Contents
Origins of the group
In June 1971, the Bolivarian singers and musicians Mauricio Castro Rodríguez (countertenor and drums), Hernán Gamboa (tenor and cuatro player), Iván Pérez Rossi (baritone and second cuatro player) and César Pérez Rossi (bass and drums) who were already experienced in playing and singing in other musical groups, met to sing together informally with some friends at the house of the then-governor of Bolívar State, Manuel Guarrido. Mr. Guarrido asked them to make a recording of the music of the Guayana Region. They accepted and decided to record it with a Bolívar group led by the veteran musician and composer Carmito Gamboa (father of Hernán Gamboa), including players of the mandolin, violin, accordion and the Venezuelan cuatro (played by Hernán Gamboa), with the voices of the four young singers standing out. This LP was produced independently that August and called "Serenata Guayanesa" and it was released for the Zapoara Feria, celebrated in Ciudad Bolívar in 1971.
It seems that a copy of that LP arrived at the offices of the Caraqueño TV station "Cadena Venezolana de Televisión" (now VTV) and the four singers took part in a variety programme. When the presenter asked the name of the group, one of them answered that it was the same as the LP – until then none of the group had considered what the name should be.
In 2000, for the Expo 2000 in Hannover, Germany, they had one of their rare concerts outside South-America. In honor to the "Venezuelan Day", they sang with a German Childrens Cuatro Group. One of the Visitors was the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Discography
Serenata Guayanesa
Serenata Guayanesa
Serenata Guayanesa Vol. 1, first album of the group
Serenata Guayanesa Vol. 1, first album of the group
First edition of Cantemos con los niños
First edition of Cantemos con los niños
Una Amistad de 25 Años first live album of the group
Una Amistad de 25 Años first live album of the group
Wanting to boost their popularity in the Venezuelan capital, the four members of the new group obtained their first recording contract in 1972 with the company "Palacio de la Música" (Music Palace), which put their recordings out under the label "Decca-London" (although the group were not formally contracted to Decca). That year a record “Serenata Guayanesa” appeared, with a different content to their first recording. The numbers "El Sapo" and the aguinaldo "Casta Paloma" by the Bolivaran composer Alejandro Vargas appeared, as well as the first composition by Iván Pérez Rossi (integrante), the aguinaldo "¿Donde está San Nicolás?", which became a hit later. However, their real success began with the album "Serenata Guayanesa Volume 2" (1973), with the songs "Calypso del Callao" (composed by the "Sociedad de Amigos del Calypso de El Callao") and the classic Venezuelan Christmas number "Aguinaldo Criollo" (by the writer Isabel de Umérez and composer Luis Morales Bance), both great hits, as well as the llanero number "Fiesta en Elorza" by the Venezuelan musician, composer and singer Eneas Perdomo. In 1978 the group decided to record an album of Christmas music, which was not widely known across Venezuela. This album, entitled "Serenata Guayanesa Volume 5: Popular Venezuelan Aguinaldos " included the hits "Corre Caballito" (anonymous) and "El Furruquero" (Iván Pérez Rossi). On this album the group’s singers, together with the singers and drummers Mauricio Castro and César Pérez Rossi, played their own accompaniment on instruments like the chineco and the furruco (vinculados for Christmas music). In 1981 their contract with "Palacio de la Música" expired and they signed with the Organización Diego Cisneros Sonorodven, who brought out an album of their greatest hits, including one new number "Señor Gabán". That contract also expired quicly and they signed with Sonográfica. By this time the group was established as the biggest in Venezuelan popular music. They then hit upon the idea of making an album of music for children, called "Cantemos con los niños" (Let’s sing with the children), which included specially written songs, poems set to music and traditional folk songs. This album was again a great hit, even among adults, with the numbers "La Pulga y el Piojo" and "Este Niño Don Simón". It is interesting to note that one very sentimental song was called "En Mi Pueblo Había Un Río" (In my village there was a river), which told the story of a village in which the native plants and wildlife died out. In 1983 Sonográfica brought out a series of records in homage to the nationalist leader Simón Bolívar including two albums with songs and fragments of speeches by Bolívar himself. The actor Gustavo Rodríguez read the speeches and the music was recorded by Serenata Guayanesa with Hernán Gamboa (his first recordings as a solo artist) and the late internationally renowned artist Jesús Soto, for the first and only time recorded singing and playing the guitar. After that Hernán Gamboa went on to pursue a solo career, while the pediatrician, singer and cuatrista caraqueño Miguel Ángel Bosch joined the group. With Bosch, the group recorded in 1984 a second album of music for children ("Cantemos con los niños, volumen 2") less successful than the first. However, the group recorded a second navideno LP entitled "Viene la parranda", with other musicians, for example a guest appearance by the cuatro and violin player Gualberto Ibarreto. Two years later, for their fifteenth anniversary, the group brought out an album "Caribe Abajo" of Latin American music, some composed specially, some already known. In this album the group was supported by the musicians Rafael, Kenny and Carlos Arrieta (on the caja, guacharaca and accordion, respectively) for a performance of the number in vallenato style "Mis Peroles" (composed by Iván Pérez Rossi), and their first videoclip was recorded in a humorous style. In 1991, the group recorded their first CD entitled "Si la tierra, tierra fuera", promoted by a further video. They had a new hit from this album with the interpretation of the pasodoble "Caracas Mi Ciudad" with the trumpeter Jorge Montenegro and the drummer Antonio Cestari. Their stay with the Sonográfica label was ended with their first live album, recorded at a concert at the Teresa Carreño Theatre, celebrating their 25th anniversary. This double album entitled "Una Amistad de 25 Años" (A 25 Year Friendship) had contributions by well known Venezuelan artists such as María Teresa Chacín, Cheo Hurtado, Simón Díaz, Gualberto Ibarreto, Vidal Colmenares, Ismael Querales, and the gaita zuliana singers Ricardo Cepeda and Abdenago "Neguito" Borjas.
After this, Serenata Guayanesa began to produce their own recordings, reissuing their previous albums with Sonográfica CD format, including numbers recorded in past times with new compositions. in 2003 the CD "Cantemos Con Los Niños" (Let’s Sing with the Children) presents a revised edition of their first album of Venezuelan music for children, in 2005 Serenata Guayanesa made the album El Ferrocarril, with new compositions and new songs.
Aguinaldo Criollo
Serenata Guayanesa Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Y San José de los llanos
El Niño Jesús sería
Un niño venezolano
I
Sería un niño de alpargatas
Y liquiliqui planchao
Y calzón arremangao
II
Tendría los ojos negritos
Quien sabe si aguarapaos
Y la cara tostadita
Del sol de por estos laos.
III
Por cuna tendría un chinchorro
Chiquito, muy bien tejido
Y la Virgen mecería
Al Niño Jesús dormido
IV
Él crecería en las montaña
Cabalgaría por el llano
Cantándole a las estrellas
Con su cuatrico en la mano
Si la Virgen fuera andina
Y San José de los llanos
El Niño Jesús sería
Un niño venezolano.
The lyrics to Serenata Guayanesa's song "Aguinaldo Criollo" discuss the idea of the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph being from the Andes and the "Los Llanos" regions of Venezuela, respectively, and how that would make the baby Jesus a Venezuelan child. The song imagines what the baby Jesus would look like if he were Venezuelan, wearing traditional clothing such as alpargatas, a liquiliqui planchado, and a sombrero de cogollo. The baby would also have dark, possibly aguarapao (drunk) eyes from the sun in Venezuela, and his crib would be a small, well-woven hammock. As the baby grows up, he would ride horses in the mountains and plains and sing to the stars while playing his cuatrico.
The song's message is a celebration of Venezuelan culture and the belief that the baby Jesus belongs to everyone, regardless of their country of origin. It also emphasizes the importance of traditions and customs in shaping one's identity.
Line by Line Meaning
Si la Virgen fuera andina
If the Virgin Mary was from the Andes mountain range
Y San José de los llanos
And Saint Joseph was from Los Llanos, a region in Venezuela
El Niño Jesús sería
Then, Baby Jesus would be
Un niño venezolano
A Venezuelan child
Sería un niño de alpargatas
He would be a child wearing espadrilles
Y liquiliqui planchao
And a perfectly ironed liquiliqui, a traditional Venezuelan outfit
Y un sombrero de cogollo
And a cogollo hat, also traditional in Venezuela
Y calzón arremangao
With his pants rolled up
Tendría los ojos negritos
He would have dark eyes
Quien sabe si aguarapaos
Who knows, they might be the color of sugar cane juice
Y la cara tostadita
With a sun-kissed face
Del sol de por estos laos.
From the sun of these lands.
Por cuna tendría un chinchorro
As a cradle, he would have a hammock
Chiquito, muy bien tejido
Small, but very well woven
Y la Virgen mecería
And the Virgin would rock him
Al Niño Jesús dormido
As Baby Jesus sleeps
Él crecería en las montaña
He would grow up in the mountaintops
Cabalgaría por el llano
He would ride horses across the plains
Cantándole a las estrellas
Singing to the stars
Con su cuatrico en la mano
With his cuatro, a traditional Venezuelan instrument, in hand
Si la Virgen fuera andina
If the Virgin Mary was from the Andes mountain range
Y San José de los llanos
And Saint Joseph was from Los Llanos, a region in Venezuela
El Niño Jesús sería
Then, Baby Jesus would be
Un niño venezolano.
A Venezuelan child.
Contributed by Samuel P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@rafaeljoseaaron5549
Maestro José Rangel gracias por brindarnos esta hermosura de música navideña, la cual demuestra nuestro gran gentilicio, lo cual nos hace sentir orgulloso de esta tierra
@ivanjavierbs
Venezuela, tierra de músicos talentosos con un profundo fervor religioso.
@ameliagonzalez6497
Este aguinaldo llena mi.corazon de ternura, de orgullo de ser venezolana!!!
@Rickil96trollencio
Esto es arte, me trae tan bellos recuerdos ❤
@dianavalentina8726
Que hermosos son nuestros aguinaldos criollos... lo mejor de todo, ser venezolana y orgullosa de ello.
@mariateresasilva7107
Bellos y eternos aguinaldos tradicionales....me encantan......Felices navidades 2016
@julijoaqui7531
Nuestras tradiciones son hermosas gracias venezuel🇻🇪🇻🇪
@yumildaechenagucia5182
que hermosos aguinaldos gracias rangel espero sigas compartiendo con tu publico
@juanruda5297
Amo los aguinaldos
@TheMadonnafans
Assu,,, me gusta esta cancion esta muy bonita, me emociona cada vez que escucho villancicos que hacen reflexion a la cultura de cada pais, los instrumentos y la manera de cantar que me imagino que son tipico de un cantar tradicional venezolano. es como decir que nuestro dios esta presente en todo nosotros y en cada cultura que no hace distincion a nacie el se identifica con todo nosotros que lo queremos y querem0s su santo nacimiento,,, desde PERU feliz navidad