El cóndor pasa
El cóndor pasa ("the condor flies by") is a song from Peru that became internationally known through an English version by Simon & Garfunkel from 1970. The original goes back to a Peruvian folk tune of the 18th century.
History of origin
El cóndor pasa , composed in 1913 by Daniel Alomía Robles , is based on the copyright-free Peruvian folk song Soy la paloma que el nido perdió ("I am the dove that has lost its nest") from the 18th century. Julio Baudouin y Paz added another text to the melody called El cóndor pasa , which was first performed in Lima on December 19, 1913 at the Teatro Mazzi. The then 42-year-old composer Robles shaped the song into a zarzuela , a spoken and sung play. This Zarzuela consisted of eight parts: introduction ( introducción ), male choir ( coro ), sad Inca music from the Andes ( yaraví ), duet of soprano and baritone ( dúo ), romance ( romanza ), royal dance ( kashua ), folk march ( pasacalle ) and intercession ( plegaria ).
The Zarzuela plays in a mine in Cerro de Pasco and complains about the conflicts between the Indian miners and the European owners ( sajones , meaning "Saxons"). In the course of the play, the exploitative Mr. King is murdered by Higinio. But the longed-for freedom and resolution of the constant conflicts does not bring that, because Mr. Cup is his successor, with whom the social grievances continue unchanged. The condor , the symbol of freedom, continues to circle. The intercession calls the condor, who should take a victim with him to Machu Picchu to the empire of the Inca .
This Zarzuela was not protected by copyright until 1933 when Robles was in New York as a cultural attaché. He chose the music publisher Edward B. Marks Music Corp. from who had Robles and the translator Paul Yoder (1908–1990) registered with BMI as authors with the title El cóndor pasa: Inca Dance . The original piano arrangement underlying the copyright registration was by George Cole. In this original form, the piece begins with a very slow choral tempo, which then gradually increases and ends at a very high tempo.
An early cover version of the Marshall's Civic Band of John B. Marshall appeared in 1942, the year Robles died. A first description in the trade press of October 1942 is based on the adaptation by George Cole on which the copyright registration in 1933 was based. The description explains the beginning of the song in the style of a recitative , the part after that begins with an attractive melody, a bridge leads into the second section of the composition with a different key and a slightly increased tempo; after a few passages with dance figures, it finally reaches a dramatic finale.
Version of "Los Incas"
Little is known about the folklore group Los Incas . It was founded in 1956 by the Argentine Jorge Milchberg ( Charango ). Other members were Jorge Cumbo and Uña Ramos ( Quena flute) and Emilio Arteaga (guitar and bombo bass drum). They played songs from the Altiplano (Andean highlands) and thus became known in Europe. In 1963 they recorded a version called El Condor Pasa for their LP Amérique du Sud - Voyages Autour du Monde (Phillips) in Paris, although they mostly performed the song as Paso Del Condor ("The Condor Fly By"). The flute solo in A minor ranges between E4 and C6. Later the group temporarily renamed itself Urubamba.
Version by Simon & Garfunkel
When Paul Simon appeared in Paris in November 1965 at the Théâtre de l'Est Parisien , he heard the song entitled Paso Del Condor by Los Incas , which were booked there at the same time, and sought contact with the group. Simon told her about his plan to re-record the song with his partner Art Garfunkel with English lyrics and asked the group about the origin of the piece. They incorrectly indicated that it was a copyright-free Peruvian folk tune and named its founder Milchberg as the arranger.
In his version, Paul Simon opted for a completely different text from the Spanish original. Recorded and produced by Simon (with longtime sound engineer Roy Halee) in New York on November 2, 1969 for the album Bridge over Troubled Water , the studio musicians Fred Carter (guitar) and Larry Knechtel, known from The Wrecking Crew , played alongside Simon (guitar) (Keyboards), Joe Osborn (bass) and Hal Blaine (drums) together with the Los Incas . The album became the duo's fifth and final studio album. Art Garfunkel was not present at the time of recording. In El Condor Pasa ( El Condor Pasa (If I Could) was sometimes used as the title ) Simon and Milchberg were named as composers.
As a single El Condor Pasa was released with the B-side Why Don't You Write Me in September 1970. The release reached number 18 in the US singles hit parade, it was not released in Great Britain. In Germany, the single came on the market in June 1970 and reached first place here, where it stayed for eight weeks. In March 1970 Los Incas released the version El Condor Pasa / O'Cangaceiro, which had been decoupled from their LP, as a single version, without it being able to achieve any particular response. In Germany it entered the charts in September 1970, where it climbed to 36th place.
Copyright infringement
In 1970, the year of publication, the American music publisher Edward B. Marks appeared and stated on behalf of Robles' son Armando Robles Godoy that he had been managing the copyright for Daniel Robles since 1933, but that Simon & Garfunkel had not mentioned him as the author, except for Jorge Milchberg and the editor Paul Simon are registered with the English version. The rather amicable process did not cause any particular complications. Nothing was known about the outcome of the trial; Robles was subsequently listed as a composer. According to the BMI composers are now: Jorge Milchberg, Daniel Alomia Robles and, as the arranger for the English text, Paul Simon.
Cover versions and statistics
The version by Simon & Garfunkel triggered a large number of cover versions, Coverinfo.de lists 78 versions. A first version is by Julie Felix ; it took advantage of Simon & Garfunkel's decision not to publish the title in the UK. Their single version reached 19th place after it was released in April 1970. Perry Como followed on his album It's Impossible (December 1970).
In Germany, Jürgen Marcus brought out a German version with a text by Joachim Relin under the title Nur Du in July 1970 , which made it to 32nd place. In 1970, other German-speaking interpreters preferred the title The Condor Pulls ( Bata Illic , Mary Roos ). In 1971 the 3 Travelers celebrated one of their last great successes with the parody Der Pleitegeier (sitting in the wallet) . In the same year Franz-Josef Degenhardt mocked the "Schnulzentext" by Simon & Garfunkel and claimed to be singing the Resistance song of the Inca with his Inka song ("The morning burns and the scream falls from the mountains, the scream for the fight Country").
Simon & Garfunkel's version of the title received a BMI Award, and on March 16, 1971, the LP and the single of the same name were each awarded a Grammy for the record of the year . In April 2004, the song was declared a Peruvian cultural heritage (Patrimonio cultural de la Nación) .
The son Robles Godoy managed the 696 folklore pieces, 140 compositions (zarzuelas and operas) and between 60 and 70 poems in the Quechua language that were taken over from his father .
Text comparison
| Text in Quechua | Spanish version | German translation |
|---|---|---|
|
Yaw kuntur llaqtay urqupi tiyaq |
Oh majestuoso Cóndor de los Andes, |
Oh majestic Andean condor, |
literature
- José Varallano: El condor pasa, Talleres Gráficos. FL Villanueva, SA, Lima 1988.
Web links
- El Condor Pasa - Comments by Gerald Schwertberger on El Cóndor Pasa (PDF; 45 kB)
- Text with translations (Spanish)
- Proyecto Cóndor pasa ( Memento of October 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (Spanish)
Individual evidence
- ↑ José Varallanos: El Cóndor Pasa - Vida y obra de Daniel Alomía Robles. Lima 1988, pp. 62-71
- ^ Peruvian newspaper La República of April 13, 2004
- ↑ A Recital of "Inca Music". In: New York Times, January 22, 1920, p. 22 ( online , accessed January 16, 2011)
- ↑ BMI entry about El Condor Pasa ( Memento of the original from December 17, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Description of the song in the version of the Marshall's Civic Band ( Memento of the original from December 2, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Florence Kallander: Reviewed Works: Progressive Harmony by Raymond C. Robinson. Music Educators Journal, Vol. 29, No. 1 (Sep-Oct 1942), p. 50, Published by MENC: The National Association for Music Education
- ↑ Billboard Magazine, November 27, 1965, p. 29 ( limited preview in Google Book Search)
- ↑ cf. Armando Robles Godoy in the English Wikipedia
- ^ Cover info about El Condor Pasa
- ↑ Noticiasdot reports on the declaration on cultural heritage on April 13, 2004 ( Memento of the original from June 1, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
