TEHUANTEPEC ISTHMUS MUSIC AND CULTURE

Abstract

Saa in zapotec language can be translated as “celebration” but also it refers directly to “dance” and indirectly to “music”. Everyday in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec there is Saa. Then, to understand the tight relationship between music and culture it is fundamental to analyze how music in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec evolved and transformed since early prehispanic days, through the Spanish colonization, the Independence period, the Revolution and modernity and global era (that can be read as nowadays). During this conference there will be historical, anthropological and mainly musical and ethnomusicological analysis with some archaeological and linguistic references. Isthmus of Tehuantepec can be recognized by its percussions like turtle shell and wooden double headed drums, carrizo* flutes from its pre-Columbian period. After that, we can meet some of the newcomers like the African marimba, the Spanish guitar, and finally the trumpet and during 20th century the popularization of the saxophone in the region. Also there will be some symbols that remained from pre-Columbian beliefs, well preserved inside oral tradition and plasmated in 20th century's song's lyrics. As well, the analysis of the dialectical evolution of this region's music by understanding pre-Columbian rhythms with baroque Spanish harmonies and musical forms. So then, there can be shown a landscape of how music influences in the daily life of isthmian communities.