Quilapayún Chante Neruda


Quilapayún Chante Neruda is a compilation music album released by Quilapayún in exile in France in 1983 in commemoration of the 10th Anniversary of the death of the Chilean poet and Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda – who died in September 1973.

Background

Pablo Neruda was not a musician but he was a major inspiration to artist in the music field all over Latin America, especially for artists of the Nueva Cancion Chilena movement. Neruda wrote the liner notes for a number of recordings released by young folk Chilean artists under the DICAP label. Many compositions were directly inspired by the poetry of Neruda and popular protest songs were often musical arrangements for his poetical text. Neruda's epic work Canto General, from which several poems featured in this recording were taken from, has been a major source of text for compositions by folk, contemporary and classical composers.

Content

This album included a compilation of songs from 1975 to 1983 recorded by Quilapayun and new arrangements of music inspired by the poetry of Neruda along with the participation of prominent French artists who sing and narrate Neruda’s poetry in French. There are songs based on Neruda’s early work Crepusculario, from his Extravagario, on his political verse from Canción de Geste and from his Cien Sonetos de Amor. There are also musical composition based on Neruda’s work “Fulgor y Muerte de Joaquin Murieta.”
The album opens with, Complainte de Pablo Neruda, a poetical elegy written by the French poet Louis Aragon to the music of Eduardo Carrasco which prefaces the rest of the compilation. Louis Aragon, who had been a personal friend of Neruda, died shortly before the release of this album.
The verses from Neruda's poems adapted to songs were translated from their original Spanish to French by Geneviève Dourthe, Jean Marcenac, Eduardo Carrasco Jr., Emmanuelle and Gérard Clery.

Liner notes

September 1983:10th Anniversary of the death of Pablo Neruda

Track listing

  1. "Complainte de Pablo Neruda"
Louis Aragon/Eduardo Carrasco
Pablo Neruda/Rodolfo Parada
  1. "Pido Castigo" Pablo Neruda/Rodolfo Parada
  2. ”Playa del Sur” Pablo Neruda/Hugo Lagos 1980. Text: Playa del Sur, from Neruda’s work, Crepusculario
  3. ”Entre morir y no morir” Pablo Neruda/Sergio Ortega 1980. Text: from Neruda’s Testamento de Otoño from Extravagario.
  4. "Premonición de la Muerte de Joaquín Murieta"
Pablo Neruda/Eduardo Carrasco 1975.
Text: Neruda’s “Fulgor y muerte de Joaquín Murieta”
  1. ”Un Son Para Cuba”
Pablo Neruda/Quilapayún 1976
Text: Poem from Neruda’s work: “Cancio de Gesta”
  1. ”Continuará Nuestra Lucha”
Pablo Neruda/Rodolfo Parada 1976
Text: Neruda’s Canto V “Están Aquí” from Canto General
  1. ”Monólogo de la Cabeza de Murieta"
Pablo Neruda/Eduardo Carrasco 1980
Text: Neruda’s “Fulgor y muerte de Joaquín Murieta”
  1. ”Dos Sonetos” Pablo Neruda/Eduardo Carrasco 1983
Text: Neruda’s Sonnets: XCIX. Otros días vendrán, sera entendido and C. En medio de la tierra apartaré from Cien Sonetos de Amor

Personnel