¹ This section was developed from a biographical sketch previously published in Symposium. See Alfredo Colman, ‘Florentín Giménez’s Misa folclórica paraguaya: A Liturgical Celebration through the Lens of Musical Nationalism’, College Music Symposium, 61.1 (2021), <https://symposium.music.org/index.php/current-issue/item/11522-florentin-gimenez-s-i-misa-folclorica-paraguaya-i-a-liturgical-celebration-through-the-lens-of-musical-nationalism> (accessed 26 January 2023).

² Both ensembles followed the model of Argentine orquestas típicas (‘tango ensembles’). According to the composer, in addition to a vocalist, a typical tango orquesta típica included two or more bandoneons, one or more violins, a double bass, and a piano, usually played by the leader of the ensemble.

³ Among them, Argentine jazz composer Angel ‘Pocho’ Gatti, singers Roberto Yanés and Estela Raval, Brazilian pianist Daniel Salinas and singer Martha Mendonça, the Mexican Trío Los Panchos, several Paraguayan soloists and conjuntos, American singers Freddie Davis and Andy Russell, and others.

⁴ Among these hit songs, three of them were widely disseminated in the region: ‘Sin saber por qué’ (‘Without Knowing Why’), which was recorded by Mercedes Sosa in 1959 and ‘Te sigo esperando’ (‘I Continue Waiting for You’), recorded by María Teresa Márquez in 1957, Ramona Galarza in 1966, and Serenata Tropical Orchestra in 1968; as well as the slow-rock ballad ‘Soy el amor’ (‘I Am Love’), recorded by Baby Bell and Juan Ramón in 1961, Raúl Lavié in 1963, and Neil Sedaka in 1964. Curiously, ‘Soy el amor’ was first conceived and composed as a guarania.

⁵ In addition to monographs discussing Paraguayan music and culture – La música paraguaya (El Lector, 1997), Rasgos tradicionales del folklore paraguayo (Editorial Tavaroga, 1999), and El decálogo sonoro (Editora Litocolor SRL, 2017) – he has published his memoirs Historia sin tiempo (Editorial Salemma, 2008), a revised version of them in 2013, and a series of four novels: Indalecio (Editorial Tavaroga, 2007), Rasgos y pasiones (Editorial Tavaroga, 2007), Isabela (Editorial Tavaroga, 2010), and Samunko: Solaro con los dioses aterrados (Editorial Tavaroga, 2010).

⁶ The honorary doctorates were conferred by the National University of Asunción (2006), the Asunción Metropolitan University (2007), and the National University of Pilar (2014). Giménez received the National Music Award in 2001 and in 2015, the first for his Symphony no. 1 in D Minor, ‘Metamorphosis’ and the second for his opera Juana de Lara.

⁷ I am indebted to the composer, who in September 2018 and during an interview graciously shared with me his personal audio files of 135 recorded songs. In 2022, Giménez’s heirs released posthumously a recording of twelve folk-style songs, including new compositions written between 2019 and 2021.

⁸ See the Appendix for a list of commercially available recordings of Florentín Giménez’s obras populares produced by the composer. Conducting a cursory search of Giménez’s vocal compositions on digital and social media platforms such as YouTube will yield up-to-date sample recordings of some of the most representative folk-style songs by the composer.

⁹ Emphasizing ideas on the Guaraní language, Paraguayan history, identity, and nationalism has been expressed in two historic monographs published in 1911: La República del Paraguay en su primer Centenario 1811–1911 (‘The Republic of Paraguay in its First centennial 1811–1911’); and Album gráfico de la República del Paraguay: 100 años de vida independiente 1811–1911 (‘Graphic Album of the Republic of Paraguay: 100 Years of Independent Life 1811–1911’). Bartomeu Melià’s 2011 Otras historias de la independencia (‘Other Histories of Independence’) offers a contemporary and informed critique on the construction and systematic official promotion of those views in twentieth-century Paraguay. See Bartomeu Melià (ed.), Otras historias de la independencia (Santillana, S.A., 2011). Melià also indicates that one may have needed to wait until the end of the nineteenth century for a true discussion of a Paraguayan history, which up to that time could have been referred to as a ‘history of colonial Guaraní’. See Melià, El Paraguay inventado (Centro de Estudios Paraguayos ‘Antonio Guasch’, 1997), p. 23. At the same time, he argues that, though not denied directly or explicitly, this history of the Guaraní has been purposefully ignored by the conventional historiography of Paraguay. See Melià, , Otras historias, p. 79 Google Scholar.

¹⁰ Specifically, I am referring to ideas on cultural representation discussed in two publications: Hall, Stuart and du Gay, Paul (eds.), Questions of Cultural Identity (Sage, 1996)Google Scholar; and Hall, Stuart and others (eds.), Modernity: An Introduction to Modern Societies (Blackwell, 1996)Google Scholar. For additional details, see Colman, ‘Florentín Giménez’s Misa folclórica paraguaya’.

¹¹ Interview by author, 30 June 2011.

¹² Moreover, as a socially and culturally constructed idea, for most Paraguayans both paraguayidad and ‘Paraguayan identity’ are seen as synonymous ideas. See in Colman, Alfredo, The Paraguayan Harp: From Colonial Transplant to National Symbol (Lexington, 2015)CrossRefGoogle Scholar, ch. 1 ‘On Identity, Paraguayidad, and Tekó’ and ch. 2 ‘Paraguayidad and Paraguayan Identity’.

¹³ In a thought-provoking essay written by Bartomeu Melià entitled ‘From the Guaraní of History to the History of the Guaraní’, the author considers the various ideas informed by the bibliography of the political and social history of Paraguay. See Bartomeu Melià, ‘2.2. Del guaraní de la historia a la historia del guaraní’, in Mundo guaraní, ed. by Adriana Almada (Servilibro, 2011), pp. 93–102.

¹⁴ Krüger Bridge, Simone, ‘Music and Identity in Paraguay: Expressing National, Racial, and Class Identity in Guitar Music Culture’, Journal of the Royal Musical Association, 147.1 (2022), p. 12 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

¹⁵ Other cultural connectors include orally transmitted Guaraní myth and legends; the wide consumption of yerba mate drinks (the cold tereré, the warm mate and mate cocido infusions); the use of plants and fruits for medicinal purposes; and the names of towns, cities, and geographical regions in Paraguay.

¹⁶ See Giménez, Florentín, La música paraguaya (El Lector, 1997), pp. 335–36Google Scholar. This point has also been discussed in Colman, ‘Florentín Giménez’s Misa folclórica paraguaya’.

¹⁷ Interview by author, Asunción, 24 September 2018.

¹⁸ Giménez explains that the arribeños were the first to develop folk songs combining two language and musical sources – the indigenous and the Spanish – into one syncretic musical expression. See Giménez, Historia sin tiempo, p. 287; and Giménez, Florentín, El decálogo sonoro (Editora Litocolor SRL, 2015), pp. 136–37, 201–04Google Scholar.

¹⁹ In 1925, José Asunción Flores experimented with traditional musical forms and developed the guarania as a vocal and instrumental urban genre. The relaxed tempo and melancholic and sentimental sound of the guarania in compound duple metre with hemiola rhythmic characteristics seemed to convey for Flores a truthful depiction of being Paraguayan. See Colman, Alfredo, ‘Guaranía’, in Genres: Caribbean and Latin America, The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World Vol. 9, ed. by Shepherd, John and Horn, David (Bloomsbury, 2014)Google Scholar.

²⁰ Timothy Watkins, ‘Alma Guaraní: Indigenous Cultural Identity and the Construction of Paraguayan Musical Nationalism’, paper presented at the 46th Annual Conference of the Society for American Music, online, 16 July 2020, p. 9.

²¹ In general, these musical groups included two singers accompanied by guitars and the Paraguayan harp.

²² See Colman, ‘Florentín Giménez’s Misa folclórica paraguaya’.

²³ See Béhague, Gerard, Music in Latin America: An Introduction (Prentice Hall, 1979)Google Scholar; Wong, Ketty, Luis Humberto Salgado: Un quijote de la música (Editorial Pedro Jorge Vera, CCE, 2004)Google Scholar; Montfort, Ricardo Pérez, ‘Folkloric Studies and the Forging of National Stereotypes in Latin America, 1920–1970: Four Case Studies’, in Hybrid Americas: Contacts, Contrasts, and Confluences in New World Literatures and Cultures, ed. by Raar, Josef and Butler, Martin (LIT Bilingual Press/Editorial Bilingue, 2008)Google Scholar; Mularski, Jedrek, ‘Music, Politics, and Nationalism in Latin America. Chile during the Cold War Era’, in Cambria Latin American Literature and Culture Series, ed. by de la Campa, Román (Cambria Press, 2014)Google Scholar; and Florine, Jane, El duende musical y cultural de Cosquín, el Festival Nacional de Folklore argentino (Editorial Dunken, 2016)Google Scholar. In this context, música folclórica refers to compositions based on rhythms or song and dance genres associated with a specific region and themes illustrating nostalgia, pride, admiration for geographical landscapes and natural resources, among others.

²⁴ Palomino, Pablo, The Invention of Latin American Music: A Transnational History (Oxford University Press, 2020)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Turino, Thomas, ‘Nationalism and Latin American Music: Selected Case Studies and Theoretical Considerations’, Latin American Music Review, 24.2 (2003), pp. 169–209 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Avelar, Idelber and Dunn, Christopher, ‘Music as Practice of Citizenship in Brazil’, in Brazilian Popular Music and Citizenship, ed. by Avelar, Idelber and Dunn, Christopher (Duke University Press, 2011)Google Scholar; Hess, Carol A., Representing the Good Neighbor: Music, Difference, and the Pan American Dream (Oxford University Press, 2013)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Wong, Ketty, Whose National Music? Identity, Mestizaje, and Migration in Ecuador (Temple University Press, 2012)Google Scholar. Brazilian música popular or MPB refers to a type of contemporary urban popular music inspired by Brazilian folk music genres.

²⁵ Itzigsohn, José and vom Hau, Matthias, ‘Unfinished Imagined Communities: States, Social Movements, and Nationalism in Latin America’, Theory and Society, 35.2 (2016), pp. 193–212 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and L’Hoeste, Héctor Fernández and Vila, Pablo (eds.), Sound, Image, and National Imaginary in the Construction of Latin/o American Identities (Lexington, 2018)Google Scholar.

²⁶ ‘Mi patria’ and ‘Triunfarás Paraguay’ (lyrics by María Cristina Melot), ‘Soy paraguayo’ (lyrics by Darío Gómez Serrato), ‘Capuerero de mi tierra’ (lyrics by Florentín Giménez), ‘El eterant chaqueño’ (lyrics by José María Orrego), ‘Canción al Veteran’ (lyrics by Mario Halley Mora), ‘Héroes de Boquerón’ (lyrics by Florentín Giménez), ‘Batalla de Boquerón’ (lyrics by Tito Cabrera Giménez), ‘Panambi morotĩmíva’ (lyrics by Lino Trinidad Sanabria), ‘Jasy’ (lyrics by José Bordas Ferrer), ‘Primavera’ (lyrics by Antolín Gómez), ‘Lago azul de Ypacaraí’ (lyrics by María Cristina Melot), ‘Canto a Ybycuí’ (lyrics by López Simón and Florentín Giménez), ‘Mi bella Itapúa’ (lyrics by Julio César Riquelme), ‘Asunción de mis recuerdos’ (lyrics by Julio César Riquelme), ‘Noches Misioneras’ (lyrics by José Félix Irrazabal), and ‘Nocturno de la Chacarita’ (lyrics by Hipólito Sánchez Quell).

²⁷ ‘Guaraní Ñane Ñe’ẽ’ (lyrics by Jorge Antonio Amarilla), ‘Ñane Ñe’ẽ Mba’erã’ (lyrics by Lino Trinidad Sanabria), ‘Ñande Avañe’ẽ’ (lyrics by Adolfo Díaz), ‘A mi bella bandera’ (lyrics by Marcial Bordas Alvarez), ‘Dichosa guarania’ (lyrics by Carlos Adolfo Díaz), ‘Yo soy la guarania’ (lyrics by Abel Cantero), ‘Guitarra’ (lyrics by Juan Manuel Frutos Pane), and ‘Guitarra mía’ (lyrics by Venancio Vera Villalba).

²⁸ Generally speaking, most Paraguayan historians, intellectuals, and politicians have emphasized certain historic moments informing the construction of a national identity, including colonial Paraguay (mid-sixteenth–eighteenth centuries), the Comuneros revolt (1721–35), Paraguayan independence (1811), the War against the Triple Alliance (1865–70), the Post-war and Reconstruction period (1870–1900), and the Chaco War (1932–35). Precisely these historic moments have been crucial in the development of symphonic works and canciones populares by Giménez. This complex approach in Paraguayan historiography has been discussed in detail in Melià, Otras historias.

²⁹ In this sense, Paraguayan música popular and ‘popular music’ – in reference to the meaning carried by the English phrase – are not analogous terms. The historical background and social development of the concept of música folclórica and the closely related folklore de proyección have also been studied by specialists analysing the folkloric music of other Latin American countries. See Florine, El duende musical; Rodríguez, Juan Pablo González, ‘Hacia el estudio musicológico de la música popular latinoamericana’, Revista Musical Chilena, 40.165 (1986), pp. 59–84 Google Scholar; Rodríguez, Juan Pablo González, ‘Inti-Illimani and the Artistic Treatment of Folklore’, Latin American Music Review, 10.2 (1989), pp. 267–86Google Scholar; Rodríguez, Juan Pablo González, ‘Musicología popular en América Latina: Síntesis de sus logros, problemas y desafíos’, Revista Musical Chilena, 55.195 (2001), pp. 38–64 Google Scholar; Rodríguez, Juan Pablo González, Pensar la música desde América Latina (Gourmet Musical Ediciones, 2013)Google Scholar; and Rodríguez, Juan Pablo González, Thinking about Music from Latin America. Issues and Questions, trans. by Morris, Nancy (Lexington, 2018)Google Scholar, and others.

³⁰ Though polca paraguaya (or polca) is the most widely accepted and used term, the Guaraní term kyre’ỹ (‘lively’) has been proposed as its forerunner and therefore as more ‘accurate’ depiction of the form. For more information see Colman, ‘Polca paraguaya’ in Shepherd and Horn, Genres: Caribbean and Latin America

³¹ The Guaraní terms kyre’ỹ, jekutú, and syryry indicate the character of the genre. Thus, kyre’ỹ refers to a joyful or vivacious air, jekutú to the emphatic rhythmic and stomping choreography that accompanies the dance, and syryry to its the effervescent or highly animated style. The development of the series of forms or alternate terms to the guarania designation has been historically connected to the publication and commercially produced recordings of Paraguayan songs in the early to mid-twentieth century.

³² The Prologue to Giménez’s Cancionero II includes a brief explanation on the abbreviations Obp. or Obras populares (‘Popular Works’) and Obs. or Obras selectas (‘Select Works’), the former corresponding to his canciones populares and the latter to his concert music. Thus, beginning with Cancionero II all the works are designated and catalogued with a sequential Obp. number. Nevertheless, Cancionero V provides a detailed list of the composer’s concert music substituting the abbreviation Obs. for Obc. – Obras clásicas (‘Classical Works’).

³³ Other songbooks or compilations of Paraguayan folk-style vocal music by a single composer and under the designation cancionero include publications such as Fundación Agustín Barboza, Joyas musicales de Agustín Barboza (Fundación Agustín Barboza, 1999) and Inocencio Fernández, Pentagramas para Emiliano (Centro Cultural de la República El Cabildo, 2013), among others.

³⁴ Of notable mention are the subtitles for the cover of each cancionero: Cancionero (Tomo I). 200 composiciones escogidas de su vasta creación popular, con letras de destacados autores (‘200 chosen vocal compositions from his prolific popular repertory, with lyrics by renowned authors’); Cancionero II. 110 guaranias inéditas de su vasta creación de música popular con letras de destacados autores (‘110 unpublished guaranias from his prolific popular repertory, with lyrics by renowned authors’); Cancionero III. 130 pupyasy inéditos de su vasta creación de música popular con letras de los poetas más célebres del ámbito literario. (‘130 unpublished pupyasy from his prolific popular repertory, with lyrics by the most celebrated poets from the literary world’); Cancionero IV. 130 pupyasy inéditos de su vasta creación de música popular con letras de los poetas más célebres del ámbito literario (‘130 unpublished pupyasy from his prolific popular repertory, with lyrics by the most celebrated poets from the literary world)’; Cancionero V. 130 temas finales, reúne varios otros géneros sudamericanos, completando 704 obras de género popular de su vasta creación con letras de los poetas más célebres del ámbito literario (‘130 final compositions, gathering various other South American genres, completing 704 works of the popular genre from his prolific repertory with lyrics by the most celebrated poets from the literary world’); Cancionero VI. 119 temas, 64 guaranias y 41 Pupyasy. Música con letras de destacados autores (‘119 compositions, 64 guaranías and 41 pupyasy. Songs with lyrics by renowned authors’).

³⁵ Unlike the other cancioneros, Volume One was reproduced from the composer’s handwritten copy and did not include lyrics under the melodic lines.

³⁶ See Giménez, Historia sin tiempo, p. 374. My translation.

³⁷ Though included in a volume dedicated to Paraguayan folk-style songs celebrating and illustrating a Paraguayan cultural identity, the composer added these four Argentine folk-style pieces to the songbook in order to record a series of canciones populares developed during his years of musical activity in Buenos Aires. Giménez’s four Argentine songs were composed in the early 1960s for several musical presentations of the Casa Paraguaya (‘Paraguayan House’) ensemble at the Folk Music Festival of Termas de Río Hondo in Santiago del Estero (Argentina). For more details, see Giménez, Historia sin tiempo, pp. 106–08. Among the chamber vocal pieces, three of them – ‘Pescador’ (‘The Fisherman’), ‘Mis ojos te buscan’ (‘My Eyes Search for You’), and ‘Juntos otra vez’ (‘Together Again’) – have been extracted from his musical comedy Ana de Jesús (proper name) and six songs come from Sombrero pirí, one of the first zarzuelas (‘Paraguayan Musical Theatre’) composed by Giménez: ‘Patria libre’ (‘Free Country’), ‘Guitarra’ (‘Guitar’), ‘Romanza del beso’ (‘Romance of the Kiss’), ‘Sombrero pirí’ (‘The Straw Hat’), ‘Me voy amada mía’ (‘Farewell My Beloved’), and ‘Cuando tú no estás’ (‘When You Are Not Here’). Composed by Florentín Giménez with a libretto by his daughter Gloria Giménez, Ana de Jesús was premiered in Asunción in April 1972. With a libretto by Juan Manuel Frutos Pane, Sombrero Pirí was also premiered in July 1972. Though Ana de Jesús was designated a comedia musical (‘musical comedy’), for the commercial release of the recording, the work has been included in the series of Paraguayan zarzuelas composed by Giménez.

³⁸ See Giménez, ‘Prologue’, Cancionero II.

³⁹ Giménez’s experience of ‘one of the most irrational dispossessions’ refers to his dismissal in 2008 as main conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra. Ibid. My translation.

⁴⁰ While ‘Otoño sin ti’ (‘Autumn without You’), ‘Amores de antaño’ (Love from Yesteryear’), ‘Amores de invierno’ (‘Winter Love’), and ‘Mis mañanas sin ti’ (‘My Mornings without You’) are part of the musical comedy Ana de Jesús, other pieces such as ‘De los bosques encantados’ (‘From Enchanted Forests’) comes from the zarzuela Loma Tarumá, and ‘Pyharé oguahévo’ (‘At Sunset’), ‘Cantar de ausencia’ (‘Song of Want’), ‘Pohá vendehá’ (‘The Seller of Medicinal Herbs’), ‘Un abrazo a mi madre’ (‘An Embrace for My Mother’), and ‘El hijo amado’ (‘Beloved Son’) are compositions from the zarzuela Pohã vendehá. Though ‘Pyharé oguahévo’ (‘At Sunset’) appears as such in Cancionero II, the 2013 published score of the zarzuela lists the song as ‘Ko’etí oguahévo’ (‘At Dawn’).

⁴¹ See Giménez, ‘Prologue’, Cancionero II. My translation.

⁴² Though the subtitle of the publication indicates 130 pupyasy, the songs in the index run from the number 313 to 444, also showing the numerical continuation of previous compositions from both Cancionero I and Cancionero II. Note: ‘Che cambá porã’ (‘My Beautiful Dark Skin Lady’) is listed in the index as pupyasy but designated as guarania in the subtitle of the score.

⁴³ Seventeen songs come from Paraguayan zarzuelas: ‘Vy’ay angekói’ (‘Trouble over Sadness’) and ‘Aní nde pochy’ (‘Don’t Get Mad’) from Ana de Jesús; ‘Blanca Sultana’ (‘My Sweet Pure Queen’), ‘El amor es un martirio’ (‘Love Is Martyrdom’), ‘Kalaíto ha Dorita’ (‘[The Romance of] Kalaíto and Dorita’), ‘Afanes’ (‘Anxieties’), ‘Che ruvichá’ (‘My Boss’), ‘Compuesto chu’í’ (‘A Sweet Poem’), ‘Qué lindo morir de amor’ (‘How Beautiful Is to Die of Love’), ‘Canción al veterano’ (‘A Song to the Veteran’), and ‘Juan pio ha Dorita’ (‘Juan and Dorita?’) from Loma Tarumá; and ‘Mboraihú pohã’ (‘The Herbal Remedies of the Poor’), ‘Che symi porãité’ (‘My Beautiful Sweet Mother’), ‘Bellas mujeres de mi tierra’ (‘Beautiful Women of My Land’), ‘Purahéi chu’í’ (‘A Sweet Song’), ‘Mboraihú raity’ (‘The Poor’s Nest’), ‘Che róga rekávo’ (‘In Search for My Home’), and ‘Tierra bendecida’ (‘Blessed Land’) from Pohã vendehá.

⁴⁴ See Giménez, ‘Obp. 425’, Cancionero III. My translation.

⁴⁵ Though the subtitle of the publication indicates 130 compositions, the songs in the index run from 445 to 574. Unfortunately, though indicated in the index, the musical scores to ten songs are missing from the publication; some of the compositions have not been printed following the numeric sequence first indicated in the index. Incidentally, ‘Mainumby’ (‘Hummingbird’) (#450) was previously published in Cancionero III (#387) and the song ‘Vy’ay javévo’ (‘When Sadness Comes’) (#492) appears printed twice (as #492 and in place of the missing #458).

⁴⁶ ‘Maestro [Giménez’s] idea […] is to enrich and renew [… the] body of Paraguayan songs inspired by folkloric sources.’ See Giménez, ‘Presentación’, Cancionero IV.

⁴⁷ ‘Muñeca de papel’ (‘Paper Doll’) from the zarzuela Kurusú Cañete (‘Cañete’s Cross’) and ‘Amor imposible’ (‘Impossible Love’), ‘Solitario’ (‘Alone’), and ‘La gente quiere saber’ (‘People Want to Know’) from the zarzuela Loma Tarumá (‘Tarumá Hill’).

⁴⁸ Composed in 1990 and dedicated to the Virgen de Caacupé, Giménez’s Paraguayan Folk Mass is scored for four soloists, folk ensemble, choir, and orchestra. For detailed information see Colman, ‘Florentín Giménez’s Misa folclórica paraguaya’.

⁴⁹ The song ‘Ne ñañá guyra’imí’ (‘The Mean Little Bird’) (#780) appears printed two times and has also been included twice in the final counting of songs in Cancionero VI. The score to ‘Un poeta errante’ (‘A Wandering Poet’) (#803) is missing. Though the subtitle on the cover page indicates 119 temas (‘119 compositions’), the actual number of songs is 118. Among this group of compositions, seven pieces have been extracted from the zarzuela Pohã vendehá: ‘Patria y tradición’ (‘Country and Tradition’), ‘Un nuevo querer’ (‘A New Love’), ‘Aní pendepochy’ (‘Don’t Get Upset’), ‘A ti te canto’ (‘I Sing to You’), ‘Estabas equivocada muchacha’ (‘You Were Wrong, Girl’), ‘Qué linda la mañanita’ (‘What a Beautiful Morning’), and ‘Ternura sin fin’ (‘Endless Endearment’).

⁵⁰ During an April 2019 phone interview, Giménez indicated that since the publication of his Cancionero VI he had been working on his next one hundred additional canciones populares.

⁵¹ A selected number of Giménez’s art songs were composed during his years of study with Cayetano Marcolli in Buenos Aires. See Giménez, Historia sin tiempo, pp. 124–25.

⁵² More than models to compose and notate Paraguayan music, according to extensive discussions in Giménez’s publications these are models of the accurate way to accomplish these tasks.

⁵³ Curiously, most – if not, all – of the comments and interactions on social media between Giménez and the public have not challenged his views; on the contrary, those interacting with him have done so with deep admiration, respect, and support.

⁵⁴ Among Giménez’s vocal compositions performed by soloists and the National Symphony, six of his canciones populares have been featured as part of the regular concert seasons. While ‘Así canta mi patria’ (2005, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019) and ‘Canción para alguna vez’ (‘Song for Some Time’) (2005, 2007, 2014, 2015) rank at the top in regard to frequency of performance, other canciones populares have also been presented in concert – ‘Recuerdos de Concepción’ (‘Memories from Concepción’, 2005), ‘Nocturno en la Chacarita’ (‘Nocturne in the Chacarita’, 2007), ‘Cantarito’ (‘Little Water Jug of Clay’, 2008), and ‘Muy cerca de ti’ (‘Very Near You’, 2015).

⁵⁵ Some of the most celebrated compositions in the recording include ‘Arribeño resay’ (‘The Smile of the Bohemian Musician’), ‘Nde ratypicua’ (‘Your Dimples’), and ‘Gallito Cantor’ (‘Singing Rooster’) by composer José Asunción Flores; ‘Reservista Purahéi’ (‘The Soldier’s Song) by Félix Fernández and Agustín Barboza; ‘Primero de marzo’ (‘March, the First [1870]’) by Emiliano R. Fernández and Mauricio Cardozo Ocampo; ‘Recuerdo de Ypacaraí’ (‘Memory from Ypacaraí’) by Zulema de Mirkins and Demetrio Ortíz; and ‘Ravel pu rory’ (‘The Joyful Sound of the Fiddle’) and ‘Yvaga rape’ (‘There in Heaven’) by composer Julio Escobeiro; among others. See Florentín Giménez, Galas orquestales, archivo I, Various Ensembles, Discos Elio, Colección Especial, 2000, CD.

⁵⁶ See República del Paraguay. Símbolo patrio. Joyas de la música paraguaya. Himno nacional, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional, Florentín Giménez, conductor, Ministerio de Educación y Cultura, Estudios Tajy, CD 001, (2005), CD.

⁵⁷ Two other recordings of Giménez’s arrangements of folk-style music stand out as examples of his musical craft. The first of them includes arrangements for Paraguayan harp and orchestra, featuring harpist Aparicio González performing pieces such as ‘Recuerdo de Ypacaraí’, ‘Asunción’ (the capital city) by Federico Riera, ‘India’ (‘Indigenous Woman’) by Manuel Ortíz Guerrero and José Asunción Flores, ‘Noches del Paraguay’ (‘Nights of Paraguay’) by Samuel Aguayo and Pedro Carlés, ‘Che novia cue mi’ (‘My Sweetheart from Long Ago’) by Herminio Giménez, and others. See Guaranías en arpegios, Aparicio Escobar (arpa paraguaya), [Florentín Giménez y orquesta] Edición del compositor, n.d. CD. The second recording features Paraguayan singer Oscar Escobar and orchestra performing ‘Recuerdos de Ypacaraí’, ‘India’, ‘Paloma blanca’ (‘White Dove’) by Neneco Norton, ‘Ñande roga mi’ (‘Our Sweet Home’) by Ignacio Melgarejo, and others. See Recuerdos de Ypacaraí, Oscar Escobar, Florentín Giménez y su orquesta, Edición del compositor, n.d., CD.

⁵⁸ Colman, ‘Florentín Giménez’s Misa folclórica paraguaya’.

⁵⁹ See Juan Max Boettner, Música y Músicos del Paraguay, reprint (BGS/FA-RE-MI, 1997), p. 205; and Colman, Alfredo, The Paraguayan Harp, p. 65 Google Scholar.

⁶⁰ Throughout La música paraguaya, Historia sin tiempo, and El decálogo sonoro the reader is constantly reminded of Giménez’s desire to promote the accurate way to compose, notate, and perform Paraguayan music.

⁶¹ The main characteristics of Giménez’s pupyasy have been previously discussed in Colman, ‘Florentín Giménez’s Misa folclórica paraguaya’.

⁶² Polca [paraguaya] from polka and galopa from gallop, mainly.

⁶³ For instance, this has been the case with ‘Pienso en ti’ (‘I Think of You’), which was composed and recorded in the mid-1990s as a polca-canción but published as pupyasy in Cancionero 3 (2011), as well as with ‘Luna de mis silencios’ (‘Moon of My Silences’) – formerly a polca-syryry, and ‘Chiperita’, a polca-canción also published as pupyasy in Cancionero 3.

⁶⁴ My translation.

⁶⁵ Giménez, Historia sin tiempo, pp. 59–89.

⁶⁶ Six different presidents were in power during the 1940s. After Liberal Party president Higinio Morínigo (1940–48) was deposed in order to prevent his remaining in power by a coup d’état, five successive presidents from the Colorado party took office. Provisional president Juan Manuel Frutos (3 June 1948–15 August 1948) had the mandate until power was given to President Juan Natalicio González (15 August 1948–30 January 1949), who had been previously elected on 14 February 1948. Unfortunately, after five months in office dissident Colorado Party members deposed him, and soon after González was exiled to Argentina. Two other presidents were in office for extremely brief periods: the provisional president Raimundo Rolón (30 January 1949–27 February 1949) and President Felipe Molas (27 February 1949–10 September 1949), who was overthrown by President Federico Chávez (1949–54). By the time ‘Así canta mi patria’ and ‘Mi patria soñada’ were composed, President Chávez was in power.

⁶⁷ Giménez provides a vivid account of the circumstances and times around the composition of ‘Muy cerca de ti’ in Historia sin tiempo, pp. 98–100, 104–05.

⁶⁸ My translation.

⁶⁹ Recordings of ‘Te sigo esperando’ by iconic musical figures such as Paraguayan singer Samuel Aguayo and Argentine performers María Teresa Márquez and Ramona Galarza were added to others released by Paraguayan artists Aníbal Sampayo, Los Hermanos López y su Harpa Paraguáia, and Los Cumbreños, as well as instrumental versions on the Paraguayan harp by Lorenzo González and Papi Galán. For specific recording dates see Table 2.

⁷⁰ For the Orquesta Típica Orrego version see Florentín Giménez, Rescate histórico [2010?], CD. For the 1978 recording, see Florentín Giménez, Galas orquestales, archivo I, Discos Elio, Colección Especial, 2000, CD. For the symphony orchestra versions, see Paraguay. Aires Nacionales, Orquesta Sinfónica de la Ciudad de Asunción, conducted by Luis Szarán, recorded March 1996, OSCA/SFA, 1996, CD, and República del Paraguay. Símbolo patrio. Joyas de la música paraguaya. Himno nacional. National Anthem, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional, conducted by Florentín Giménez, Ministerio de Educación y Cultura, Estudios Tajy, CD 001, [2005], CD.

⁷¹ Ka’aguype has joined the group of other selected works such as ‘Gallito cantor’, ‘India’, ‘Mburikaó’, and ‘Nerendape ajú’ (‘I Come to You’) by José Asunción Flores; ‘Che trompo arasã’ (‘My Guava Tree Spinning Top’) and ‘El canto de mi selva’ (‘Sounds of My Forest’) by Herminio Giménez; ‘Armonía’ (‘Harmony’) and ‘Conscripto’ (‘Conscript’) by Remberto Giménez; and others. In addition to the previously cited 1996 OSCA recording and along with a second volume released in 1997, the featured pieces function as a non-official (yet understood) canon of Paraguayan folk-style compositions. See Paraguay. Aires Nacionales. Vol. 2. Orquesta Sinfónica de la Ciudad de Asunción, conducted by Luis Szarán, recorded March 1997, OSCA/SFA, 1997, CD, and Músicas del Paraguay, Orquesta de Cámara Municipal (O.C.M.), conducted by Miguel Angel Echeverría, Discos Cerro Corá, C.D.C.C. 2116, 2013, CD.