Cardo o ceniza

"Cardo o ceniza" (translated "thistle or ash") is a song written and performed by Chabuca Granda. It was written in 1973 and tells of the passionate desire and shame felt by Chilean singer-songwriter Violeta Parra after being rejected by her lover, Gilbert Favre.

"Cardo o ceniza"
Song by Chabuca Granda
Songwriter(s)Chabuca Granda

Composition

Granda wrote "Cardo o ceniza" in 1973 while living in Mexico. She wrote several songs about the Chilean singer-songwriter Violeta Parra, who committed suicide in 1967. Granda had not met Parra, but her death had deeply touched Granda who called it an "irreparable" tragedy.[1][2]

The song's musical composition is in the form of a landó, a sensual and rhythmic style of the Peruvian coast. Singer Tania Libertad, who later covered the song, wrote: "The letter is a permanent questioning; the sensuality and rhythmic division of the landó allow syncopation and spaces where there is room for doubt and lack of answers. That's how great Chabuca was."[3]

The song's lyrics describe the passionate desire and shame felt by Parra over her love for the Swiss musician Gilbert Favre, who was 19 years younger than Parra. Parra's suicide in 1967 has been blamed in part on her love for Favre.[4][5][6][7]

Author Sara Vignolo offered an interpretation on the song: "The thistle is a showy flower with a stem and thorny leaves; it is captivating and painful like the stories of impossible love. The ash is what remains after the burning of all the ships, after the flame of all the dreams; when all the cravings burned in the embers of the flesh ... It is hell of ashamed love; offbeat, lilting, syncopated ... a forbidden dance, a drink joyful and bitter ”[8]

Recording history

Recordings by Granda

Granda first recorded the song for her 1974 Sono Radio album, Chabuca Granda y ... don Luis González.[9]

Granda again performed the song in November 1977 for the program, "300 millones" of Televisión Española. She was accompanied on the performance by Rodolfo Arteaga, Félix Casaverde, and Caitro Soto.[10]

In 1978, Granda included the song on her album, "Tarimba Negra".[11]

Granda suffered a heart attack in 1979 and was in poor health thereafter. She recorded her final album, Cada Cancion con su Razon, in 1980 at the EMI studios in Buenos Aires. She included "Cardo y ceniza" on the album with accompaniment by Caitro Soto, Pititi Sirio, and Álvaro Lagos.[12]

Covers

The song is among the most popular in Granda's oeuvre and has been covered by many artists, including the following:

  • Peruvian singer-songwriter and Grammy winner Susana Baca covered the song on her 2001 album, Gifted: Women of the World.[13]
  • Eva Ayllón, recipient of the Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, covered the song on The Rough Guide to Afro Peru (2002) and on Eva! Leyendra Peruana.[14][15]
  • Tania Libertad, also the recipient of the Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, covered the song on the 1983 tribute album, Lo Inolvidable de Chabuca Granda.[16]
  • Dulce Pontes, a Portuguese fado singer, covered the song on the 2017 tribute album, "A Chabuca", which was nominated for a Latin Grammy.[17][18]

Recognition

In 2017, Granda's body of musical work was declared a part of the "Patrimonio Cultural de la Nación" ("Cultural Heritage of the Nation").[19] "Cardo o Ceniza" was one of the works cited in the declaration.[20]

In 2019, La República, one of the two major national newspapers in Peru, included "Cardo y ceriza" on its list of the six best songs of Granda that have represented Peru around the world.[21] The magazine Caretas also included the song in its 2020 listing of Granda's five most emblematic songs.[22]

In 2020, on the 100th anniversary of Granda's birth, Peru's Ministry of Culture published a book on Granda's life and works, written by Rodrigo Sarmiento Herencia. Sarmiento opened the book by naming "Cardo y ceniza" among Granda's four most recognized works, demonstrating her unfading creative capacity and talent.[23]

References
  1. Rodrigo Sarmiento Herencia (2020). Llego Rasgando Cielos, Luz y Viento: Vida y Obra de Chabuca Granda (PDF). Peru Ministro de Cultura. p. 86.
  2. T. Fuller & A. Rodriguez (1989). Chabuca Granda: Antología poética, Signo e imagen. Secretaría de Relaciones Institucionales del Banco de Crédito del Perú. p. 105.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  3. Sarmiento, "Llego Rasgando Cielos, Luz y Viento", pp. 144-145.
  4. Sarmiento, "Llego Rasgando Cielos, Luz y Viento", p. 184.
  5. "Las canciones de Chabuca Granda más emblemáticas en el año del centenario de su nacimiento". Caretas. January 24, 2020.
  6. "Chabuca Granda: las mejores canciones de la cantautora que representa al Perú". La Republica. January 10, 2020.
  7. "La lá interpreta "Cardo o ceniza" de Chabuca Granda como parte de RGP Latin Classics". Gladys Palmera. November 7, 2018.
  8. Sarmiento, "Llego Rasgando Cielos, Luz y Viento", p. 144.
  9. Sarmiento, "Llego Rasgando Cielos, Luz y Viento", p. 173.
  10. Sarmiento, "Llego Rasgando Cielos, Luz y Viento", p. 93.
  11. "Chabuca Granda Con Félix Casaverde, Caitro Soto* Y Ricardo Miralles* – Tarimba Negra". Discogs. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  12. Rodrigo Sarmiento Herencia (2020). Llego Rasgando Cielos, Luz y Viento: Vida y Obra de Chabuca Granda (PDF). Peru Ministro de Cultura. pp. 96, 98.
  13. "Gifted: Women of the World". Allmusic.com. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  14. "The Rough Guide to Afro Peru". Allmusic.com. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  15. "Eva! Leyendra Peruana". Allmusic.com. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  16. "Lo Inolvidable de Chabuca Granda". Allmusic.com. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  17. "A Chabuca". Apple Music. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  18. "Los peruanos que llevaron a Chabuca Granda a los 'Latin Grammy 2017'". RPP.pe. November 16, 2017.
  19. Guillermo Pellegrino (2002). Las cuerdas vivas de América. Editorial Sudamericana. p. 29.
  20. "Declaran Patrimonio Cultural de la Nación a la Obra musical de María Isabel Granda y Larco". El Peruano. January 5, 2017.
  21. "Chabuca Granda: las mejores canciones de la cantautora que representa al Perú". La República. September 3, 2019.
  22. "Las canciones de Chabuca Granda más emblemáticas en el año del centenario de su nacimiento". Caretas. January 24, 2020.
  23. Sarmiento, "Llego Rasgando Cielos, Luz y Viento", p. 11.

Further reading
  • Ricardo Miranda Tarrillo, "Música criolla del Perú: Breve historia" (1989, Peru Ministerio de Educación)
  • G. Bulnes Mallea, "Chabuca: Semblanza de Isabel Granda Larco" (1990, Lima: Concytec)
  • Florian Furtwängler, "Chabuca Granda: Musikalishe Impressionen aus Lima" (1980, video documentary by Radiodifusión Bávara)
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