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Guaracha
The guaracha () is a genre of music that originated in Cuba, of rapid tempo and comic or picaresque lyrics. The word had been used in this sense at least since the late 18th and early 19th century. Guarachas were played and sung in musical theatres and in low-class dance salons. They became an integral part of bufo comic theatre in the mid-19th century. During the later 19th and the early 20th century the guaracha was a favourite musical form in the brothels of Havana. The guaracha survives today in the repertoires of some trova musicians, conjuntos and Cuban-style big bands. Early uses of the word Though the word may be historically of Spanish origin, its use in this context is of indigenous Cuban origin. These are excerpts from reference sources, in date order: A Latin American carol "Convidando esta la noche" dates from at least the mid 17th century and both mentions and is a guaracha. It was composed or collected by Juan Garcia de Zespedes, 1620-1678, Puebla, Mexico. Thi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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, 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 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 Eu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ñico Saquito
Benito Antonio Fernández Ortiz (13 February 1901 – 4 August 1982), better known as Ñico Saquito, was a Cuban trova songwriter, guitarist and singer. He is widely considered the most prolific and successful composer of guarachas, most of which he wrote during his stint as a member of Los Guaracheros de Oriente. Among his most enduring compositions are "Cuidadito compay gallo", "MarÃa Cristina", "Adiós compay gato", "Al vaivén de mi carreta", "Camina como Chencha" and "Amarrao compé". Life and career Saquito was born on 13 February 1901 in Santiago de Cuba, the capital of the Santiago de Cuba Province (known as the Oriente Province between 1905 and 1976), notable for its traditional ''trova'' music. From an early age Saquito was a keen baseball player, using a jute sack as his baseball glove, from which his nickname originated (''ñico'' from Antoñico, diminutive of his name due to his short stature, and ''saquito'' meaning small sack). By the age of 15 he had already ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cuban Musical Theatre
Cuban musical theatre has its own distinctive style and history. From the 18th century (at least) to modern times, popular theatrical performances included music and often dance as well. Many composers and musicians had their careers launched in the theatres, and many compositions got their first airing on the stage. In addition to staging some European operas and operettas, Cuban composers gradually developed ideas which better suited their creole audience. Characters on stages began to include elements from Cuban life, and the music began to reflect a fusion between African and European contributions. Recorded music was to be the conduit for Cuban music to reach the world. The most recorded artist in Cuba up to 1925 was a singer at the ''Alhambra'', Adolfo Colombo. Records show he recorded about 350 numbers between 1906 and 1917. The first theatre in Havana opened in 1775, called the ''Coliseo'', and later the ''Teatro Principal''. The first Cuban-composed opera appeared in 1807 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adolfo Colombo
Adolfo Columbo (Canary Islands, 1868 – Havana 1953) was a leading singer in the Alhambra Theatre in Havana, and also an actor and a leading personality in the theatre. Colombo was the most recorded artist in Cuba up to 1925: records show he recorded about 350 numbers between 1906 and 1917. Colombo was a tenor, who sang regularly with Claudio GarcÃa ( baritone) in the theatre and on recordings. He also recorded with Regino López and other artists between 1906 and 1929. In 1908 he joined the ''Cuarteto Villalón'' with GarcÃa, Emilio Reinoso (mandolin), and Alberto Villalón (guitar). This was an early precursor of the son groups that developed later in Havana. Their repertoire included boleros and other Cuban genres such as guarachas, a genre which owed its origin to the theatre. One that has been reissued by ''Harlequin'' reveals a funky number which is hard to categorize. Listed as a rumba, it is perhaps better described as a ''guaracha-son''. The artists singing are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
José MarÃn Varona
José MarÃn Varona (Camagüey, March 10, 1859Havana, September 17, 1912) was a Cuban composer, conductor, pianist and professor.MarÃn Varona, José: Orovio, Helio: uban Music from A to Z, DukeUniversity Press, Durham, U. S., 2004 Biographical note José MarÃn Varona was born on March 10, 1859 in the city of Camagüey, where he began his musical studies with professor Mariano Agüero. At a later time, Varona established his residence in Havana. 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 is undoubtedly entitled at any time".Sánchez de Fuentes, Eduardo: ArtÃculo en “Folklorismoâ€editado por Imprenta “Molina y CompañÃaâ€, Ricla, Num 55-57, La Habana, 1928. Shortly after the premiere of "El Brujo", MarÃn V ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salsa Music
Salsa music is a style of Latin American music. Because most of the basic musical components predate the labeling of salsa, there have been many controversies regarding its origin. Most songs considered as salsa are primarily based on son montuno, with elements of mambo, Latin jazz, bomba, plena and guaracha. All of these elements are adapted to fit the basic son montuno template when performed within the context of salsa. Originally the name salsa was used to label commercially several styles of Latin dance music, but nowadays it is considered a musical style on its own and one of the staples of Latin American culture. The first self-identified salsa bands were predominantly assembled by Cuban and Puerto Rican musicians in New York City in the '70s. The music style was based on the late son montuno of Arsenio RodrÃguez, Conjunto ChappottÃn and Roberto Faz. These musicians included Celia Cruz, Willie Colón , Rubén Blades, Johnny Pacheco, Machito and Héctor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jorge Anckermann
Jorge Anckermann (22 March 1877 – 3 February 1941) was a Cuban pianist, composer and bandleader. Havana-born, he started in music at eight with his father. At age ten he was able to substitute in a trio. In 1892, he went to Mexico as musical director of the bufo company of Nachos Lopez, visiting various Mexican states, and touring California. Anckermann lived in Mexico City for a number of years, teaching music. In Cuba, he was for many years the musical director of leading theatres. He composed and produced pieces for zarzuelas, reviews and comedies. He also composed boleros, and was apparently the originator of the guajira. The grand theatre ''Alhambra'' was the scene of his greatest hits, such as ''La isla de cotorras''. Famous pieces include ''El arroyo que murmura''; ''El quitrÃn''; ''Flor de YumurÃ''; ''Un bolero en la noche''. His father, Carlos Anckermann, and his brother, Fernando Anckermann Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canción
''Canción'' ("song") is a popular genre of Latin American music, particularly in Cuba, where many of the compositions originate.Orovio, Helio 2004. ''Cuban music from A to Z''. p42 Its roots lie in Spanish popular song forms, including tiranas, Polo (flamenco palo), polos and Bolero (Spanish dance), boleros; also in Italian light operetta, French romance (music), romanza, and the slow waltz. Initially, even when written by the creole population of Cuba, who opposed the ruling hierarchy, the music retained its European style of "intricate melodies, and dark, enigmatic and elaborate lyrics". Later, in the latter part of the nineteenth century, the canción came under the influence of the trovador movement. This resulted in the lyrical expression of the feelings and aspirations of the population. The accompaniment of the guitar followed naturally, and the canción gradually fused with other forms of Cuban (and therefore Latin American) music such as the bolero.Leon, Argeliers 1964. ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bolero
Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It has been called the "quintessential Latin American romantic song of the twentieth century". Unlike the simpler, thematically diverse '' canción'', bolero did not stem directly from the European lyrical tradition, which included Italian opera and canzone, popular in urban centers like Havana at the time. Instead, it was born as a form of romantic folk poetry cultivated by a new breed of troubadour from Santiago de Cuba, the ''trovadores''. Pepe Sánchez is considered the father of this movement and the author of the first bolero, "Tristezas", written in 1883. Originally, boleros were sung by individual ''trovadores'' while playing guitar. Over time, it became common for trovadores to play in groups as ''dúos'', ''trÃos'', ''cuartetos'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alejo Carpentier
Alejo Carpentier y Valmont (, ; December 26, 1904 – April 24, 1980) was a Cuban novelist, essayist, and musicologist who greatly influenced Latin American literature during its famous "boom" period. Born in Lausanne, Switzerland, of French and Russian parentage, Carpentier grew up in Havana, Cuba, and despite his European birthplace, he strongly identified as Cuban throughout his life. He traveled extensively, particularly in France, and to South America and Mexico, where he met prominent members of the Latin American cultural and artistic community. Carpentier took a keen interest in Latin American politics and often aligned himself with revolutionary movements, such as Fidel Castro's Communist Revolution in Cuba in the mid-20th century. Carpentier was jailed and exiled for his leftist political philosophies. With a developed knowledge of music, Carpentier explored musicology, publishing an in-depth study of the music of Cuba, ''La música en Cuba'' and integrated musical t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Habanera (music)
''Contradanza'' (also called ''contradanza criolla'', ''danza'', ''danza criolla'', or ''habanera'') is the Spanish and Spanish-American version of the contradanse, which was an internationally popular style of music and dance in the 18th century, derived from the English country dance and adopted at the court of France. Contradanza was brought to America and there took on folkloric forms that still exist in Bolivia, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Panama and Ecuador. In Cuba during the 19th century, it became an important genre, the first written music to be rhythmically based on an African rhythm pattern and the first Cuban dance to gain international popularity, the progenitor of danzón, mambo and cha-cha-cha, with a characteristic "habanera rhythm" and sung lyrics. Outside Cuba, the Cuban contradanza became known as the ''habanera'' – the dance of Havana – and that name was adopted in Cuba itself subsequent to its international popularity in the later 19t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lyrics
Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, as a " librettist". The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of expression. Rappers can also create lyrics (often with a variation of rhyming words) that are meant to be spoken rhythmically rather than sung. Etymology The word ''lyric'' derives via Latin ' from the Greek ('), the adjectival form of ''lyre''. It first appeared in English in the mid-16th century in reference to the Earl of Surrey's translations of Petrarch and to his own sonnets. Greek lyric poetry had been defined by the manner in which it was sung accompanied by the lyre or cithara, as opposed to the chanted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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