main article: Uruguayan tango
The modern field of tango music and dance arose Buenos Aires, Argentina as well as Montevideo, Uruguay. One of the most well-known tangos in the world, "La Cumparsita", was written by Uruguayan composer Gerardo Mattos Rodríguez. Modern tango musicians include Hugo Díaz, Miguel Villasboas, Marino Rivero, Raul Montero, Elsa Moran, Luis di Matteo and Julio Brum.
Classical music
Well-known modern composers of European classical music include Hector Tosar, Coriún Aharonián, León Biriotti, Renée Pietrafesa Bonnet and Eduardo Bértola. The modern conductors Gisèle Ben-Dor and Carlos Kalmar are also renowned in their field.
There is a Uruguayan Symphony Orchestra.
Musical festivals
Music festivals in Uruguay include the Liceal Festival) [www.jmi.net/jminews/33/].