Victoriano Valencia (b. 1970) is a versatile and prolific Colombian composer and educator. His music for wind bands spans the entire spectrum of ensemble abilities, including his two Ritmos de la Tierra collections which highlight Latin American rhythmic traditions at various levels. He also has several concert pieces and concertos, plus a substantial body of works for traditional and folk ensembles. His music has been performed in more than 30 countries. He has worked at Colombia’s Ministry of Culture and lectured at several Colombian universities, and he currently teaches at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, where he specializes in composition and Colombian music, among other subjects. He has his own website, as well as a profile at the Wind Repertory Project and at his university.
Valencia’s original Ritmos de la Tierra collection from 2013 includes ten works for band that represent rhythms from Latin America and Spain, all using original melodies. He describes the project succinctly on his website:
Ritmos de la Tierra (2013) by Victoriano Valencia is a collection of ten works for wind band, written for levels 2 to 4, inspired by Latin American genres and dances. The rhythmic drive, the diversity of colors and atmospheres, as well as the spirit of various musical references, make each piece an opportunity to enrich the concert repertoire, learn more about Latin America, or simply enjoy the magic of its music and its sound in the wind orchestra. The collection includes: Huayno, Danzón, Raspa Cumbia Mexicana), Pajarillo, Chandé, Soca, Tango, Bambuco y Pasodoble.
The liner notes of the original CD recording from 2014 say more about the role and function of bands in Latin America and how that informed this collection:
The presence of wind bands in everyday life has been a common denominator in the musical history of several Latin American countries. Initially linked to the military, wind bands gradually expanded their sphere of influence in several fields, from religious activities to popular celebration. Thus, in the nineteenth century, wind bands enliven festivities and other gathering occasions in our countries: the popular bands in Mexico and Peru, the pelayera bands in the Colombian Caribbean coastal region, municipal bands concerts or retretas in many of our countries, a tradition that is still maintained in the XXI century. In its transformation from military functionality to diverse roles, public service and education, the wind band becomes a primary means for the creation and dissemination of new repertoires styles. On one side, the wind band is a vehicle that spreads music from various contexts, but also, in the process of cultural and economic linkage with various aspects of community life, the wind band takes, reproduces and recreates local repertoires and characteristic musical systems, actively participating in the shaping of musical heritage.
You can listen to the whole collection here. Of immediate note, the 2026 Hartwick Honor Band will perform “Huayno” (number 6 on the playlist), while the Hartwick Wind Ensemble is looking at “Raspa” (1), “Pajarillo” (9), and “Tango” (10) for its November 19, 2026 concert.
This wealth of different rhythmic traditions invites us to dig deeper. This is a LARGE rabbit hole. So here we go, one rhythm at a time! Along the way, I will reprint here the English version of Valencia’s excellent and concise descriptions of each rhythm, all from the scores to the individual pieces. I will also include links to what may be especially interesting sidebars or unfamiliar terminology.
Huayno is a distinctive dance and musical genre from the Peruvian and Bolivian Andes. It is usually played with quena, charango, guitar and percussion, among other instruments, but like in other Latin American countries, the wind band has appropriated and enriched the traditional music of its context being frequent to find ensembles playing, singing and dancing huaynos while enlivening festivities in different towns throughout the region. It is a journey to the ancient culture from the high peaks of the Andes; nostalgic and festive segments are combined, evoking the sound of quena, charango and the typical bands of Peru and Bolivia.
Here is huayno in song:
And a dance from a contemporary competition (listen for the rhythmic similarity):
And a whole 19-minute documentary on the huayno particularly from Cusco, the former Inca capital:
Derived from the European contradance and with high African influence, the danzón is a dance and musical genre native to Cuba. With great popular impact, the danzón was instrumental in the development of Cuban music and has inspired Latin American composers from academic contexts. This piece, in three sections derived from the traditional structure of the genre, is characterized by highly expressive melodic patterns that go through different instrumental groups and a montuno serving as a coda.
You can learn more about the danzón at my article on Arturo Marquez’s Danzon no. 2. Here’s a taste:
Raspa – also known as chucu-chucu – is derived from Colombian cumbia and porro, Latin American rhythms widespread by dance bands since the mid-twentieth century. In Mexico, Venezuela, Peru, and Argentina, among other countries, these rhythms interacted with local practices and other tropical rhythms, such as merengue and son, generating different varieties of cumbia and consolidating the style of popular orchestras. Raspa recreates the atmosphere of an open-air dance where music enables community gathering and celebration around their wind band, passing on the style of tropical music with its well-known hits from popular celebration.
This is not be confused with “La Raspa”, a tune from Veracruz that’s related to the “Mexican Hat Dance“. Here is perhaps a good example of what has informed this Raspa: a “Cumbia Norteña” from Texas:
Pajarillo evokes the canto recio (singing) of the llaneros and the sound of harp, cuatro and maracas from the music of the Colombian-Venezuelan plains (known as Los Llanos). This piece exemplifies traditional characteristics of the pajarillo, such as the pedal over the dominant at the beginning of the melody and accompanying figures from the harp and cuatro which have been orchestrated in different sections of the band.
This canto recio closely matches the rhythmic feel of Valencia’s Pajarillo:
And here’s a pajarillo dance from a competition:
Chandé is a rhythm from the Caribbean coastal region of Colombia. It has two main variants: one linked to the tradition of sung dances in the region of the Magdalena River and Depresión Momposina, which is part of a set of rhythms performed with the tambora format, and the second – best known in popular urban areas – is part of the traditional music and dance from the Carnival of Barranquilla. Chandé brings the carnival’s sound and a night of tambora alongside the Magdalena River. The alternation of solo-chorus recalls the music of Totó, Venancia, Martina … and other great singers from the Colombian Caribbean.
Here’s Totó demonstrating the genre:
Considered native to Trinidad and Tobago, soca is a musical genre with great influence in the Lesser Antilles. It has strong African descent and, together with calypso, its lyrics range from social to erotic content. This piece explores rhythmic vitality typical of the soca as well as the festive atmosphere from the Caribbean islands, adding a rhythmic variant in the percussion section known as pambiche in Dominican music. Soca moves to the freedom of the sea horizon and fresh breeze in the Caribbean.
Soca is a vibrant, contemporary pop genre, so here’s a playlist of nearly two decades of soca hits:
Tango is a musical genre and dance from Argentina. Considered as intangible cultural heritage of humanity by UNESCO, it has been disseminated through countries like France, Mexico and Colombia. It is played using various instrumental conformations, mainly guitar, piano, violin, bass and especially bandoneon. There are instrumental and sung tango pieces; lyrics usually refer to love, often in a nostalgic sense. This piece is written in song form and includes stylistic features from the repertoire of typical orchestras as well as coming from contemporary production trends.
See more on the tango at my article on Astor Piazzolla’s La Muerte del Angel. Also check out this dance:
The bambuco is a Colombian musical genre from the Andean region and one of the country’s most internationally widespread rhythms. It is characteristic of plucked string instrumental formats consisting of bandola, tiple and guitar, although various regional variants like bambuco viejo, bambuco sanjuanero and others include wind and percussion instruments. It also interacts with other national genres like the currulao from the Colombian Pacific coastal region. An extremely expressive melody with orchestration and texture derived from the style of estudiantina ensembles found in the central region of Colombia is contrasted with the style of currulao from the African influenced communities settled in the country’s southwestern coasts.
Here is just one contemporary example of a bambuco:
For a different take, here’s a bambuco viejo played entirely on percussion instruments:
And here’s a bambuco sanjuanero dance, with the music performed by a wind band!
The porro is probably the most characteristic musical rhythm from the wind bands in Colombia’s coastal region, ensembles which are known as bandas sabaneras or pelayeras. Due to trade in the colonial period, the porro shares rhythmic and formal characteristics with other African-influenced Caribbean music genres, being assimilated by wind bands from gaitas y tambores and baile cantao groups. In this piece, traditional variants played by bandas pelayeras are contrasted with the refined style of the porro played by orchestras in ballroom dances. Enjoy the sound of the band in a fandango night lightened with candles or the atmosphere of an extended and elegant ballroom in the savannahs of the Colombian coast.
Totó returns for a take on the porro:
And here’s a banda sabanera:
The pasodoble is a musical genre and dance that is part of the festive popular tradition in Spain. This country has a remarkable wind band movement, with the pasodoble as characteristic music for performance, both in concert halls and outdoors. Of military origin, suitable for soldiers’ marches, the pasodoble was introduced in bullfighting and disseminated through much of Latin America since the colonial period. With the solemnity, elegance and joy that can be seen, either with a formal dress at the dance or the traje de luces in the bullring, this piece recreates the popular traditions from different provinces in Spain and the outdoor sound of wind bands.
Here is a snippet of typical pasodoble from a professional ballroom dancing competition:
Wow! We made it! I hope you learned as much reading and watching as I did in putting this together. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Now go play at least one of the pieces from this outstanding collection!