Antara

The antara (also, andarita) is a kind of Pan flute, made with canes of reed, in the manner of a small panpipe or a rondador Ecuadorian, but which differs from them by being made up of a single row of canes - in smaller numbers -, arranged in a ladder, properly tuned and secured by convenient string ties. It is a common instrument in the mountains of Bolivia and Peru.
== Etymology ==
In the Quechua language, the antara is called "antara", and it is the instrument referred to in a poetic composition from the beginning of the that was turned into a song of coastal folklore (waltz), whose authorship probably corresponds to Abelardo Gamarra, "El Tunante". This poetic-musical theme is a kind of elegy (written in the first person) dedicated to a bandit born in Chiquián (Ancash) in 1874 and murdered in 1909, named Luis Pardo Novoa.
Many have considered (without rigorous support) that the "andarita" referred to there is a flower "from the area" and that (metaphorically) is used in the poem to refer to a woman (who would have been one of the lovers of Pardo). The use of lowercase letters (which is how it appears in the text) indicates, naturally, that it is not an appellation and, consequently, it does a poor job of ensuring that the "companion of the solitary bandit" is a woman. Nor is it acceptable to accept that the author refers, literally, to a flower since it is absurd to talk about a sexist man - like Pardo was - allegedly accompanied on his wanderings by a flower that, finally, does not correspond to the area of Chiquián nor anyone known (review everything that refers to the Peruvian flora). The most reliable biographer of Luis Pardo so far confirms this in the book he wrote many years ago; We are referring to the Chiquiano writer Alberto Carrillo Ramírez ("Luis Pardo, the great bandit"). The Ancashino writer Bernardo Rafael Álvarez, in an essay about Luis Pardo, says the following about "andarita": "The thing is that, in reality, it is not a flower. It is - let it be known - a musical instrument. "Andarita ” is the name given to a type of pan flute - similar to the altiplano siku -, more commonly known, in much of our country and in some other regions of South America, with the name “antara”. It is likely that to give it a softer sound and achieve an accentuated euphony (use that is common in our country), the “t” was replaced by the “d”, turning “antara” into “andara” and - accustomed as we usually are to hypocoristic ones- ended up using “andarita”". The "andarita" of that poem or song is, strictly speaking, the humble instrument of the northern area of Ancash, or beyond; that is, from the region where Abelardo Gamarra, better known as "El Tunante" was born (la-flor-del-monte-mitos-tras-luis-pardo-el-bandolero/doelarez/ THE POET, THE DEAD BELOVED AND THE FLOR DEL MONTE. Myths after Luis Pardo, the bandit).
== Pre-Columbian cultures ==
 
It is an important pre-Columbian musical instrument of the Paracas and Nasca cultures, dating back 2,500 years or more.
In the vestiges of the Nasca culture, there are chromatic ceramic antaras with finishes and knowledge of acoustics and physics. We can point out the Nascas as the most advanced musicians in all of America in their time.
The specimens distributed by many museums in Peru and the world show the great finish that the Nascas achieved, not only in ceramics, but also in musical scales.
Various investigations have been carried out in this regard: Raoul and Marguerite D'Harcourth (1925), André Sas (1938), Robert Stevenson (1959), César Bolaños (1980), Américo Valencia Chacón (1982), Miguel Oblitas Bustamante (1984-2009) ), Arturo Ruíz de Pozo (1992) and Anna Gruczinska (1993).
== See also ==
* Pan flute
* Zampoña
* Rounder
* Sicu
* Sicuri
* Ayarachi
* Intangible cultural heritage of Peru
* Dances of Peru
* Andean music from Peru
* Andean music
* Huayno
* Music of Peru
* Creole and Afro-Peruvian music
* Annex: Dances of Peru
* Afro-Peruvian dances
* Ethnography of Peru
* Ethnic composition of Peru
* Culture of Peru
== Bibliography ==
*Antara. Vol. 1: 481-485. Anteq. Vol. 1: 485-486. Ayarachi. Vol 1: 903-905. Pusa. Pusamorenos. Vol XX: 1023-1024. Siku. Sikuris. Vol. 10: 1010-1014. Dictionary of Spanish and Spanish-American music. Caracas-Mad
Category:Andean music
Category:Peruvian musical instruments
Category:Bolivian musical instruments
Category: Musical instruments from Argentina
Category:Chilean musical instruments
Category:Ancient musical instruments
Category:Musical instruments from the Middle Ages
Category:Panflute
Category:National Cultural Heritage (Peru)
Category:Alphabet instruments