Track Listing

1. Gracias a la Vida
2. Albertio
3. Cantores Que Reflexionan
4. Pupila de Aguila
5. Run Run Se Fue P'al Norte
6. Maldigo del Alto Cielo
7. Cueca de los Poetas
8. Mazurquica Modernica
9. Volver a los 17
10. Rin del Angelito
11. Copla Me Ha Cantado
12. Guillatún
13. Pastelero a Tus Pasteles
14. De Cuerpo Entero

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #40775 in Music
• Released on: 2003-09-29
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Dimensions: .17 pounds

Album Details
The Last Recordings of the Chilean Singer/Songwriter.

Customer Reviews

You Will Fall in Love
I first learned about Violeta Parra when I read her poetry in Woman Who Has Sprouted Wings: Poems by Contemporary Latin American Women Poets. I was both struck with the poems and the circumstances of her life. Besides being a gifted writer, singer and musician, she painted and wove tapestries known in Chile as Arpilleras and was the first Latin American artist welcomed at the Louvre. A very accomplished woman, she nevertheless committed suicide in Santiago in 1967 at the age of 50.

When I found out she had CDs available I bought Las Ultimas Composiciones, an excellent collection of 14 songs ranging from sweet lyricism to driving resistance. It is the last recording issued in her lifetime and many of the songs include accompaniment by Alberto Zapican and Violeta's children, Isabel and Angel Parra. The version here of Gracias a la Vida is especially haunting. If you like Latin American folk music but have never heard of Violeta I think you will fall in love with her when you hear her songs.

Great collection of a legend's work.
Violeta Parra was an amazing woman who nearly single-handedly launched a revolution in music, art and culture in Chile... and went on to inspire a political revolution as well. This CD, originally on disk, captures some of her last works. Bittersweet, sometimes angry, sometimes sorrowful, but alway masterful, it captures her sentiment not long before she committed suicide. This is a must-have for folk music lovers, Canciones Nuevas lovers, and lovers of political music. Victor Jara, Isabel and Angel Parra, Inti-Illimani, Rolando Alarcon, Quilapayun and many others owe Violeta so much. Listen and know why. I explain Canciones Nuevas to Americans "like Bob Dylan in Spanish." Except the music is so much better.

Gracias a Violeta
She was the Edith Piaf of Chile. A great record with examples of her strengths and her sentiments. If you like folk music and songs of rebellion you'll love the sound of Chile's songbird. A must for all who care to learn more of La Cultura Chileana.