The Qarawi and its social role

• Autor: Cavero Carrasco, Jesús Armando
• Formato: artículo
• Fecha de Publicación: 1985
• Institución: Universidad Católica San Pablo
• Repositorio: Revistas - Universidad Católica San Pablo
• Lenguaje: español
• OAI Identifier: oai:revistas.ucsp.edu.pe:article/1041
• Enlace del recurso: https://revistas.ucsp.edu.pe/index.php/Allpanchis/article/view/1041
• Nivel de acceso: acceso abierto
• Materia: qarawi; cohesión social; música andina; Anden music

The "qarawi", style of singing of pre-Hispanic origin that "neither the fire of the arquebuses of the Spanish conquerors, nor the cruelty of the friars, extirpators of idolatry have been able to destroy". Still today his music and lyrics faithfully translate, "for their sorrows", the life and heart of the Peruvian indigenous people. In the present work we are interested in highlighting the contemporary versions of the qarawi and the function it fulfills in the indigenous society of the Peruvian highlands. As will be seen below, the lyrics of the verses and the occasions in which the qarawi is executed have been and are extremely varied, what nevertheless typifies it is the style of the song, since the high tones in which it is sung and the performers (two elderly women) make the qarawi something very peculiar in the social context of this part of the Andes.