El Condor Pasa - A folk song with a soulful melody

(GLO) - By chance, I was fortunate enough to hear classical guitarist Vu Duc Hien perform a solo of El Condor Pasa. I was drawn into that beautiful song, into the world of sound within me, in a hauntingly possessive and dominant manner.

Like Ocean Vuong's poem "The Threshold": "I didn't know the cost of entering a song—was to lose your way back," the feeling of hearing and remembering a song sometimes leaves an indelible impression; it will return again and again, echoing in our memory like a haunting realm of the mind.

By chance, I was fortunate enough to hear classical guitarist Vu Duc Hien perform a solo of El Condor Pasa. I was drawn into the beautiful song, into the world of sound within me, in a way that was hauntingly dominant and possessive.

El Condor Pasa – Following the Eagle – is a famous folk song, recognized as a national cultural heritage in 2004, and considered the second "national anthem" of Peru. The song's captivating melody easily explains its musical value and significance. But El Condor Pasa seems to transcend the boundaries of mere musical beauty to touch upon profound human emotions. It is a love song about homeland, about the essence of human existence in a world that is both tragic and sublime.

The Condor, the falcon, is the sacred bird of the Native Americans, a symbol of the wild, ancient lands of South America and the once mighty Inca Empire. Its wings, propelled by the wind, soar high above the clouds and mountain peaks, over the majestic Andes, through the dense and mysterious Amazon, where cascading waterfalls cut through forests, where vast deserts stretch, where waves crash against towering rocks, and where winding, solitary paths reveal forgotten temple ruins...

Is Condor immortal because of its strength or its loneliness, because of the secrets hidden behind its eyes that span a thousand miles or its wings that soar endlessly, because of its religious beliefs or its desolate pain? I dare not be sure of anything! I only know that each rhythm and tempo of El Condor Pasa is like a flowing stream, both innocent and full of suppressed emotions, both soaring and poignant, both lyrical and narrative, both expansive and light, lifting the listener's emotions to float like a bird in flight, like the wings of a mythical eagle soaring freely in the sky.

There I heard the joyful singing in the wind, the passionate love for the vastness of the earth and sky, for boundless freedom and endless adventures. I also heard the desolate, broken ruins beneath the once glorious Machu Picchu, the torment of those who considered freedom their lifeblood, who retreated in bewildered awe into deep caves and ravines to preserve their indigenous civilization or flee the encroachment of foreign cultures.

But more than anything, in the midst of tragedy, the pain soars like a peacock yearning for the sky and light, rising above it all with an intense love for the land, water, and wind of its homeland. In El Condor Pasa, the sadness is as beautiful as a poem, and the poignant memories of a people have created the immortal vitality of a folk song, comforting the wounds and sowing seeds of faith in the end…

The experiences of the times and the historical memories of the nation, past and present, do not repeat themselves, making the desert love song or Andes love song - El Condor Pasa - the sacred anthem of the Peruvian people, the last and forever imprinting the brilliant Inca civilization, the Quechua language, and the captivating mysteries of the indigenous Indian culture. It has painted an indelible red mark on the map of human identity, reminding people of their journey from primitive savagery to the profound light of the philosophy of survival, where lessons of civilization and culture, glory and ruin, loss and permanence guide people to choose to live with selfless forgiveness, to release sorrow into the vastness of love for the earth and sky, and to feel as light as a bird's wing.

I have pondered deeply the meaning of the term "national anthem." How can a folk song be considered the second national anthem of a nation? Listening to El Condor Pasa, whether the first time or many times, the answer remains the same for me. Because the melody, its ability to convey the depth of the soul, and above all, the cultural sediment it embodies, represent the soul and destiny of the nation where it originated. The beauty and pain, the longing for home distilled by blood and tears, the brilliance of the ashes in the final moments—these are the powers that forever preserve the immortal vitality of a national song. Moreover, it transcends national boundaries, leaving an indelible mark on humanity's arduous journey through life.

"Following the Eagle" has become a national work, deeply imbued with folk elements. Conversely, these folk elements have imbued the song with the distinctive beauty of its region, creating a unique and captivating quality not found in any other song, including compositions with strong Indian and indigenous influences like the soundtracks for "The Bad the Good and the Ugly" or "The Last of the Mohicans." Belonging to the Huayno style—a street and festival style of Andean music—El Condor Pasa has shed most of its vibrant "city" characteristics to return to pristine nature, to the tranquil oblivion of ancient Inca ruins. Its lyrical quality soars like an eagle's wings in the wind, sometimes gliding over the sea, or silently flapping in the air.

This enchanting melody guides the listener's emotions through its spatial rhythm and scenic nuances, across the sea, through the towering mountains, and through the desolate desert, becoming an endless "epic" of the diverse and beautiful landscapes of Peru, an epic of the long journey of homeland and longing. Spacious and majestic, silently, the soul of El Condor Pasa leans towards a deep, contemplative, lyrical, and gentle tone, like a culmination of the desolate sadness inherent in humanity, poignant and moving with regret and sorrow, a feeling that, having just been contained, bursts forth into the boundless embrace of wind, water, clouds, and sky. It is a song of mountains and of humanity merging into pristine nature, as if seeking a peaceful haven after the barrenness, loss, desolation, and ruin of the human world.

El Condor Pasa borrows the Quena flute to elevate its sound beyond the towering mountains, and the high-pitched tones of the charango (a type of luyt instrument) to lift the soul's voice to a state of adriftness. The Andes plateau is the space to which these instruments belong, as if they were born specifically for this Inca melody.

Therefore, when listening to artist Leo Rojas perform the flute and artist Vu Duc Hien's guitar solo El Condor Pasa, the listener's emotions are truly satisfied and complete. This is something that AI can never replace, because emotion, and the pinnacle of emotion, is musical feeling distilled from human experience, memories, soul, and creative talent, resulting in melodies and masterpieces that are never repeated.

El Condor Pasa originated as a traditional folk song from the 18th century, perfected in melody and lyrics by Peruvian artist Daniel Alomina Robles in 1913. Then, in 1970, singers Simon and Garfunkel wrote English lyrics. The ability to recreate, adapt, and transform a folk song into a modern one largely affirms the enduring vitality of a musical work within the flow of history. But the beauty of El Condor Pasa lies in its "irregular" journey within the rules of creation.

I secretly think it's a "wordless" love song, where the melody and rhythm alone can fully and completely convey the immense sadness, the vast, "restrained" human sorrow amidst the myriad thoughts and feelings of the people and their fate. And that allows instruments with rich, complex melodic structures like the guitar, bamboo flute, and zither to freely express themselves. The lyrical adaptations in different languages ​​are essentially a continuation and extension of the emotional narrative of the experienced, existential human being. Only the breadth, richness, and abundance of silence, emptiness, and lingering echoes in the folk melody possess the powerful, latent vitality of the song EL Condor Pasa.

To find the origins of a nation's musical "soul and essence," one must begin with the unique colors of the locality, with its unadulterated, intrinsic vitality, even if that vitality sprouts from sorrowful memories. For in life, what beauty doesn't sparkle from bitter tears? The beauty and profound sadness in the folk melody El Condor Pasa, if listeners, out of curiosity or by chance, "step into" it and "forget their way back," I believe, is still worth the price to experience.

Source: https://baogialai.com.vn/el-condor-pasa-mot-dieu-hon-dan-ca-post570841.html