Greetings, friends. This is the final performance that took place in the Bella Vista parish of Cagua, Aragua State, Venezuela, where I live and am part of this educational institution. The end of the school year was organised around a series of activities that took place over four days, during which each day the music students performed pieces on the instruments they were learning, accompanied by their teachers, parents, guardians and the community in general. The children and young people showed off their talents for a few hours, threatening to take over the afternoon and leaving an indelible mark on Venezuelan culture and music.
On the days of the performances, I had just joined the orchestra system, so I was there as a member of the general public. The activities lasted between one and two hours each day. Sometimes only the students played, other times they were accompanied by their teachers, and sometimes the teachers played some pieces together on their own. Today I am presenting a video where I selected the best performances of that day, which was a difficult task for me, so the video is only 14 minutes long. I hope you enjoy it.
In the first song, the young people play "Preciosa Merideña", which is a waltz that pays tribute to the women of the Andes region of Venezuela, the state of Mérida, the part where it is cold and there are mountains, some covered in white snow. The lyrics are a poem full of love that compares the beauty of these women with their natural surroundings. The person singing it is a teacher whose name I don't remember, but she has a beautiful and powerful voice.
The second popular Venezuelan song used to take the first steps in music on any stringed instrument is "Compadre Pancho." It was made popular by maestro Simón Díaz, a world-renowned musician who has since passed away, but it was composed by Lorenzo Herrera, a renowned Venezuelan composer.
Another of the beautiful songs they performed, which appears at 8:22, is "Lágrimas en el tranquero" (Tears in the Gate). Here, a child sings accompanied by a small group who are taking their first steps in playing national folk instruments. The piece is a passage that narrates the sadness of a man who went to look for his love after passing through the savannah but receives the news that they have gone far away.
In the 14-minute video, there are several songs that are played instrumentally, including, to finish, "Moliendo Café," a masterpiece that describes the lyrics of a song about love and coffee. It was played by three teachers: the cuatro specialist, the guitar specialist, and the mandolin teacher. I enjoy every performance, and I hope you enjoyed my video and post. Thank you very much for your support and valuable time.
▶️ 3Speak
