CARMEN ELENA BARREIRO, HARPIST
My brother Gabrielle and I playing at the "Harp Gathering 2004", Mount Laguna 2004, California
THE VENEZUELAN HARP
I have played the
Venezuelan harp
since I was a child.
In 1980 my father
formed a family
musical group with
my mother, my four
brothers and me
called “Los Hijos de
la Casa Grande”. We
toured extensively
and performed in TV
shows for 10 years
to promote our
culture and folklore
in Latin America,
Europe, Caribbean
Islands and the
United States.
With four records of
my work, I had
performed with
artists such as
Simon Diaz, Reynaldo
Armas, Serenata
Guayanesa, and
Ensemble Gurrufio.
I have participated
in national and
international
festivals and events
such as the
“National Artist
Award”, “Musical
Family Contest
Awards”, “The
Hispanic Heritage
Festival”, in Miami,
“The Walt Disney
World Tenth
Anniversary
Celebration” in
Orlando, Florida,
and the "Harp
Gathering 2004", in
Mount Laguna, CA.
Moreover, I am a
member of the
American Harp
Society.
I play different
folkloric rhythms
like Joropo, Waltz,
Merengue, Pasaje,
Bolero, etc, from
different countries
such as Venezuela,
Colombia, Mexico,
Paraguay, Chile, ...
Moreover, due to my
father's heritage, I
also play Celtic
music. Finally I
have a Romantic and
Classical
repertoire, which is
ideal for weddings
and other special
occasions.
Since I moved to US,
I am planning to
promote the culture
of my country and
the rest of Latin
America. I would be
pleased to share my
music with the
people of Cleveland.
My music is perfect
for private parties,
receptions,
weddings,
birthdays,...
ORIGEN OF THE
VENEZUELAN HARP: The
origin of
Venezuela's musical
instruments can be
traced back to the
indigenous, European
and African
cultures. All three
of them have
influenced our
popular music.
Before the arrival
of the Castilians,
the Indians used
such things as
carved bone flutes,
clay whistles,
seashell trumpets
and jingles, and
maracas. During the
colonization process
and the arrival of
the African slaves,
several different
instruments were
incorporated into
the popular musical
tradition such as
harp, cuatro,
violin, guitar and
drums.
The joropo: As the
national dance of
Venezuela, joropo is
performed anywhere
throughout the
country, lively,
merry and syncopated
it is Spanish in
origin and
Venezuelan in
feeling. On hearing
the rattling maracas
and the rhythmic
plucking of the "cuatro"
(a four string
guitar)
counterpointed by
the melodious harp,
any Venezuelan will
feel the urge to tap
and whirl.
The dance is for
couples and has as
many as thirty-six
variants of the
basic step. There
are half a dozen
different types of
joropo, such as
Corrido Tuyero and
Golpe Aragueño.
Today the joropo has
become so popular
that no ball dance
would be complete
without it. Wherever
Venezuelans
congregate, they
dance joropo.
People get surprised
when I say Venezuela
is the land of the
harps: it's the
national instrument
and there is many
virtuoso players.
The fact that the
Venezuelan harp is a
diatonic instrument
doesn't affect
negatively our
creativity: instead,
we developed a music
that is very rich in
melodies and rhythm.
One day, after a
performance, one
spectator said "I
have played for many
years as a
professional harpist
in a symphonic
orchestra and I
never have seen
anybody playing a
harp like this. I
couldn't follow the
rhythm, it's so
complex! How do you
do it?"
THE CELTIC HARP
I also play Celtic
music in my Irish
Harp (made by Jack
Faulkner,
Phoenixville, PA).
Why Celtic Harp?
Since I was a kid in
Venezuela, I became
used to listen
Celtic music because
my father is from
Galicia. When the
Anglo-Saxons invaded
the South of England
in the 5th Century
B.C., some Celts
emigrated to
Brittany and the
North coast of the
Iberian Peninsula,
today Galicia and
Asturies. They
decided to stay
there because they
found similarity
with their origin
land. Although
Galicians and
Asturians became
romanized, they kept
their music,
bagpipes, symbols, …
Therefore, my
father’s Celtic
heritage moved me to
play Celtic airs, so
different in color
to music of the New
World, but just as
beautiful.
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