Valona
Encyclopedia
The valona is a popular narrative song- and poetry-form of the Mexican state of Michoacán
. Its main characteristics are: a bitter sense of humor, mainly with reference to erotism (being even sexually explicit at times) and social concerns; its lyrics are composed as groupings of ten-line strophes, each line made up of eight syllables; musically, all valonas are sung (in fact, almost recited) to just a single tune, with an instrumental refrain after each strophe, which can vary.
As a narrative popular genre, the valona is literarily and musically related to the Mexican corrido
, and because of its stylistic, it is akin with other Mexican genres composed in ten minor-verse strophes (décimas or espinelas), such as some huapango
s and the son arribeño, along with certain other Latin American genres, such as the Chilean run-run and the rhapsodes of the Argentine payadores.
Michoacán
Michoacán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 113 municipalities and its capital city is Morelia...
. Its main characteristics are: a bitter sense of humor, mainly with reference to erotism (being even sexually explicit at times) and social concerns; its lyrics are composed as groupings of ten-line strophes, each line made up of eight syllables; musically, all valonas are sung (in fact, almost recited) to just a single tune, with an instrumental refrain after each strophe, which can vary.
As a narrative popular genre, the valona is literarily and musically related to the Mexican corrido
Corrido
The corrido is a popular narrative song and poetry form, a ballad, of Mexico. The songs are often about oppression, history, daily life for peasants, and other socially important information. It is still a popular form today, and was widely popular during the Mexican Revolution and Nicaraguan...
, and because of its stylistic, it is akin with other Mexican genres composed in ten minor-verse strophes (décimas or espinelas), such as some huapango
Huapango
Huapango is a corruption of the Nahuatl word huapanco that textually means on top of the wood platform according to the dictionary of the Real Academia Española . Today huapango refers to a musical style that originated in and is played throughout the La Huasteca region in Mexico...
s and the son arribeño, along with certain other Latin American genres, such as the Chilean run-run and the rhapsodes of the Argentine payadores.