Fireside Stories: Capercaillie recount their unexpected tour of the Middle East

“I was working late one night in my office at the back of the workshop. Suddenly, I heard this strange music echoing in the dark,” recalls musician-architect Fernando Feliciangeli. “It freaked me out, as I thought there was no one there but me. When I tiptoed nervously towards the sound though, I saw [my cat] Catalina lapping at the strings of my bespoke water harp!” And, as if to confirm the thirsty prank, Catalina duly bound up onto his lap.

Amberé (Fernando’s nickname, meaning ‘lizard’ in Guaraní) had invited me to his workshop on the outskirts of Asunción, the capital of Paraguay. The cavernous warehouse had been converted into a music studio and filled with a collection of familiar yet bizarre-looking instruments. Drum kit, guitar, keyboard and, of course, the harp, Paraguay’s beloved national instrument: each ingeniously converted to play sounds using water. The harp, for instance, has sensors at the base of a series of ultrafine jets of water which, when interrupted, send a signal to a computer, which then plays the appropriate note, using sounds recorded from a conventional Paraguayan harp. The water running through each string hole is recharged and flows through the instrument in a continuous loop. Paraguayan harps have 36 or 37 strings; Amberé’s water harp has just eight to avoid the jets overlapping, but instead generates more notes via its pedals. Likewise, the drums have the top skin removed and are filled with water, which, when tapped, also plays an authentic-sounding beat. And so on with the other instruments, connected to a tangle of water-filled tubes – as if a deranged plumber had been let loose in a music shop.

The instruments comprise the Orquesta H2O Sonidos del Agua, which is part of Sonidos de la Tierra, a community-based NGO led by Luis Szarán. Sonidos de la Tierra (Sounds of the Earth) was formed in 2002 to give music lessons to young people across Paraguay while at the same time teaching the wider community about the environment. The project grew with great success; today, more than 2,000 young Paraguayans are receiving lessons at 65 music schools set up by Sonidos de la Tierra around the country. It has also spawned a network of community-based orchestras, such as Camerata Fem, an orchestra for young women, giving them music skills and self-empowerment, both of which count for a great deal in a traditionally male-dominated society. In recognition of its work, Sonidos de la Tierra’s orchestra was named UNESCO Artist for Peace in 2016.

Also in 2016, the Orquesta H2O Sonidos del Agua was formed, following the same environmental ethos: adapting conventional instruments using recycled materials related to water, such as bottles, tanks and pipes. They tour the country, playing concerts to raise awareness of the importance of water, particularly relevant in a region regularly ravaged by droughts and floods. In 2022, Orquesta H2O was invited to represent Paraguay at the Dubai Expo.

Every year, Sonidos de la Tierra orchestras combine with musicians and choirs all over Paraguay to perform a huge fundraising concert. This mega orchestra comes together at a different venue in Paraguay each year. This year’s event was in Caaguazú, 160km from Asunción, bringing together more than 1,300 young musicians from the town and surrounding countryside. The programme featured traditional classics, from Mexico’s ‘Cielito Lindo’ to Argentina’s ‘Chacarera del Monte’, climaxing with harpists playing one of the country’s best-loved anthems, ‘Pájaro Campana’. (The 2013 event set a new Guinness World Record, with 420 harpists playing together.)

On a similarly grand scale, the Orquesta H2O recently performed in a multimedia HYDRO show in Asunción. The orchestra, clad in see-through kagoules, played Paraguayan folk classics, such as ‘Recuerdos de Ypacaraí’, as well as international hits like John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ in front of giant video screens of dripping water. Waterproofed dancers stomped and splashed in front of the enthusiastic audience, with singing by the local band Purahéi Soul. Choreographer Paola Irún created the show to ‘tell a story of water,’ from a tiny drop to a massive torrent and then back to its original source. The audience, particularly those in the front rows, literally soaked it up.

Today, however, as this report is being written, Paraguay is undergoing one of its worst-ever droughts; the Paraguay River is at an all-time low and forest fires are raging in the parched interior. By contrast, Brazil suffered some of its worst-ever flooding earlier this year when huge areas in the southeast were immersed under deep water. An estimated 200 lives were lost, and nearly half a million residents were made homeless.

However, as Lilian Mendoza of Sonidos de la Tierra points out, their music projects are aimed primarily at engaging the public at the grassroots level, despite what may seem overwhelming on the global scale. “The H2O Sonidos del Agua orchestra calls itself an ‘ambassador of the voice of water,’ and in its performances, it encourages the care and preservation of this valuable natural resource.”

Meanwhile, back in his workshop, Amberé picks up Catalina from his lap, dons a sou’wester, and strides over to splash around with his musical marvels.

As told by Jo Frost