Music
Digital Music Archive
Our online archive of songs from the civil war will permanently preserve recent and historic recordings of songs that relate to the conflict. It is being designed with the help of community members to best serve the needs of Salvadorans. Its database will allow users to find songs on a range of topics and themes and will be ideal for educational purposes. Our archive’s website will also house other material related to music during the war, including some of the collected materials described below.
Songbooks
We work with communities and musicians to create songbooks, which include transcriptions of the lyrics of wartime songs alongside explanatory information, images, or relevant testimonies that speak to the songs’ importance for specific repopulated communities. These are available as e-books (with recordings of the songs built-in) and will soon be available as printed books. Thus far, we have produced one songbook with the community of Las Vueltas and one that documents the songs of musician-organizer, Don Felipe Tobar.
Historical Memory Workshops and Testimonies
In our historical memory workshops, the music team fosters a space for community members to share memories of wartime music-making together. We also record songs for the digital music archive at these events and take individual testimonies on these topics. We end our workshops with an evening gathering for the community, featuring a performance by a local group specializing in wartime folk songs, encouraging inter-generational education about wartime music.
Music at the Commemorations
One study examines the annual commemoration events that mark major wartime civilian massacres by the army. These events are often quite elaborate, with music performed throughout, alongside speeches, dramatic re-enactments, and religious activities. Using an ethnographic approach in collaboration with a Salvadoran musician, we have conducted participant observations and recorded songs and rituals that occur during these events, and recorded interviews with participating musicians and organizers.
Individual Musician Studies
As well as considering music as community expression, we also conduct studies of well-known singer-songwriters active during the Civil War. One such study resulted first in Juan Bello’s documentary Norberto Amaya – Songwriter (Triana Media, 2018).We have also authored an academic article about this musician, who was known as “Don Tito,” considering how his music served both psychological and political needs during the war, to be published in January, 2025 in the Journal of American Musicological Society.
Music Education – Historical Study
Another study considers music education initiatives launched since the end of the civil war. Thus far, we have focused our research on two arts centres: Centro Arte para la Paz (Suchitoto) and Centro de Arte y Cultura Paco Cutumay (Segundo Montes). Our comparative case study of these schools will explore the ways they engage in music-based peacebuilding, triangulating data from documents and class observations with interviews of administrators, facilitators, and students.
Music Education – Peacebuilding Workshops
In our historical memory workshops, the music team fosters a space for community members to share memories of wartime music-making together. We also record songs for the digital music archive at these events and take individual testimonies on these topics. We end our workshops with an evening gathering for the community, featuring a performance by a local group specializing in wartime folk songs, encouraging inter-generational education about wartime music.