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35-544: The Clave became a very popular genre in the Cuban vernacular theater and was created by composer Jorge Anckermann based on the style of the Coros de Clave . The Clave served, in turn, as a model for the creation of a new genre called Criolla. According to musicologist Helio Orovio, "Carmela", the first Criolla, was composed by Luis Casas Romero in 1909, which also created one of the most famous Criollas of all times, "El Mambí". Like

70-521: A choral society that would later become La Fraternitat (The Fraternity), a society of mutual help and the first Iberian chorale. In 1857, Clavé renamed it Euterpe . The Euterpenses societies, spread throughout Catalonia and the Valencian Country were the origin of the Cors de Clavé . As a politician, he was an early supporter of Abdó Terrades and Narcís Monturiol . In 1843 he took part in

105-524: A female solo singer followed by call-and-response choral singing. As many as 60 coros de clave might have existed by 1902, some of which denied any African influence on their music. Examples of popular coros de clave include El Arpa de Oro, La Juventud, La Generación and Flor del Día. From the coros the clave evolved the coros de guaguancó , which comprised mostly men, had a 2/4 time, and incorporated drums. Famous coros de guaguancó include El Timbre de Oro, Los Roncos (both featuring Ignacio Piñeiro ,

140-607: A great impact, bringing together thousands of singers and hundreds of musicians in common concerts. In that context, Clavé performed choral and instrumental fragments from Tannhäuser , which was the first time that Wagner had been heard in Spain. At this time there were already eighty-four choral societies in Spain and also in Cuba . The Associació Euterprense published the newspaper El Metrónomo , which appeared in 1863–64 and which published Catalan choral activity . The 1867, Clavé

175-483: A kind of federation that grouped choral organizations, provided them with advice and repertoire, was founded. It was also a way of avoiding parallel choral societies that were a competition for Claverian choruses and their activities, as well as isolating them, as well as controlling who had access to the Claverian repertoire and who did not. Between the years 1860 and 1864 the artistic activities of this federation had

210-477: A modest orchestral society that would be called La Aurora, composed of about twenty men who played very diverse popular instruments (guitars, bandurrias, triangles, tambourines, etc.). These kinds of formations, such as the fables or the tannins, proliferated between 1845 and 1849 in Barcelona, and facilitated, and largely served as, the basis for the development and expansion of choral societies from 1850. Due to

245-555: A political affiliation with the left and the Spanish republican movement, and linked with such characters as Narcís Monturiol and Abdó Terrades . All of them collaborated on the creation of the first communist newspaper in Spain . Between 1840 and 1843 he took an active part in the urban uprisings in Barcelona, so he was arrested and imprisoned in the military fortress of Ciutadella . When it returned to its activity like musician in

280-583: A possible relationship in the development of those three genres. For example, the rhythmic pattern of the Vertical Hemiola does not appear in the first versions of the Guajira (music) , so therefore it may have been included at a later time, maybe due to the influence of the Coros de Clave . Also the modulation style from a minor to a major mode, which already appears in the famous Guajira (music) "El arroyo que murmura" by Jorge Anckermann, varies in

315-805: A revolt against General Espartero and in 1845 was detained in the Citadel of Barcelona . During the Progressive biennium (1854–1856) he was involved in politics, but the repression of 1856 confined him to prison in Maó and Palma . He was elected President of the Provincial Council of Barcelona during the reign of Amadeu I in 1873. In the same year he became a Member of the Cortes Constituentes and civil governor of Castelló de la Plana and Tarragona . He retired from public life after

350-408: A soloist started a song by singing a nonlexical melody and also improvised variations of the themes sung by the choir. A participant called "censor" was dedicated to supervise the language utilized in the songs. The musical style of the coros de clave , and particularly its rhythm, gave rise to a popular song genre called clave, which most probably served as the original prototype for the creation of

385-466: The coup of General Pavía . The son of Francesc Clavé, a carpenter by profession and of Agnès Camps, he was born in the Barcelona neighborhood of La Ribera, in a modest family, although with a certain economic well-being, caused not by abundance but by stability. This situation did not last long, as the family business suffered a severe economic setback which brought the Clavé family serious difficulties. At

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420-469: The criolla genre. Both genres, the clave and the criolla, became very popular within the Cuban vernacular theater repertoire. Josep Anselm Clav%C3%A9 Josep Anselm Clavé i Camps (April 21, 1824 – February 24, 1874) also known as José Anselmo Clavé , was a Catalan politician, composer and writer, founder of the choral movement in Catalonia and a promoter of the associative movement. He

455-489: The Bantu yuka genre. Some rumba groups such as Clave y Guaguancó and Grupo Afrocuba de Matanzas carried part of the coros de guaguancó repertoire into the late 20th century. The coros de clave share their name with the percussion instrument used as accompaniment, the Cuban claves , which execute the main rhythmic pattern, the vertical hemiola (also characteristic of the contradanza ). The vertical hemiola constitutes

490-517: The Clave and Criolla genres, which became part of their repertoire. Some famous composers of Criollas were: Jorge Anckermann ( Linda criolla ), Alberto Villalón ( Quiero besarte ) and Sindo Garay ( Mujer bayamesa ). In spite of the fact that the basic structure of the Guajira (music) , the Clave and the Criolla is almost identical, it is possible to observe a certain style evolution that may suggest

525-438: The Clave and the Guajira (music) , the formal structure of the Criolla consist of a brief introduction, followed by two sections of 16 measures each. The first one in a minor tone, and the second one in its major direct relative. The essential rhythm of the Criolla is the same as that of the Clave, the Vertical Hemiola , which appears consistently in the base part of those songs. The Cuban traditional Trova singers also adopted

560-1072: The Democratic Party and then of the Republican Party. Clavé, who had never left political activity, held various public posts. The same 1868 was a member of the Revolutionary Board ; the following year he was the Vice President of the Tortosa Pact ; in 1871 he was elected deputy and named President of the Barcelona Provincial Council ; and in 1873, with the First Spanish Republic , civil governor of Castellón and Government Delegate in Tarragona . The coup of General Manuel Pavía on January 3, 1874, put an end to

595-567: The Lutheran Gardens enjoyed great success, and concerts were held in different sessions throughout the day. Clavé decided to publish an activity program called Euterpe Echo , a newsletter containing all related events, as well as literary excerpts and news, which would increase the impact of the Euterpe Gardens. Due to the numerous choral entities that sought to follow the Claverian example, the 1860 l' Euterpense Association ,

630-729: The activity was moved to the Camps Elisis (also Passeig de Gràcia ). Until 1856 this activity lasted and was highly successful, but the socio-political tensions and crisis of 1855 caused the Clave to be detained and deported to the Balearic Islands . When he was released again, Clavé recovered what had been interrupted. He [1857] organized shows in the Lutheran Gardens , this time without relying on any outside companies to close. The Fraternity would be renamed Societat Coreal Euterpe . The popular shows and dances at

665-510: The age of six, he lost his sight in one eye due to an infection, which ultimately led to him leaving school. He started working as a lathe turner, but soon had to quit because with only one eye, he had to sit in a position which led to a malformation in the shoulder. From that moment -and influenced by the sensitivity and taste for the arts of his mother- he devoted himself, in a self-didactic way, to studying music and poetry. In this way, with solid human and musical education, he introduced himself to

700-405: The annual cycle of Catholic festival days." At the cabildos in the town of Trinidad some choral groups existed since mid-19th century that performed the so-called tonadas trinitarias. There are some references that by 1860, the tonadas trinitarias were interpreted during the local festivities by choirs from different neighborhoods, which used to gather together to compete while they paraded through

735-449: The boundaries of certain mutual aid societies, which were founded during the 16th century. According to David H. Brown, those societies, called cabildos, "provided in times of sickness and death, held masses for deceased members, collected funds to buy nation-brethren out of slavery, held regular dances and diversions on Sundays and feast days, and sponsored religious masses, processions and dancing carnival groups (now called comparsas) around

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770-409: The cafés of Barcelona, at the same time as it made contact with the music of the time, it noticed of the acceptance and success between the popular public of his compositions and interpretations. He proposed a genre of songs more refined than those that were fashionable in these settings and presented them as an alternative. It gained popularity and in 1845 it was called by some friends to form and lead

805-405: The difficulty of creating a suitable repertoire for a group of musicians as heterogeneous as La Aurora, Clavé chose to have them all sing, but the polyphonic texture needed to be preserved. Hence the idea of creating a choral society, La Fraternitat, which would be the first in Spain (February 2, 1850). Through La Fraternitat, Clavé managed to bring music and culture closer to a working class, which

840-443: The latter as director), and Paso Franco. Some scholars such as Argeliers León nonetheless argue that the coros de clave and coros de guaguacó evolved independently of each other. The coros de guaguancó , which were considerably more africanized, gave rise some of the first authentic rumba groups, particularly guaguancó groups. Nonetheless, guaguancó also had its roots in another rumba style known as yambú, which itself derived from

875-412: The mid-19th century, and their popularization in the island was linked to the emancipation of African slaves in 1886. The common instrumentation of the coros featured a viola (a string-less banjo used as a percussion instrument), claves , guitar, harp and jug bass. During the 19th century, the Cuban government only allowed black people, slaves or free, to cultivate their cultural traditions within

910-430: The most essential element of the sesquiáltera rhythm, and consists in the practice of superimposing a binary rhythmic pulse over a ternary one, as follows: The accompaniment of the choirs frequently included a guitar and the percussion was executed over the sound box of an American banjo from which the strings were removed, due to the fact that African drums performance was strictly forbidden in Cuban cities. Usually

945-541: The neighboring towns. The trend would spread throughout Catalonia in a few years. Chanting choral music became an activity of the working class , their escape from a hard life of work and sacrifice. In 1853 Clavé decided to rent the Jardins de la Nimfa, located on Passeig de Gràcia , to perform regularly. These concerts, started by La Fraternitat, found the opposition of the upper classes, who prevented this activity, as well as dance sessions. But its success continued, and

980-504: The north of Spain, including Galicia, where the movement was called coralismo . According to some authors, including Odilio Urfé and Ned Sublette , upon introduction in Cuba, the coros de Clavé lost their accent, becoming coros de clave . The coros de clave became popular in Cuba between the 1880s and the 1910s. They comprised as many as 150 men and women who sang in 6/8 time with European harmonies and instruments. Songs began with

1015-459: The posterior Criollas of Trovadores Sindo Garay and Manuel Corona, in which they utilize much more complex modulations than in previous versions. Music of Cuba Coros de Clave Coros de clave were popular choral groups that emerged at the end of the 19th century in Havana and other Cuban cities. Their style was influenced by the orfeones which grew popular in northern Spain in

1050-499: The practice of music, in French literature and social thought, so important for his political education. Shortly afterwards, he began to turn his hobby of playing the guitar into a professional alternative, and decided to rent himself out in different cafes in Barcelona, as a guitarist. It is here where his real musical activity would begin in the context of popular music, typical of taverns and leisure venues. From an early age he showed

1085-546: The real purpose of their gatherings, which was to celebrate ritual activities related to their original African religions. The origin and development of the coros de clave is linked not only to the local cabildos, but also to the traditions imported by immigrants from northern Spain, in particular the similarly named coros de Clavé (after Catalan composer Josep Anselm Clavé ). Starting in 1845, Clavé established orfeones (French-style choirs) made up of working-class people in Barcelona. Similar choral traditions spread throughout

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1120-549: The streets. Also within the cabildos of certain neighborhoods from Havana , Matanzas , Sancti Spíritus and Trinidad , some choral groups were founded during the 19th century that organized competitive activities, and in some occasions were visited by local authorities and neighbors that gave them money and presents. Those choral societies usually were named after their neighborhoods, and in some occasions they counted with one hundred or more members. Most probable of their chanting aimed to distract local authorities from investigating

1155-457: Was denied access at the time to a life that reduced to many hours of work. in harsh conditions and without the opportunity to enjoy extra-work activities of any kind, neither leisure , nor health or education. Therefore, what Clavé was introducing was a social revolution. Following the example of La Fraternitat, choral groups that imitated La Fraternitat soon began to form in Barcelona and in

1190-563: Was detained and deported to Madrid , but despite this the activities of the Euterpe Gardens, of the Societat Coral Euterpe , dances, concerts, performances in the city streets and in different theaters, etc. they went on as normal. From 1868, and as a result of the September Revolution, La Gloriosa , Clavé Choirs were no longer the essential tool for channeling Republican concerns, now directed first through

1225-589: Was the initiator of choral singing in Catalonia. His first experiences in the musical field were marked by the plight of his family. Clavé was forced to earn a living by singing for coffee in taverns accompanied by a guitar, when he was 17 years old. The contact with the workers, gathering in those places, led him to take them out from the taverns and meet them in choral societies . He acquired notions of violin, flute and music theory , which allowed him to compose lyrics and music for songs. In 1845 he organized Aurora ,

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