102-623: La Sonora Matancera is a Cuban band that played Latin American urban popular dance music. Founded in 1924 and led for more than five decades by guitarist, vocalist, composer, and producer Rogelio Martínez, musicologists consider it an icon of this type of music. Notable singers to have sung and recorded with the band include Bienvenido Granda , Daniel Santos , Myrta Silva , Miguelito Valdés , Leo Marini, Celia Cruz , Nelson Pinedo , Vicentico Valdés, Estanislao "Laíto" Sureda, Alberto Beltrán , Carlos Argentino, and Celio González . The group
204-616: A "great performer of "vihuela" and " viola ". On In 1764, Esteban Salas y Castro, became the new chapel master of the Santiago de Cuba Cathedral, and to fulfill his musical duties he counted with a small vocal-instrumental group that included two violins. In 1793, numerous colonists fleeing from the slave revolt in Saint Domingue arrived in Santiago de Cuba, and an orchestra consisting of a flute, oboe, clarinet, trumpet, three horns, three violins, viola, two violoncellos, and percussion
306-493: A choir of 200 singers plus a tumba francesa group from Santiago de Cuba . He produced another huge concert the following year, with new material. These shows probably dwarfed anything seen in the island before or since, and no doubt were unforgettable for those who attended. Between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th a number of composers excel within the Cuban music panorama. They cultivated genres such as
408-474: A conjunto), Sexteto María Teresa Vera , Conjunto Kubavana, Belisario López, and Orquesta Antonio María Romeu. There was a rivalry between Sexteto Nacional de Ignacio Piñeiro and Sonora Matancera. The ensemble terminated its association with Radio Progreso by the end of the decade. In 1939, it was signed to a contract by the ownership/management of Radio CMQ (or simply CMQ) for a series of live broadcasts. Bienvenido Granda sang lead vocals from 1940 to 1954,
510-459: A dance hall called La Cervecería Tropical ; it is not at all clear if these two are one and the same) and Las Playitas. The collective during this time also made live broadcasts on Radio Progreso. Later that same decade Sonora Matancera frequently played in such top dance venues as El Club Atlético Santiago de Las Vegas, Quibikán, Centro Gallego, El Edén Concert, Sans Souci, El Tropicana and Centro Asturiano. At this time La Sonora always performed on
612-446: A generation — from the late 1920s to the late 1940s — in the academias de baile (a special type of dance hall), such as the famous Marte y Belona , where nightly La Sonora drew record crowds of the best dancers. Apart from this prestigious academia , other nightspots where La Sonora Matancera entertained the dancing public in the early 1940s were El Habana Sport, another academia de baile, Centro Castellano, La Tropical (one source lists
714-541: A heated argument with Rogelio Martínez over money: he wanted higher pay than his colleagues, but in the collective all received the same salary. One other personnel change occurred this year. Elpidio Vázquez, a son of Bubú, replaced him on contrabass. The conjunto made its first overseas tour in 1955. It performed in Panama , Colombia , Venezuela and Costa Rica . In the course of the Colombia tour, Carlos Argentino joined
816-560: A later time to Belgium, but José established his permanent residence in Havana, where he acquired great recognition. Vandergutch offered numerous concerts as a soloist and accompanied by several orchestras, around the mid-19th century. He was a member of the Classical Music Association and also a Director of The "Asociación Musical de Socorro Mutuo de La Habana." Within the universe of the classical Cuban violin during
918-401: A limited number of songs during a brief period of time. Daniel Santos performed and recorded with the collective beginning in 1948. His five-year stay with La Sonora helped it achieve world-wide fame. The cooperative returned to airing live broadcasts at Radio Progreso in 1948 with Daniel Santos as the featured lead vocalist. Myrta Silva was the first woman to join the musical collective. Over
1020-564: A long time, and by the 20th century, elements of African belief, music, and dance were well integrated into popular and folk forms. Among internationally heralded composers of the "serious" genre can be counted the Baroque composer Esteban Salas y Castro (1725–1803), who spent much of his life teaching and writing music for the Church. He was followed in the Cathedral of Santiago de Cuba by
1122-572: A lucrative contract to perform in Mexico City , the group, accompanied by Celia Cruz, left Havana on June 15, 1960. Minino decided to stay; the conjunto never returned to Cuba. On July 15, 1960 two new singers joined the group, Willy "El Baby" Rodríguez and Alberto Pérez Sierra. Of the eleven new vocalists associated with La Sonora Matancera in the 1960s, only two remained for any appreciable amount of time, Willy "El Baby" Rodríguez and Justo "El Mulato" Betancourt. In 1961, Mario "Papaíto" Muñoz joined
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#17327916948191224-437: A member. Three more sources say that Manteca joined in 1929 while one other source states that this happened in 1935. Manteca filled the vacancy created when Jimagua left. The collective changed its name to Estudiantina Sonora Matancera in the early 1930s. Each change in the group's name was indicative of a change in instrumentation and its corresponding stylistic change. In 1935, vocalist Manolo Barquín occasionally sang with
1326-550: A process of investigation and reevaluation of the Cuban music in general, discovering the outstanding work of Carlo Borbolla and promoting the compositions of Saumell, Cervantes, Caturla and Roldán. The "Grupo de Renovación Musical" included the following composers: Hilario González, Harold Gramatges , Julián Orbón , Juan Antonio Cámara, Serafín Pro, Virginia Fleites, Gisela Hernández , Enrique Aparicio Bellver, Argeliers León , Dolores Torres and Edgardo Martín. Other contemporary Cuban composers that were little or no related at all to
1428-405: A second violin. Roldan's compositions included Overture on Cuban themes (1925), and two ballets: La Rebambaramba (1928) and El milagro de Anaquille (1929). There followed a series of Ritmicas and Poema negra (1930) and Tres toques (march, rites, dance) (1931). In Motivos de son (1934) he wrote eight pieces for voice and instruments based on the poet Nicolás Guillén 's set of poems with
1530-424: A short time in 1949, she recorded four studio sessions with the conjunto. She left by 1950. Myrta returned in 1952 and made a number of live recordings. In 1949, the ensemble recorded twenty-two songs for Ansonia Records. The conjunto made said recordings using its real name. That same year, moreover, it signed with Seeco Records, which was owned by New York City-based Sidney Siegel. The first recording for this label
1632-404: A singer) and Pablo "Bubú" Vázquez Gobín ( contrabass ). The other original members were Manuel "Jimagua" Sánchez ( timbales ), Ismael Goberna ( cornet /trumpet), Domingo Medina, José Manuel Valera, Julio Gobín, Juan Bautista Llopis (guitarists), and Eugenio Pérez, vocalist. One source believes Valera and Bautista Llopis were the vocalists while a second source holds to the position that Eugenio Pérez
1734-485: A vocal concert "accompanied at the fortepiano by a distinguished foreigner recently arrived" and in 1832, Juan Federico Edelmann (1795-1848), a renowned pianist, son of a famous Alsatian composer and pianist, arrived in Havana and gave a very successful concert at the Teatro Principal. Encouraged by the warm welcome, Edelmann decided to stay in Havana, and he was very soon promoted to an important position within
1836-478: A wide variety of genres in Latin America. Large numbers of enslaved Africans and European, mostly Spanish, immigrants came to Cuba and brought their own forms of music to the island. European dances and folk musics included zapateo , fandango , paso doble and retambico . Later, northern European forms like minuet , gavotte , mazurka , contradanza , and the waltz appeared among urban whites. There
1938-424: Is La Bella Cubana , a habanera. During the middle years of the 19th century, a young American musician Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829–1869) came to Cuba. Gottschalk's father was a Jewish businessman from London, and his mother a white creole of French Catholic background. Gottschalk was brought up mostly by his black grandmother and nurse Sally, both from Saint-Domingue . He was a piano prodigy who had listened to
2040-441: Is a guaracha composed in 1947 by Calixto. Humberto Cané succeeded his father on tres and, as well, sang. Valentín Cané, having ceded to his eldest son the tres chair, remained a valuable member of the collective, as he still sang, composed and — in a new role — played tumbadora. The departure of Humberto Cané in 1944 signaled the end of the tres as part of the permanent instrumentation of the group. Dámaso Pérez Prado (later, in
2142-455: Is also mentioned in the Spanish conquest chronicles during the 16th century. A disciple of famous Spanish guitarist Dionisio Aguado, José Prudencio Mungol was the first Cuban guitarist trained in the Spanish guitar tradition. In 1893 he performed at a much acclaimed concert in Havana, after returning from Spain. Mungol actively participated in the musical life of Havana and was a professor at
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#17327916948192244-496: Is intended to provide electroacoustic music training to the composition students during the last years of their careers. After 1970, Cuban composers such as Leo Brouwer , Jesús Ortega, Carlos Fariñas and Sergio Vitier began also creating electroacoustic pieces; and in the 1980s a group of composers that included Edesio Alejandro , Fernando (Archi) Rodríguez Alpízar, Marietta Véulens, Mirtha de la Torre, Miguel Bonachea and Julio Roloff , started receiving instruction and working at
2346-460: Is known today or in one of its historical versions) has been present in Cuba since the discovery of the island by Spain. As early as the 16th century, a musician named Juan Ortiz, from the village of Trinidad, is mentioned by famous chronicler Bernal Díaz del Castillo as "gran tañedor de vihuela y viola" ("a great performer of the vihuela and the guitar"). Another "vihuelista", Alonso Morón from Bayamo,
2448-467: Is not named by the source. The lead vocalist on these recordings is Bienvenido Granda. Celia Cruz succeeded Myrta Silva in 1950, performing and recording with the conjunto until 1965. Fans of the cooperative at first did not accept Celia as a worthy replacement for Myrta, but by 1951 she had won the audience over. In 1962, she married second trumpeter Pedro Knight, who later became her "protector, manager, and musical director". Cruz's first recording with
2550-548: Is undoubtedly entitled at any time". Gonzalo Roig (1890–1970) was a major force in the first half of the century. A composer and orchestral director, he qualified in piano, violin and composition theory. In 1922 he was one of the founders of the National Symphony Orchestra, which he conducted. In 1927 he was appointed Director of the Havana School of Music. As a composer he specialized in
2652-569: The North American composer Federico Smith arrives in Havana . He embraced the Cuban nation as his own country and became one of the most accomplished musicians living and working in Cuba at that time. He remained in Cuba until his death, and made an important contribution to the Cuban musical patrimony. During the early 1970s, a group of musicians and composers, most of them graduated from
2754-633: The clarinet , violin and vihuela . There were few professional musicians at the time, and fewer still of their songs survive. One of the earliest is Ma Teodora , supposed to be related to a freed slave, Teodora Ginés of Santiago de Cuba, who was famous for her compositions. The piece is said to be similar to 16th-, 17th- and 18th-century Spanish popular songs and dances. Cuban music has its principal roots in Spain and West Africa, but over time has been influenced by diverse genres from different countries. Important among these are France (and its colonies in
2856-427: The son cubano merges an adapted Spanish guitar (tres), melody, harmony, and lyrical traditions with Afro-Cuban percussion and rhythms. Almost nothing remains of the original native traditions, since the native population was exterminated in the 16th century. Since the 19th-century Cuban music has been hugely popular and influential throughout the world. It has been perhaps the most popular form of regional music since
2958-522: The "Groupo de Renovación Musical" were: Aurelio de la Vega , Joaquín Nin-Culmell , Alfredo Diez Nieto and Natalio Galán. Although, in Cuba, many composers have written both classical and popular creole types of music, the distinction became clearer after 1960, when (at least initially) the regime frowned on popular music and closed most of the night-club venues, whilst providing financial support for classical music rather than creole forms. From then on, most musicians have kept their careers on one side of
3060-561: The 1920s. Septeto Soprano played their first engagements in La Habana at such popular nocturnal haunts as El Teatro Alhambra , El Centro Gallego , El Centro Asturiano , La Casa de los Médicos , El Club de los 20 , El Club de los Anaranjados and other dance clubs. The group alternated at these nightspots with other ensembles of the day, including the likes of Sexteto Habanero , Sexteto Munamar , Sexteto Boloña , Septeto Nacional de Ignacio Piñeiro (one source asserts that this ensemble
3162-448: The 1940s. Septeto Soprano made only one recording during this decade. It was for RCA-Victor. Some of the individuals important to the group's success began their long association with the collective in the 1930s. In 1932, Rogelio Martínez was appointed co-director. He was influential in determining the destiny of the conjunto. Juan Bautista Llopis returned for a brief period, and a new percussionist, José "Manteca" Rosario Chávez , became
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3264-642: The 1950s, famous as El Rey del Mambo ) was the band's first pianist and one of its earliest arrangers from 1936 to 1939. Severino "Refresquito" Ramos was the primary arranger, as well as pianist, from 1939 (but especially since 1942) to 1944 and, as such, principal architect of the sonic identity of this conjunto. After 1944, he limited himself to arranging and composing. In this decade, La Sonora Matancera faced strong competition from such ensembles as Sexteto Guarina, Juventud Habanera de Joseíto Fernández , Sexteto Nacional de Ignacio Piñeiro, Sexteto Segundo Nacional, Trío Matamoros , Sexteto Casino (it would later become
3366-511: The 1990s. The African beliefs and practices certainly influenced Cuba's music. Polyrhythmic percussion is an inherent part of African music, as the melody is part of European music. Also, in African tradition, percussion is always joined to song and dance, and a particular social setting. The result of the meeting of European and African cultures is that most Cuban popular music is creolized. This creolization of Cuban life has been happening for
3468-473: The Americas "). From the mid-1940s till the end of the 1950s, the collective had a program as "artistas exclusivos" ("exclusive artists") on Radio CMQ called "Cascabeles Candado" . In the period 1947–1948, the group made a number of recordings (Bienvenido Granda as lead singer on the majority of these numbers) as Conjunto Tropicavana or Conjunto Tropicabana. The name change was to avoid legal problems, since
3570-664: The Americas), and the United States . Cuban music has been immensely influential in other countries. It contributed not only to the development of jazz and salsa , but also to the Argentine tango , Ghanaian high-life , West African Afrobeat , Dominican Bachata and Merengue , Colombian Cumbia and Spanish Nuevo flamenco and to the Arabo-Cuban music ( Hanine Y Son Cubano ) developed by Michel Elefteriades in
3672-414: The Cuban musical activity from the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. In 1896, the composer included in his zarzuela "El Brujo" the first Cuban guajira which has been historically documented. About this piece, composer Eduardo Sánchez de Fuentes said: "The honest critique of a not very far day will bestow the author of the immortal guajira of "El Brujo" the honor to which he
3774-559: The Havana Municipal Conservatory, Isaac Nicola (1916 – 1997) continued his training in Paris with Emilio Pujol, a disciple of Francisco Tárrega. He also studied the vihuela with Pujol and researched about the guitar's history and literature. After the Cuban revolution in 1959, Isaac Nicola and other professors such as Marta Cuervo , Clara (Cuqui) Nicola , Marianela Bonet and Leopoldina Núñez were integrated to
3876-895: The Havana Municipal Conservatory, the National School of Arts, and the Instituto Superior de Arte. Others, such as Manuel Barrueco , a concertist of international renown, developed their careers outside the country. Among many other guitarists related to the Cuban Guitar School are Carlos Molina , Sergio Vitier, Flores Chaviano , Efraín Amador Piñero , Armando Rodriguez Ruidiaz, Martín Pedreira , Lester Carrodeguas, Mario Daly, José Angel Pérez Puentes and Teresa Madiedo. A younger group includes guitarists Rey Guerra, Aldo Rodríguez Delgado, Pedro Cañas, Leyda Lombard, Ernesto Tamayo , Miguel Bonachea , Joaquín Clerch and Yalil Guerra . After its arrival in Cuba at
3978-581: The Hubert de Blanck conservatory. Severino López was born in Matanzas. He studied guitar in Cuba with Juan Martín Sabio and Pascual Roch, and in Spain with renowned Catalan guitarist Miguel Llobet. Severino López is considered the initiator in Cuba of the guitar school founded by Francisco Tárrega in Spain. Clara Romero (1888-1951), founder of the modern Cuban School of Guitar, studied in Spain with Nicolás Prats and in Cuba with Félix Guerrero. She inaugurated
4080-635: The ICAP Electroacoustic Studio. A list of Cuban composers that have utilized elecotroacoustics technology include Argeliers León , Juan Piñera , Roberto Valera , José Loyola , Ileana Pérez Velázquez and José Angel Pérez Puentes. Most Cuban composers that established their residence outside Cuba have worked with electroacoustic technology. These include composers Aurelio de la Vega, Armando Tranquilino, Tania León , Orlando Jacinto García , Armando Rodriguez Ruidiaz, Ailem Carvajal Gómez and Irina Escalante Chernova. The guitar (as it
4182-623: The ICAP Workshop changed its name to Laboratorio Nacional de Música Electroacústica (LNME) and its main objective was to support and promote the work of Cuban electroacoustic composers and sound artists. Some years later, another electroacoustic music studio was created at the Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA). The Estudio de Música Electroacústica y por Computadoras (EMEC), currently named Estudio Carlos Fariñas de Arte Musical (Carlos Fariñas Studio of Musical Electroacoustic Art),
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4284-651: The National School of Arts and the Havana Conservatory, gathered around an organization recently created by the government as the junior section of UNEAC ( National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba ), the Brigada Hermanos Saíz. Some of its member were composers Juan Piñera (nephew of the renowned Cuban writer Virgilio Piñera), Flores Chaviano , Armando Rodriguez Ruidiaz, Danilo Avilés , Magaly Ruiz , Efraín Amador Piñero and José Loyola . Other contemporary composers less involved with
4386-652: The Santa Cecilia Philharmonic Society. In 1836, he opened a music store and publishing company. One of the most prestigious Cuban musicians, Ernesto Lecuona (1895-1963), began studying piano with his sister Ernestina and continued with Peyrellade , Saavedra, Nin and Hubert de Blanck. A child prodigy, Lecuona gave a concert, at just five, at the Círculo Hispano. When he graduated from the National Conservatory, he
4488-470: The band as a singer and remainted till 1959. Manteca left either in 1955 or in 1957, retiring as had other members through the years because of health matters. Simón Domingo "Minino" Esquijarroza then became the percussionist. In 1956, Celio González replaced Laíto on lead vocals (besides singing coro with Rogelio, Caíto, and Laíto and playing the güiro ); he stayed until 1959. Refresquito retired in 1957, and Javier Vázquez, another son of Bubú, then became
4590-463: The band signed a contract to perform live on the airwaves of Radio Progreso , making appearances on this station for many years. Son ensembles of this time added pianos to broaden their contrapuntal and harmonic vocabulary. Trumpets, sometimes as many as three, replaced cornets. The additional instruments meant sextetos and septetos evolved into conjuntos . Septeto Soprano added a piano during this decade but did not expand its brass section until
4692-480: The band was still under contract to Panart Records. As this decade drew to a close, Sonora Matancera decided on a course of action that would become standard practice: the incorporation of non-Cuban lead singers into its ranks (without excluding the use of Cuban artists). The first non-Cuban singers were Puerto Ricans , singer/composer Daniel Santos and guarachera/songwriter Myrta Silva . Some of these vocalists were featured lead singers. Others were invited to record
4794-407: The collective in 1926; both had recorded with pianist and bandleader Antonio María Romeu . The group lost Domingo Medina, Julio Gobín, and Juan Bautista Llopis in their attempt at a more modern sound. In 1927, at the suggestion of Valentín Cané, the ensemble moved to Havana , intending to stay one week. It remained there for the next thirty-three years. Havana was home to a thriving music scene in
4896-403: The collective. Celia Cruz went on to become a significant and celebrated performer of so-called salsa music , and was known as the "Queen of Salsa". In that same year, Caíto and Lino were among the vocalists and instrumentalists gathered by Dominican-born Johnny Pacheco for a classic studio recording. Besides Caíto and Lino two other musicians associated with La Sonora played on this album. One
4998-423: The conjunto expanded to big band ( orquesta ) size, making a series of recordings with Daniel Santos. Though these met with approval, the orquesta reverted to a conjunto. About 1950, the ensemble recorded eighty tunes for Stinson Records using the name of Sonora Cubana. It already had recorded ten numbers under this name and would record two additional songs as Sonora Cubana; the record company for these twelve tunes
5100-480: The conjunto was made on December 15, 1950. It was for Seeco Records. "Cao cao, maní picao" was an instant success, a "bombshell". Seeco had an extensive distribution network, allowing it to ship its recordings of different artists, including La Sonora, throughout Latin America. Personnel changes in 1954 included the replacement by Estanislao "Laíto" Sureda of Bienvenido Granda as male lead singer; Bienvenido left after
5202-467: The contradanza Ojos criollos (Danse cubaine) (1859) and a version of María de la O , which refers to a Cuban mulatto singer. These numbers made use of typical Cuban rhythmic patterns. At one of his farewell concerts he played his Adiós a Cuba to huge applause and shouts of 'bravo!' Unfortunately, his score for the work has not survived. In February 1860 Gottschalk produced a huge work La nuit des tropiques in Havana. The work used about 250 musicians and
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#17327916948195304-407: The cooperative in 1969. Music of Cuba The music of Cuba , including its instruments, performance, and dance, comprises a large set of unique traditions influenced mostly by west African and European (especially Spanish) music. Due to the syncretic nature of most of its genres, Cuban music is often considered one of the richest and most influential regional music in the world. For instance,
5406-593: The country thanks to scholarships granted by the government, like Sergio Fernández Barroso (also known as Sergio Barroso ), that received a post-graduate degree from the Superior Academy of Music in Prague, and Roberto Valera , who studied with Witold Rudziński and Andrzej Dobrowolski in Poland. Three other composers belong to this group: Calixto Alvarez , Carlos Malcolm and Héctor Angulo . In 1962,
5508-504: The creation of electroacoustic musical compositions. In 1970, Juan Blanco began to work as a music advisor for the Department of Propaganda of ICAP (Insituto Cubano de Amistad con Los Pueblos). In this capacity, he created electroacoustic music for all the audiovisual materials produced by ICAP. After nine years working without restitution, Blanco finally obtained financing to set up an Electroacoustic Studio to be used for his work. He
5610-614: The drum was banned. In addition, there are other percussion instruments in use for African-origin religious ceremonies. Chinese immigrants contributed the corneta china (Chinese cornet), a Chinese reed instrument still played in the comparsas , or carnival groups, of Santiago de Cuba . The great instrumental contribution of the Spanish was their guitar , but even more important was the tradition of European musical notation and techniques of musical composition . Hernando de la Parra's archives give some of our earliest available information on Cuban music. He reported instruments including
5712-432: The drums, of which, there were originally about fifty different types; today only the bongos , congas and batá drums are regularly seen (the timbales are descended from kettle drums in Spanish military bands). Also important are the claves , two short hardwood batons, and the cajón , a wooden box, originally made from crates. Claves are still used often, and wooden boxes ( cajones ) were widely used during periods when
5814-482: The end of the 18th century, the pianoforte (commonly called piano) rapidly became one of the favorite instruments among the Cuban population. Along with the humble guitar, the piano accompanied the popular Cuban "guarachas" and "contradanzas" (derived from the European Country Dances) at salons and ballrooms in Havana and all over the country. As early as in 1804, a concert program in Havana announced
5916-564: The ensemble as the new timbalero/bongosero/campanero. Additionally, Celio González returned and continued as sonero and güiro player until 1965. In 1962, Sonora Matancera established itself in New York City, where it continued to perform Cuban/Afro-Cuban urban popular dance music. Its residency in New York would last for thirty-nine years, longer than their stay in Havana. In 1965, Celia, Celio and Willy all ended their affiliation with
6018-409: The ensemble into an excellent dance band. In the 1940s, the conjunto more than held its own against such important groups as Orquesta Casino de La Playa, Arsenio Rodríguez, Orquesta Ideal, Cheo Belén Puig, Antonio Arcaño y sus Maravillas , Conjunto Jóvenes del Cayo, and Orquesta Almendra. Together with this cooperative these bands made Cuba "El Paraíso Musical de las Américas" ("The Musical Paradise of
6120-479: The ensemble. In 1942, La Sonora Matancera left CMQ. It would now broadcast — with Bienvenido Granda as lead singer — over the airwaves of RHC Radio . Pedro Knight and Ezequiel "Lino" Frías left Arsenio Rodríguez 's conjunto to join Sonora Matancera on the same day in 1944. These two steered the collective towards a more modern sound. The one gave the brass section more heft while the other enhanced
6222-428: The feast day of August 15, known as La Tutelar, at El Liceo Guanabacoa while Arsenio Rodríguez y Su Conjunto Orquestal Todos Estrellas and Antonio Arcaño y sus Maravillas ( Cachao and his brother Orestes López were members of this orchestra at the time) engaged in a musical mano a mano on the same day at El Manantial de la Cotorra . Its long tenure in the academias served La Sonora Matancera well as it transformed
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#17327916948196324-482: The first half of the 20th Century. They both played a part in Afrocubanismo : the movement in black-themed Cuban culture with origins in the 1920s, and extensively analysed by Fernando Ortiz . Roldan, born in Paris to a Cuban mulatta and a Spanish father, came to Cuba in 1919 and became the concert-master (first-chair violin) of the new Orquesta Sinfónica de La Habana in 1922. There he met Caturla, at sixteen
6426-503: The first truly important sonero to perform and record with the conjunto. Another source says that he joined La Sonora Matancera in 1942 while a third source says it was in 1944. Whatever the case may be, his association with Sonora Matancera made it famous throughout the Spanish-speaking Caribbean . No one recorded more tunes with the ensemble than Bienvenido Granda, as he made over 200 recordings during his time with
6528-537: The greatest Cuban pianist/composers of the 20th century was Ernesto Lecuona (1895–1963). Lecuona composed over six hundred pieces, mostly in the Cuban vein, and was a pianist of exceptional quality. He was a prolific composer of songs and music for stage and film. His works consisted of zarzuela , Afro-Cuban and Cuban rhythms, suites and many songs that became Latin standards. They include Siboney , Malagueña and The Breeze And I ( Andalucía ). In 1942 his great hit Always in my heart ( Siempre en mi Corazon )
6630-497: The group. That year it adopted its formal name, Conjunto Sonora Matancera. Calixto Leicea and Humberto Cané (son of Valentín Cané) became members in this year. Another source claims Humberto Cané joined in 1929. Calixto Leicea replaced Ismael Goberna, who retired because of poor health and died a few months later. By then, Calixto had played and made his name with Sexteto Nacional (led by Ignacio Piñeiro), Chaveo y Su Grupo, Juventud Habanera, Sexteto Guarina, and María Teresa Vera . As
6732-611: The guitar department at the Havana Municipal Conservatory in 1931, where she also introduced the teachings of the Cuban folk guitar style. She created the Guitar Society of Cuba (Sociedad Guitarrística de Cuba) in 1940, and also the "Guitar" (Guitarra) magazine, with the purpose of promoting the Society's activities. She was the professor of many Cuban guitarists including her son Isaac Nicola and her daughter Clara (Cuqui) Nicola . After studying with his mother, Clara Romero, at
6834-533: The guitar with his father and after some time continued with Isaac Nicola . He taught himself harmony, counterpoint, musical forms and orchestration before completing his studies at the Juilliard School and the University of Hartford . Since the 1960s, several generations of guitar performers, professors and composers have been formed under the Cuban Guitar School at educational institutions such as
6936-427: The history of Cuban nationalist musical movements." In the hands of his successor, Ignacio Cervantes Kavanagh, the piano idiom related to the contradanza achieved even greater sophistication. Cervantes was called by Aaron Copland a "Cuban Chopin " because of his Chopinesque piano compositions. Cervantes' reputation today rests almost solely upon his famous forty-one Danzas Cubanas , which Carpentier said, "occupy
7038-557: The introduction of recording technology. Cuban music has contributed to the development of a wide variety of genres and musical styles around the globe, most notably in Latin America , the Caribbean , West Africa , and Europe . Examples include rhumba , Afro-Cuban jazz , salsa , soukous , many West African re-adaptations of Afro-Cuban music ( Orchestra Baobab , Africando ), Spanish fusion genres (notably with flamenco ), and
7140-590: The invisible line or the other. After the Cuban Revolution in 1959, a new crop of classical musicians came onto the scene. The most important of these is guitarist Leo Brouwer , who have made significant contributions to the technique and repertoire of the modern classical guitar, and has been the director of the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba . His directorship in the early 1970s of the "Grupo de Experimentacion Sonora del ICAIC"
7242-748: The last decades of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century a new generation of composers emerged into the Cuban classical music panorama. Most of them received a solid musical education provided by the official arts school system created by the Cuban government and graduated from the Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA). Some of those composers are Louis Franz Aguirre , Ileana Pérez Velázquez , Keila María Orozco, Viviana Ruiz, Fernando (Archi) Rodríguez Alpízar, Yalil Guerra , Eduardo Morales Caso , Ailem Carvajal Gómez , Irina Escalante Chernova and Evelin Ramón . All of them have emigrated and currently live and have worked in other countries. Juan Blanco
7344-400: The mid-century several were written as light-classical parlor pieces for piano. The first distinguished composer in this style was Manuel Saumell (1818–1870), who is sometimes accordingly hailed as the father of Cuban creole musical development. According to Helio Orovio, "After Saumell's visionary work, all that was left to do was to develop his innovations, all of which profoundly influenced
7446-472: The music and seen the dancing in Congo Square , New Orleans from childhood. His period in Cuba lasted from 1853 to 1862, with visits to Puerto Rico and Martinique squeezed in. He composed many creolized pieces, such as the habanera Bamboula, Op. 2 (Danse de negres) (1845), the title referring to a bass Afro-Caribbean drum; El cocoye (1853), a version of a rhythmic melody already present in Cuba;
7548-592: The name of the band was changed to Septeto Soprano , due to supposed new singer Eugenio Pérez (according to one source), though he left a few months later. A different source credits the new name to the vocal range of the singer and maracas player, Carlos Manuel "Caíto" Díaz Alonso, who became a member the same year. Rogelio Martínez joined the group in 1926, after Caíto recommended him to Valentín Cané. Another source indicates that Rogelio recommended Caíto to Valentín Cané, and that Caíto and Rogelio became members in 1927. A third source posits that Caíto and Rogelio joined
7650-449: The national music schools system, where a unified didactical method was implemented. This was a nucleus for the later development of a national Cuban Guitar School with which a new generation of guitarists and composers collaborated. Maybe the most important contribution to the modern Cuban guitar technique and repertoire comes from Leo Brouwer (born 1939). The grandson of Ernestina Lecuona, sister of Ernesto Lecuona, Brouwer began studying
7752-438: The organization were José María Vitier , Julio Roloff , and Jorge López Marín. After the Cuban Revolution (1959), many future Cuban composers emigrated at a very young age and developed most of their careers outside the country. Within this group are the composers Tania León , Orlando Jacinto García , Armando Tranquilino, Odaline de la Martinez , José Raul Bernardo, Jorge Martín (composer) and Raul Murciano. During
7854-570: The place that the Norwegian Dances of Grieg or the Slavic Dances of Dvořák occupy in the music of their respective countries". Cervantes' never-finished opera, Maledetto , is forgotten. In the 1840s, the habanera emerged as a languid vocal song using the contradanza rhythm. (Non-Cubans sometimes called Cuban contradanzas "habaneras.") The habanera went on to become popular in Spain and elsewhere. The Cuban contradanza/Danza
7956-443: The popular song and the concert lied , dance music, the zarzuela and the vernacular theatre, as well as symphonic music. Among others, we should mention Hubert de Blanck (1856-1932); José Mauri (1856-1937); Manuel Mauri (1857-1939); José Marín Varona ; Eduardo Sánchez de Fuentes (1874-1944); Jorge Anckermann (1877-1941); Luis Casas Romero (1882-1950) and Mario Valdés Costa (1898-1930). The work of José Marín Varona links
8058-534: The priest Juan París (1759–1845). París was an exceptionally industrious man and an important composer. He encouraged continuous and diverse musical events. Aside from rural music and Afro-Cuban folk music, the most popular kind of urban Creole dance music in the 19th century was the contradanza, which commenced as a local form of the English country dance and the derivative French contredanse and Spanish contradanza. While many contradanzas were written for dance, from
8160-524: The principal arranger. In 1959, the conjunto undertook another overseas tour, playing in Venezuela , Peru , Chile , and Uruguay ; the year is considered the ensemble's high-water mark. The cooperative began the decade with a tour of Haiti , the Dominican Republic , Aruba , and Curacao , but the political upheaval following the Cuban Revolution affected the group greatly. Having signed
8262-463: The purpose of improving and literally renovating the quality of the Cuban musical environment. During its existence from 1942 to 1948, the group organized numerous concerts at the Havana Lyceum in order to present their avant-garde compositions to the general public and fostered within its members the development of many future conductors, art critics, performers and professors. They also started
8364-564: The rhythm section. Pianist Lino Frías anchored La Sonora's rhythm section until 1976. He was also a superb composer and arranger. In 1944, the conjunto made its next-to-last recordings for RCA-Victor. It also was signed to a recording contract by the newly established Panart Records . Original director Valentín Cané led the group till an asthmatic condition forced him to retire in 1946. He continued to receive pay as if he were an active member of La Sonora Matancera till he died two years later. In 1946, in place of Valentín Cané, Tata Güines , who
8466-417: The same title. His last composition was two Piezas infantiles for piano (1937). Roldan died young, at 38, of a disfiguring facial cancer (he had been an inveterate smoker). After his student days, Caturla lived all his life in the small central town of Remedios, where he became a lawyer to support his growing family. His Tres danzas cubanas for symphony orchestra was first performed in Spain in 1929. Bembe
8568-467: The zarzuela, a musical theatre form, very popular up to World War II. In 1931 he co-founded a bufo company (comic theatre) at the Teatro Martí in Havana. He was the composer of the most well-known Cuban zarzuela, Cecilia Valdés , based on the famous 19th-century novel about a Cuban mulata. It was premiered in 1932. He founded various organizations and wrote frequently on musical topics. One of
8670-409: Was a member of the groundbreaking ensemble led by Israel "Cachao" López in the late 1950s and the early 1960s, became the conguero for a short time. Carlos "Patato" Valdés also held this position for a few months. Ángel "Yiyo" Alfonso Furias took over the tumbadora chair in 1948 and thus completed the quintessential lineup. From 1948 to 1954, it consisted of: Sonora Matancera honed its skills over
8772-521: Was a sexteto, not a septeto, at this time), Sexteto Pinareño , and Sexteto Gloria Cubana . At first the collective did not have an easy time due to the professionalism of the other tríos , cuartetos , sextetos, and septetos active at this time, but carved out a niche for itself in the Cuban capital. The move to Havana proved to be consequential. In 1928, the collective made its first recordings , for its first label, RCA-Victor . The ensemble would eventually record for thirteen different labels. In 1929,
8874-537: Was also an immigration of Chinese indentured laborers later in the 19th century. Fernando Ortiz , the first great Cuban folklorist, described Cuba's musical innovations as arising from the interplay ('transculturation') between enslaved Africans settled on large sugar plantations and Spaniards from different regions such as Andalusia and Canary Islands . The enslaved Africans and their descendants made many percussion instruments and preserved rhythms they had known in their homeland. The most important instruments were
8976-499: Was also an important influence on the Puerto Rican Danza, which went on to enjoy its own dynamic and distinctive career lasting through the 1930s. In Cuba, in the 1880s the contradanza/Danza gave birth to the danzón, which effectively superseded it in popularity. Laureano Fuentes (1825–1898) came from a family of musicians and wrote the first opera to be composed on the island, La Hija de Jefté (Jefte's daughter). This
9078-632: Was appointed as Director of the Studio, but under the condition that he should be the only one to use the facility. After a few months, and without asking for permission, he opened the Electroacoustic Studio to all composers interested in working with electroacoustic technology, thus creating the ICAP Electroacoustsic Music Workshop (TIME), where he himself provided training to all participants. In 1990,
9180-597: Was awarded the First Prize and the Gold Medal of his class by unanimous decision of the board. He is by far the Cuban composer of greatest international recognition and his contributions to the Cuban piano tradition are considered exceptional. Bowed stringed instruments have been present in Cuba since the 16th century. Musician Juan Ortiz from the Ville of Trinidad is mentioned by chronicler Bernal Díaz del Castillo as
9282-447: Was common with musicians of his generation throughout Latin America, he had been a member of a government-sponsored municipal band, La Banda Municipal de Matanzas (prior to embarking on a career as a professional musician), getting a firm musical education in the process. Calixto Leicea was an excellent songwriter and arranger . The band recorded many of his compositions as well as arrangements. The collective's theme song "Traigo un tono"
9384-472: Was founded on January 12, 1924 in Barrio Ojo de Agua, a neighborhood in the city of Matanzas . Culturally and demographically, this seaport is located in the most African region of Cuba . The ensemble was initially named Tuna Liberal for political reasons. The co-founders were Valentín Cané (director, tres , guitar and tumbadora , or as it is commonly called, conga . He was also a songwriter and later on
9486-644: Was founded. During the transition from the 18th to the 19th centuries, the Havanese Ulpiano Estrada (1777–1847) offered violin lessons and conducted the Teatro Principal orchestra from 1817 to 1820. Apart from his activity as a violinist, Estrada kept a very active musical career as a conductor of numerous orchestras, bands and operas, and composing many contradanzas and other dance pieces, such as minuets and valses. José Vandergutch, Belgian violinist, arrived at Havana along with his father Juan and brother Francisco, also violinists. They returned at
9588-621: Was from 1947 until 1959. This was its golden age. By the early 1950s, the ensemble made live broadcasts from the studios of Radio Progreso, Radio CMBG, and Radio CMQ. These stations broadcast on shortwave radio , which helped increase the collective's popularity in Latin America. During this decade, the band — besides these regular bookings on Cuban radio — had its calendar filled with club dates, film appearances, and tours overseas. The majority of its recordings were made at this time. Besides personnel and instrumental changes, Sonora Matancera, as already illustrated, underwent stylistic changes. In 1950,
9690-410: Was from the past (Patato) and one was a trumpeter who would be invited to participate in a 1981 recording session ( Pedro "Puchi" Boulong ). Pedro Knight retired as a trumpeter in 1967 to be Celia Cruz's full-time manager. Ramón Emilio "Chiripa" Aracena became the new second trumpet chair that same year. Leo Marini, a vocal mainstay during the 1950s, renewed his association by recording an album with
9792-557: Was instrumental in the formation and consolidation of the Nueva trova movement. Other important composers from the early post-revolution period that began in 1959 were: Carlos Fariñas and Juan Blanco , a pioneer of "concrete" and "electroacoustic music" in Cuba. Closely following the early post-revolution generation, a group of young composers started to attract the attention of the public that attended classical music concerts. Most of them had obtained degrees in reputable Schools outside
9894-444: Was later lengthened and staged under the title Seila . His numerous works spanned all genres. Gaspar Villate (1851–1891) produced abundant and wide-ranging work, all centered on opera. José White (1836–1918), a mulatto of a Spanish father and an Afrocuban mother, was a composer and a violinist of international merit. He learned to play sixteen instruments, and lived, variously, in Cuba, Latin America, and Paris. His most famous work
9996-433: Was made on November 25, 1949, the guaracha "Tocando madera", with Bienvenido Granda as sonero. The association with Seeco Records lasted until 1966, with the last recordings having been made in the prior year. The source does not indicate if the group was still contractually obligated to Panart Records when it recorded for Ansonia and when it signed, as well as recorded, with Seeco. La Sonora Matancera's most successful period
10098-500: Was nominated for an Oscar for Best Song; it lost out to White Christmas . The Ernesto Lecuona Symphonic Orchestra performed the premiere of Lecuona's Black Rhapsody in the Cuban Liberation Day Concert at Carnegie Hall on 10 October 1943. Although their music is rarely played today, Amadeo Roldán (1900–1939) and Alejandro García Caturla (1906–1940) were Cuba's symphonic revolutionaries during
10200-403: Was premiered in Havana the same year. His Obertura cubana won first prize in a national contest in 1938. Caturla was murdered at 34 by a young gambler. Founded in 1942 under the guidance of José Ardévol (1911–1981), a Catalan composer established in Cuba since 1930, the "Grupo de Renovación Musical" served as a platform for a group of young composers to develop a proactive movement with
10302-429: Was the first Cuban composer to create an electroacoustic piece in 1961. This first composition, titled "Musica Para Danza", was produced with just an oscillator and three common tape recorders. Access to the necessary technological resources to produce electroacoustic music was always very limited for anyone interested. For this reason, it was not until 1969 that another Cuban composer, Sergio Barroso , dedicated himself to
10404-406: Was the sole sonero. At this point, the band was just a commonplace group and had not yet developed its distinctive sound. In 1925, Gerardo Machado , then Cuban President, invited Tuna Liberal to play at a party for his birthday. This marked a new acceptance for Afro-Cuban groups and a style of music that had previously been barred from certain restaurants and hotels. Personnel changed in 1926, and
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