Paraguayan Harp Day is a special day on our country's calendar that is celebrated every June 9 . The purpose of this date is to celebrate this instrument born in our land that accompanies Paraguayan folk music with its notes.
The Paraguayan Harp Day also aims to commemorate and pay tribute to its creator. You want to know more? Read on and find out.
How was the Paraguayan Harp Day born?
Paraguayan Harp Day is commemorated on June 9 because the anniversary of the death of Félix Pérez Cardozo in 1952 takes place on this date. Félix Pérez was a composer, harpist and the great cultist of the Paraguayan harp.
According to available sources, the harp arrived in Paraguay around the 17th century. It is believed that it was introduced by Father Seed in Yapeyú with other instruments in the Jesuit reductions of Paraguay .
However, it was the maestro Félix Pérez Cardozo who was the cultivator of this instrument by adding four more drums than the regular ones and thus the 36-string harp was born. Pérez Cardozo also created a whole school for the execution of this new harp and with it he created many works that over time became part of the traditional repertoire of Paraguayans.
Some of these works are: Arrival, Milk Train, Angelita's Dream and Ángela Rosa, among others. Paraguayan Harp Day was established in the country by Decree No. 17488 of 1997.