Music is the language of the soul, and a universal language. The streets of large and small cities in half the world have musicians of all kinds that earn a living, do so by hobby or to entertain in an act that would shake the SGAE. In Mexico, that street music is tradition, one that remains alive thanks to the organilleros.
They have a couple of centuries behind them and the saddest thing is that they are the perfect example of natural obsolescence: organillos will not die because there is no one who wants to touch them, but because there will be no one who knows how to repair them.
The organ. The figure of the organillero may be far away right now to those who live in Europe. It is possible to see them at popular festivals in some German municipalities, but it is somewhat more anecdotal and reserved for concrete moments than anything else. In Mexico, the thing changes: there are still listening daily in cities such as Mexico City. Also in Buenos Aires or Santiago de Chile.
The cylinders
The curious thing is that organilleros were born in Europe, such as organillos. It is a portable mechanical instrument that was invented in the 18th century, but that was perfected when it arrived in Germany during the nineteenth century.
The box can be decorated with the reasons you want
It is a mechanical instrument with cylinders that have bumps or perforations. These cylinders revolve thanks to the action of a crank, and activate in their path a series of tabs. In doing so, an internal flame expels air through tubes, which are those that produce musical notes at predefined height and rhythm due to the cylinder itself. You don’t have to know music, go, you just have to turn the crank.
Crossing the puddle. In Germany they were tremendously popular, but also in Italy, France, the Netherlands or Spain. Each country could adapt them to their popular songs and the organilleros went through the streets and squares entertaining the room of the pedestrians.
It was a way to popularize music and, at some point at the end of the 19th century, they arrived in Mexico. It was a bombing.
Gatoa. ‘Wagner and Levien’ was a musical instrument house founded by German immigrants who not only brought the organs, but also rented them to those who wanted to make a living playing on the street. They continued to be manufactured in Germany, so it was necessary to import them and it is said that the most important in this regard was Gilberto Lázaro Gaona.
It is estimated that it was 250 organillos that acquired in the 1930s, coinciding with the moment when they stopped manufactured in Germany. And they are the ones that, modified to reproduce Mexican popular music, have been circling through the streets of the city.
Tradition. These organs weigh their own. Some get to overcome the 50 kilos and, although there are models that can be carried in tow, the most common is to support them on a stick or on a wheel support that facilitates transportation. The organilleros are wearing their traditional uniform and are dedicated to … that, to turn to the lever to activate the mechanism and color some of the transitted streets in the city.
Obviously, thanks to the sensitivity with the animals, now it does not happen, but before these organilleros could carry a monkey that collected the donations and completed the show.
Also in Chile
Controversial and counterpoling. They are, therefore, part of the cultural fabric of Mexico City and, as happens so many times, there are tourists who do not see those local traditions with good eyes. Famous was the case of an American tourist who complained through social networks because of the sound of this instrument.
They soon fell criticism that did not harass the young woman, defenders of the trade of the organilleros appeared, of the cultural importance they have and, why not say it, that zeal also appeared by the homeland that sometimes exalts when we feel attacked.
In extinction. Now, the organilleros seem to be far from disappearing, but another song is what will happen with the organ. Due to the use, possible accidents and friction between the elements, these organs are wearing and must be repaired. Do you remember the 250 pieces that Gaona imported? Well, it is estimated that the rest were lost, they were stolen or sold to collectors, and those 16 are those that continue to rent to the organilleros.
And the person responsible for that business and its repair is, as we read in unknown Mexico, Marcela Silvia Hernández Cortés, Gilberto daughter -in -law. Her husband was the one who had the business and she taught her because the two men told her to dedicate himself to the kitchen when she tried to learn the trade.
Legacy. After the death of her husband, Marcela learned on her own to repair these organs that, if they have survived, is thanks to her expertise and dedication. The sad thing is that there is no school of organizers, nor new pieces, because the factories closed and the hope of the artisan, as he commented on the news, is that their granddaughters continue with the legacy.
“It is very laborious, but sometimes I look good,” Marcela said in the news, who also comments that, beyond the tradition, the organizing trade is an opportunity for people of a certain age who have run out of work and that they cannot, for whatever reason, access one.
The artisan is a precious profession and, as we saw with the popular response to the video of the American tourist, the role of the organillero is respected and appreciated by the Mexicans. So much that there are organizations that work to preserve this tradition.
Images | Rdeminicis (Wmb) (2), Jmillan325, Luisalvaz
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