JOSE ASUNCION FLORES

He was born in Asunción on August 27, 1904, son of Ma. Magdalenta Flores, a
washerwoman from the basement of the Cabildo of Asunción. It is believed that his
love for music was inherited from his father, the guitarist Juan Volta.
Maestro Flores himself says that his musical history began "by stealing a piece of
bread" from a business near the parish of San Roque, where, with other children, he
liked to run around and play. That scrap determined that the boy would end up in a
police station and from there, as a "punishment", he would become an apprentice in
the Police Music Band, a school for the best talents of a golden generation in popular
music. Paraguayan.
His first composition, a cheerful polka dedicated to his godfather, "Manuel Gondra",
dates from 1922.
In 1925, experimenting on an old popular song, "Maerãpa reikuaase", he managed to
reach the Guaranía genre, a rhythm that makes Paraguay one of the few countries on
the planet that has its own music whose author is known. Flores himself will say, over
time, that "Guaranía belongs to my people, it was written for and by my people." In
1928 he met the Guaireño poet Manuel Ortiz Guerrero who would be the author of
the verses of his most famous works and would have a decisive influence on the
musician's personal life. A year later he received it from the president of the RCA.
Argentina the award for the best instrumentalist of the international band competition
held in Buenos Aires.
In 1932 he enlisted in defense of his homeland and fought on the front lines in the
Chaco War against Bolivia. He lived in Buenos Aires, towards the mid-1930s, when he
formed his own group, the "Orquesta Ortiz Guerrero" with which, in 1934, he would
record an absolutely anthological album. In 1936, when the February 17 Revolution
triumphed, he returned to the country and was appointed director of the Guaraní
Folkloric Orchestra. He also worked as a teacher at the School of Primary Musical
Education. Due to political vicissitudes so typical of the turbulent Paraguay of that
time, he returned to exile in Argentina. In his country, meanwhile, his guaranías
achieved great popularity and diffusion and, in this framework, "India", with initial
lyrics by Rigoberto Fontao Meza and then with the final one by Ortíz Guerrero, would
become "Canción Nacional" by decree of the year 1944.
In 1949 he refused the "National Order of Merit" decoration in protest against the
murder of the young student Mariano Roque Alonso. This fact earned him, under the
nickname of "traitor to the country," the absolute impossibility of returning to the
country during the government of Alfredo Stroessner (1954-1989). He was denied
admission even when he was already very ill and in the last years of his life he asked to
return and settle on a small ranch. He was appointed member of the World Peace
Council. In 1954, a stage of "hierarchization of Guaranía" began based on symphonic
work on his main works already written and creating his famous symphonic poems,
Victim of Chagas disease, José Asunción Flores died in Buenos Aires, on May 16, 1972 ,
three months before turning 68.
Jose Asuncion Flores

Jose Asuncion Flores

Full name Jose Asuncion Flores
Birth August 27, 1904
La Chacarita , Paraguay
Death May 16 , 1972
Buenos Aires , Argentina
Nationality Paraguayan
Area Music
Awards Creator of Guaranía

José Asunción Flores ( La Chacarita , Asunción , Paraguay , August 27, 1904 - Buenos
Aires , May 17, 1972 ) was a Paraguayan composer , creator of a unique musical genre
called Guaranía , spread throughout the world. He was also a well-known militant of
the Paraguayan Communist Party .

First steps
He was born in Asunción on August 27, 1904, in a humble neighborhood of La
Chacarita, "Punta Carapá". His parents were María Magdalena Flores (laundress) and
the guitarist Juan Volta. As a child, he had to work as a cardboard cutter and shoe
shiner to help his mother with household needs. Flores himself says that his musical
history began by stealing a piece of bread from a business near the parish of San
Roque, which determined that José went to a police station and from there, as
"punishment", as an apprentice in the Capital Police Music Band. I was 11 years old.
And he was a composition student of Félix Fernández and the director Salvador
Déntice .

The birth of Guaranía

In 1925, after experimenting with different arrangements with the old Paraguayan
musical theme Maerãpa reikuaase , he began to work on the new musical genre he
called Guarania . The composer felt a need, interpreting exactly the Paraguayan
feeling. His first song was Jejui . The purpose that accompanied him in this new genre
was to identify the feelings of the heroic Paraguayan people with music. Flores would
later comment on his creation:
La Guaranía is from my people, written for and by my people. José Asunción Flores 1
In 1928 he met the Guaireño poet Manuel Ortiz Guerrero , and after composing two
works together, they created the three most beautiful Guaranías: India , Cerro Corá
and Panambí Verá .
In 1932 he enlisted to serve in the Paraguayan Army in the Chaco War , fighting on the
front lines, as a piece servant of a heavy machine gun in Boquerón, under the
command of Captain Luis Vallejos. ç After the armed conflict, political instability in
Paraguay makes Flores move to Buenos Aires. While he lived there, his songs spread
throughout Paraguay and the Guaranía genre became a success, confirming the
originality and creativity of Flores' works.
In 1944, July 24, the song India , with initial lyrics by Rigoberto Fontao Meza and then
with the final one by Ortiz Guerrero, was decreed by the Paraguayan government as a
"national song." In Buenos Aires, Flores also worked with classical music and composed
twelve symphonies .
He recorded many of his compositions in Moscow, with the greatest Soviet directors
and musicians. From the ranks of the persecuted and savagely repressed Paraguayan
Communist Party , Flores was a man committed to militancy. 4
NE RENDÁ PE AJU is, unequivocally, the maximum expression of love in Paraguayan
popular music. It belongs to Manuel Ortiz Guerrero and José Asunción Flores and was
dedicated to Iluminada Arias, a Guaireña beauty from the time in which it was written.
The song was premiered, as it could not be otherwise, in a serenade that had a tragic
end. It happened that the jealous father of the honoree, overcome by dark feelings,
shot the singer, a man named Barboza, fatally wounding him. This is why Flores
included in the finale an authentic funeral march and the imploration "Santa María"
that is heard twice in the symphonic version, since these two words - such a
Paraguayan way of facing moments of pain and distress - had been pronounced by the
teacher himself shortly after the aforementioned event.
(From Manuel Ortiz Guerrero and José Asunción Flores)

NE RENDÁ PE AJU
Mombyry asyetégui aju ne ndápe romomorãségui
ymaite guivéma reiko che py'ápe cheesperami,
mborayhu ha yuhéigui amano mbotáma ko'ape aguahevo
tañesuna ndéve ha nde póguiveya chemboy'umi.
He'íva nde rehe lo karia'ykuéra pe imandu'aha rupi,
kuña nde rorýva music porãicha naimbojojahái,
che katu ha'eva every ka'aru nde rehe apensáro
ikatuva'erã nipo cheichugui añembuesarai.
White lily, ryakuãvurei
eju che azucena torohetumi.
Ku carnation potýicha ne porãitéva re pukavymíro
ne porãutevpeva el alba potýgui che hopemi,
natañemondéna jazmin metetégui che rayhu haguáicha,
ha pe che keguýpe che white lily, che añuami.
Yvoty nga'uhína ko che rekove,
aipo'o hagua rojopipype.
Ne renda pe aju.

Political career
José Asunción Flores was a militant and member of the Central Committee of the
Paraguayan Communist Party .
Exile, death and legacy
Due to the excellence of his music and contributions to Paraguayan music and culture,
Flores was awarded the National Order of Merit in 1949. However, he decided not to
accept the distinction in protest of the murder of the student Mariano Roque Alonso,
in a demonstration against the government. Because of this, he was treated as a
"traitor to the Homeland" by the government and when Alfredo Stroessner was
president of Paraguay in 1954 (until 1989), Flores was denied return to Paraguay. Thus
he lived in exile, even though he was already ill (a victim of evil), preventing him from
wishing to see his country and its people before he died. The only thing that was
allowed was to continue radioing the Guaranías. Flores died in 1972, in Buenos Aires.
(Speech by Elvio Romero at the funeral in the SADAIC Pantheon. 5
He was appointed member of the World Peace Council.
In 1991, without Stroessner, Flores returned to the eternal path of Paraguay, and his
remains rest in the square of the same name and that of his friend Manuel Ortiz
Guerrero in the city of Asunción.
Started on the s. XXI Flores is remembered as the best composer and one of the most
influential musical personalities of Paraguay.

Plays
 India
 Ne Rendape aju ( Translated )
 Panambi Vera
 Paraguaype
 Buenos Aires, Health
 Kerasy
 Nde Ratypykua
 Worker
 Singing Cockerel
 Purahai Paha
 Mburicao
 Ñasaindype
 Ñande Aramboha
 Choli
 Musiqueada Che Amape
 Ka'aty
 Arribeño Resay
Symphonies
 Pyhare pyte
 Ñande Ru Vusu
 Maria of Peace
Music from Argentine films
 Music - Musical Themes
 Music: "India", 1960
 Musical Themes: "Patrulla Norte", 1951 by Enio Echenique (performers: "Cuarteto
Guaraní") [3]
Life and work of José Asunción Flores
By Lic. Paola Dalles, ABC Color.
Maestro José Asunción Flores had a notable influence on Paraguayan music,
since he was the creator of the musical genre called "guarania", which was
widely accepted in the country and the world; Today we remember him as
the best composer in Paraguay.
Life and work of José Asunción Flores_298514 / abc color
He was born on August 27, 1904 in Asunción. His parents were María Magdalena Flores (laundress)
and the guitarist Juan Volta, who did not recognize him. He comes from a humble family and, since
he was a child, he worked as a cardboard cutter and shoe shiner, which allowed him to help his
mother cover household expenses.

Flores' musical story begins with the theft of a piece of bread from a business, which made him go
to a police station and from there, as a "punishment," he joined the Capital Police Music Band as an
apprentice; I was 11 years old. He was a student of Félix Fernández, Salvador Déntice, among
others.

Around 1920, he studied violin at the Gimnasio Paraguayo with teachers Fernando Centurión and
Carlos Esculies; He graduated as an elementary teacher of Solfeggio. Two years later, in tribute to
his godfather, he composed his first polka, "Manuel Gondra."

In 1925, after experimenting with different arrangements with the old Paraguayan musical theme
Ma'erãpa reikuaase, he began to work on the new musical genre he called guarania. The first
guarania he composed was "Jejuí".

In 1928 he met the Guaireño poet Manuel Ortiz Guerrero, author of the verses of his most famous
works: "India", "Cerro Corá" and "Panambí will see". The following year, Flores received the award
for best instrumentalist at the International Band Competition, held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

In 1932, during the Chaco War, as part of the Acá Carayá Regiment, he fought on the front lines,
from where he was rescued by the poet Facundo Recalde at the request of Manuel Ortiz Guerrero.
After the armed conflict, political instability in Paraguay caused Flores to move to Buenos Aires.
While he lived there, his songs spread throughout Paraguay, and the guarania genre became a
success, confirming the originality and creativity of the compatriot musician's work.

In 1944, the song "India", to which Rigoberto Fontao Meza had initially given lyrics, then, with the
final one, written by Ortiz Guerrero, was declared a national song, by decree of the Paraguayan
government.

In Buenos Aires, Flores worked with classical music and composed twelve symphonies.
He recorded many of his compositions in Moscow, with the greatest Soviet directors and
musicians.

In 1949, due to the excellence of his music and contributions to the music of Paraguay and its
culture, Flores was awarded the National Order of Merit. However, he decided not to accept the
distinction in protest of the murder of student Mariano Roque Alonso, in an anti-government
demonstration. Because of this, he was treated as a "traitor to the country" and was prevented
from returning to the country during the mandate of Alfredo Stroessner. Thus he lived in exile until
his death in Buenos Aires, on May 16, 1972.

In 1991, without Stroessner in power, his remains were repatriated to our country, to be deposited
in the Manuel Ortiz Guerrero and José Asunción Flores square, in our capital.

Currently, Flores is remembered as the best composer and one of the most influential musical
personalities in Paraguay.