The Corrido : An invited Lecture at the "Music in Culture" Public lecture Series

Abstract

This public lecture on the Mexican/Chicano corrido delivered by Professor Americo Paredes at UCLA May 13, 1981, was recorded during the event by Maria Herrera-Sobek. She recently transcribed and edited the public lecture specifically for its publication in this volume. The lecture presents an overall view of the Mexican/Chicano corrido. It expounds and offers original insights regarding its formal structure, theories about its origins, development, and evolution, as well as the different influences from Spain, Mexico, and indigenous cultures. Paredes not only enlightened those present with his scholarly exposition but entertained them as well with his performance of corridos and Spanish ballads (romances) accompanied by his guitar, which served to illustrate the theoretical and structural points he was making.IntroductionTHE PRESENT LECTURE, TRANSCRIBED from a public presentation I recorded May 13, 1981, at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), dealt specifically with the corrido. The year-long Lecture Series on Music in Culture, sponsored by various units at UCLA, featured outstanding ethnomusicology scholars as well as musicians, and presented the opportunity for those invited to elaborate on the issue of music and its relationship to culture. Dr. Americo Paredes was invited to speak by Raymund Paredes (no relation), at the time Associate Professor in the English Department at UCLA.Americo Paredes entertained the public with a spirited historical discussion on the corrido. This he did by tracing the historical origins of the corrido and highlighting its characteristics both with respect to music as well as poetic structure. He demonstrated his prowess as a scholar but, most surprisingly to most of us in the audience, he startled us with his ability to sing corridos and accompany himself with his guitar. Paredes illuminated the scholarly points he was trying to make about the corrido by singing and playing various stanzas from the great number of romances and corridos in his personal repertoire. He discussed the early theories posited by Mexican ballad scholars such as Vicente T. Mendoza in the twentieth century, and others, while providing us with his own theories related to the origins and development of this musical genre. He spoke about the corrido and its relationship to the Spanish romance and sang early romances to the delight of those present in the audience.We all thoroughly enjoyed don Americo's lecture due to his impressive erudition as exemplified by his discussion on the corrido, the singing that accompanied the lecture, and also, one must not forget, the humorous style in which it was delivered. Paredes had a wry sense of humor, and in spite of his tremendous accomplishments, he was a humble man and self-deprecating in a humorous manner. The audience's laughter can be heard throughout the recording, demonstrating how delighted and entertained the public was with his talk. Professor Paredes received a well-deserved prolonged standing ovation at the end of his lecture. It was indeed an unforgettable experience.In this transcription of the Paredes lecture, I tried to capture verbatim his words as faithfully as I could, although I did remove occasional repetitions and hesitations to create a smooth and coherent flow in the written form. All editorial additions are placed in square brackets and italicized, such as, for example, when I am indicating a specific feature of the lecture: [Paredes sings and strums guitar]. There are also a few places where it is difficult to decipher what Paredes is saying and these are marked by [ . . . ].Dr. Juan Gomez-Quinonez Speaks1It's fitting that in this year at UCLA when there seems to be a florescence, once again, of Mexican activities, of Mexican concern on this campus, we have, what to some of us is the most respected Chicano scholar in the United States. It is also fitting that he comes during a year when our center [the Chicano Studies Research Center], as a result of the work of many people across the country, is putting together what we hope will be a very important issue on Mexican folklore in the United States, in which we have the honor to dedicate to Dr. …