Guajira is a music genre derived from the

punto cubano Punto guajiro or ''punto cubano'' – or simply ''punto'' – is a sung genre of Cuban music, a poetic art with music. It became popular in the western and central regions of Cuba in the 17th century, and consolidated as a genre in the 18th ...

. According to some specialists, the punto cubano was known in Spain since the 18th century, where it was called "punto de La Habana", and by the second half of the 19th century it was adopted by the incipient Spanish

Flamenco Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and ...

style, which included it within its "palos" with the name of guajira.Manuel, Peter: The guajira between Cuba and Spain: A study in continuity and change. Latin American Music Review, volume 25, No. 2, Fall/Winter, 2004. Guajira was utilized by Spanish Zarzuela composers, such as Ruperto Chapí, who included it in his well known play "La Revoltosa", from 1897. Two years later, in 1899, the Cuban composer

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 musica ...

inaugurated a new genre with his song "El arroyo que murmura", the first Cuban guajira. This song became a model that was adopted by many other Cuban composers at a later time, and was frequently included in the Cuban Zarzuela and vernacular theater. The Cuban guajira preserved the characteristic rhythm of its ancestors, the

and the Spanish guajira, which was the sesquiáltera or horizontal Hemiola. Alternating time signatures2

Its form usually alternates a first section in minor mode, with a second section modulating to its direct Major relative. Its lyrics frequently refer to rural themes in an idealistic and bucolic way, and generally evoke the goodness of rural life and romantic love stories.Sánchez de Fuentes, Eduardo 1923. El folklore en la música cubana. La Habana. p56

Guajira de salón, or guajira-son

From the 1930s, the guajira was refined and popularized by the singer and guitarist

Guillermo Portabales Guillermo Portabales (born ''José Guillermo Quesada Castillo''; 6 April 1911 – 25 October 1970) was a Cuban singer-songwriter and guitarist who popularized the '' guajira'' style of Cuban music from the 1930s through the 1960s. His languid, mel ...

, whose elegant style was known as guajira de salón or guajira-son. This is nothing but another case of synonymy within the Cuban popular music, because in spite of being named as guajira, the style of his songs was nothing else but the one of the Cuban

Son A son is a male offspring; a boy or a man in relation to his parents. The female counterpart is a daughter. From a biological perspective, a son constitutes a first degree relative. Social issues In pre-industrial societies and some current c ...

and

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 ...

-Son; although their lyrics were always related to rural themes.Linares, María Teresa y Núñez, Faustino: La música entre Cuba y España, Fundación Autor 1998, p. 75. Since the thirties until his death in a traffic accident, in 1970, Guillermo Portabales sang and recorded numerous guajiras de Salón through North and South America with great popular acclaim. Other renowned performers of guajira-son were Celina González, Coralia Fernández, Ramón Veloz y Radeúnda Lima. One of the most famous guajiras-son is the Guantanamera, composed by Joseíto Fernández and internationally popularized during the 1960s by the American folk singer

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...

Etymology

The term comes from the Antillean

Arawak The Arawak are a group of indigenous peoples of northern South America and of the Caribbean. Specifically, the term "Arawak" has been applied at various times to the Lokono of South America and the Taíno, who historically lived in the Greater ...

and means: lord, powerful man. In Cuba it is used to name those people who work or live in the field, or to name people who behave like them in the sense that they can be rude or with little knowledge (cf.

Hillbilly Hillbilly is a term (often derogatory) for people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in southern Appalachia and the Ozarks. The term was later used to refer to people from other rural and mountainous areas west ...

). Also colloquially you can call people who live outside the capital of Cuba or in rural areas without having to be farm workers. In some phrases it is used to refer to a person who is shy "no seas guajiro y pregúntale" ("don't be a peasant and ask her").

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guajira (music) Cuban styles of music

Guajira de salón, or guajira-son

Etymology

See also

References