What Is It About Venezuelan Music?

Whenever I don’t feel like doing what I have to do, or when I’m a little down, I put on a CD of Venezuelan music, and that is more than enough to give me an incredible burst of energy that has me singing and dancing in the kitchen or the laundry room.

And every time I go to an event at the children’s school (where our “Alma Llanera” is never missing), I start crying like a real fool.

I always ask myself: what is it about Venezuelan music that stirs my soul and my heart so much?

Of course, I could think it’s my Carora blood that moves my musical fibers, but it turns out that Venezuelans are not the only ones who are moved by it.

We have seen English, German and Swiss audiences rise from their seats and move (because most of them don’t know how to dance) at the wonderful concerts of Venezuelan musicians, who have been, and still are, a great glory for our country: starting with the great Alfredo Sadel, our dearly beloved Simón Díaz, the Billo’s Caracas Boys, the brilliant Gustavo Dudamel and the National System of Children’s and Youth Orchestras, the incredible Serenata Guayanesa, the sweet María Teresa Chacín, Aldemaro Romero and his Onda Nueva, the incomparable Ensamble Gurrufío, the popular Un Solo Pueblo, the quintessential plainsman Reynaldo Armas, Gualberto Ibarreto, Cheo Hurtado and his sowing of the cuatro, the ever-present Maracaibo 15 and Guaco, and thousands upon thousands more I would love to name, but I can’t, because I would have no space left to write anything else.

To all of them: a thousand thanks for conveying so much beauty and giving us strength when we need it! A thousand thanks, because many of you are teaching thousands of children and young people today who will follow in your footsteps and bring new musical glories to our beloved homeland!

In my opinion, every Venezuelan musician should be given a Nobel Peace Prize, because the unity and joy they have sown in our country, in times of great problems and division, have been truly incredible.

But what is so special about our Venezuelan music? I suppose it means so much because it has been with us since we were babies: when our father put on that record of Chelique Sarabia’s “Ansiedad” for our mother, and later, when they played us the children’s song about the boy Simón Bolívar happily playing his drum. Not to mention the Christmas carol “Si la Virgen fuera andina,” which made us imagine that, with a Virgin from the Andes and a Saint Joseph from the Llanos, the Child Jesus would be a Venezuelan boy.

Have you ever wondered how many Venezuelan children have played “Compadre Pancho” at some point in their lives, or danced to “La lancha nueva,” the song about the boat setting out for Nueva Esparta? And who hasn’t been moved hearing the Quinteto Contrapunto perform “Las brisas del Torbes” or “Noches larenses”?

And what can I say about our gaitas? Who hasn’t choked up listening to the one that begins “Cuando voy a Maracaibo y empiezo a pasar el puente…”, about the overwhelming emotion of crossing the bridge into Maracaibo: the lump in the throat, the pounding heart, the tears that come without warning… Ooohhh…?

And let’s not even talk about Sunday gatherings with cachapas, fried pork or a little barbecue, and the ever-present “Caballo viejo,” “Moliendo café” or “Pajarillo,” which always give us goosebumps.

But for me there is nothing like our “Alma Llanera,” by Pedro Elías Gutiérrez, which premiered at the Teatro Caracas in 1914. What is it about “Alma Llanera”? It has love, great big love for our homeland. Love for the foam of our waterfalls, for our delightful beaches and marvelous rivers, for our majestic mountains and for our enviable Sun.

And it stirs us because we Venezuelans are definitely passionate: “I love, I weep, I sing, I dream… with carnations of passion… with carnations of passion.” The overflowing passion of a people who love their country immensely; who have cried a great deal these years; who sing in order to keep fighting with joy; but above all who dream, who dream not only of carnations of passion but of a country where ALL of us can live united and in peace, enjoying the great wonders God has given us.

So what Venezuelan music has is Love! Because we have grown up with it; we have savored our culinary delights with it; we have traveled through our natural beauty with it; we have shared unforgettable moments with our family and friends with it.

And we have also cried with it: cried in pain over so much injustice, and cried with emotion because we know that as long as we keep fighting we will have hope.

The hope of seeing a country full of peace and justice for all in this Land of Grace, where God willed that we be born, and sing, and dance.