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Aulos

(Santiago, 1932-1933)

Prepared by Gabriel Caballero
Online only (2021)

The Chilean journal Aulos [AUL] was published in Santiago from October 1932 to June-July 1933, under the direction of Chilean composer, professor, and violinist Domingo Santa Cruz and María Aldunate Calvo as the “Secretaria de Redacción” [Editorial Secretary]. As stated by Santa Cruz, the journal’s purpose was to create in Chile a center of publications that organized the country’s scattered musical activity, made it known abroad, especially in the Americas, and to inform Chileans of the activities that took place outside of the country. The six published issues have a similar structure: an editorial note followed by three to four articles before the “La vida musical del presente” section, which contains news related to contemporary musical events in Chile and from around the world. Page numeration restarts with each issue. The tables of contents indicate that each issue contained a musical supplement at the end, however, RIPM’s copy only has the works that belong to the first two issues. These contain music by Samuel Negrete Woolcock and Alfonso Leng.

In the first issue, the prominent Chilean composer Humberto Allende sets the stage with his essay on important historical events which marked Chile’s musical history from the eighteenth century onwards. The Chilean composer, musicologist, pedagogue, and painter Carlos Isamitt, contributes an essay on Chilean musical folklore, pointing out the need of a methodological recollection of the many instruments, dances, and chants of the nation. He also reports his research on the customs and musical traditions of the Araucanos. Santa Cruz himself contributes an article on improved comprehension of music. In this he discusses the theories and ideas of thinkers and philosophers such as Boethius, Riemann, D’Indy, Gedalge, and Jacques Dalcroze. Important historical information is found in the editorial article on the history of the Sociedad Bach—an institution founded by Domingo Santa Cruz whose ideals paved the way for the formation of the National Conservatory of Music and for the incorporation of music in the curriculum of the schools of the nation. In addition to musical news and chronicles, the lengthy “La vida musical del presente” section, which concludes each issue, contains information on the activities of the Asociación Nacional de Conciertos Sinfónicos, the Sociedad de Compositores Chilenos, the Sociedad Bach, and the Teatro Municipal de Chile. It also informs the reader of recently-published musical editions, books, and records and it served as a platform in which readers could send their questions to be answered in the number that followed.

This RIPM index was prepared from a copy held by the Library of Congress.  

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