''Trova'' is a style of
Cuban popular music originating in the 19th century. Trova was created by itinerant musicians known as ''trovadores'' who travelled around Cuba's
Oriente province, especially
Santiago de Cuba
Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana.
The municipality extends over , and contains t ...
, and earned their living by singing and playing the
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
. According to
nueva trova
Nueva Trova (, "new trova") is a movement in Cuban music that emerged around 1967/68 after the Cuban Revolution of 1959, and the consequent political and social changes.
Nueva Trova has its roots in the traditional trova, but differs from it beca ...
musician
Noel Nicola
Noel Nicola (*October 7, 1946 - †August 7, 2005 in Havana, Cuba) was a Cuban singer-songwriter and founder of the Cuban nueva trova, along with Silvio Rodríguez, Pablo Milanés, Vicente Feliu Miranda and Sara Rosa González Gómez. He authored ...
, Cuban trovadors sang original songs or songs written by contemporaries, accompanied themselves on guitar, and aimed to feature music that had a poetic sensibility. This definition fits best the singers of
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 ...
s, and less well the Afrocubans singing funky
sones (
El Guayabero) or even
guaguancó
Guaguancó () is a subgenre of Cuban rumba, combining percussion, voices, and dance. There are two main styles: Havana and Matanzas.
Percussion
* battery of three conga drummers: the ''tumba'' (lowest), ''tres dos'' (middle, playing a counter-c ...
s and
abakuá
Abakuá, also sometimes known as Ñañiguismo, is an Afro-Cuban men's initiatory fraternity or secret society, which originated from fraternal associations in the Cross River region of southeastern Nigeria and southwestern Cameroon.
Abakuá ...
(
Chicho Ibáñez
Chicho Ibáñez, born José Ibáñez Noriega (Corral Falso, 22 November 1875 – Havana, 18 May 1981) was the longest-lived and one of the most important members of the Cuban trova. He was significant because, unlike most of the others, he speciali ...
). It rules out, perhaps unfairly, singers who accompanied themselves on the piano.
''Trova'' musicians have played an important part in the evolution of Cuban popular music. Collectively, they have been prolific as composers, and have provided a start for many later musicians whose career lay in larger groupings. Socially, they reached every community in the country, and have helped to spread Cuban music throughout the world.
The founders
Pepe Sánchez, born José Sánchez (Santiago de Cuba, 19 March 1856 – 3 January 1918), is known as the father of the ''trova'' style and the creator of the Cuban bolero. He had some experience in ''
bufo
''Bufo'' is a genus of true toads in the amphibian family Bufonidae. As traditionally defined, it was a wastebasket genus containing a large number of toads from much of the world, but following taxonomic reviews most of these have been moved t ...
'', but had no formal training in music. With remarkable natural talent, he composed numbers in his head and never wrote them down. As a result, most of these numbers are now lost for ever, though some two dozen or so survive because friends and disciples wrote them down. His first bolero, ''Tristezas'', is still remembered today. He also created advertisement jingles before the radio. He was the model and teacher for the great trovadores who followed him.
The first, and one of the longest-lived, was
Sindo Garay
Sindo Garay (born Antonio Gumersindo Garay García; Santiago de Cuba, 12 April 1867 – Havana, 17 July 1968) was a Cuban trova musician. He was taught by Pepe Sánchez. Garay was one of the ''four greats of the trova''. He was of Spanish a ...
, born Antonio Gumersindo Garay Garcia (Stgo de C. 12 April 1867 – Havana, 17 July 1968). He was the most outstanding composer of trova songs, and his best have been sung and recorded many times. ''Perla marina'', ''Adios a La Habana'', ''Mujer bayamesa'', ''El huracan y la palma'', ''Guarina'' and many others are now part of Cuba's heritage. Garay was also musically illiterate – in fact, he only taught himself the
alphabet
An alphabet is a standardized set of basic written graphemes (called letters) that represent the phonemes of certain spoken languages. Not all writing systems represent language in this way; in a syllabary, each character represents a syll ...
at 16 – but in his case not only were scores recorded by others, but there are recordings as well.
In the 1890s Garay got involved in the
Cuban War of Independence, and decided a stay in
Hispaniola (
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
and
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...
) would be a good idea. It was, and he came back with a wife. Garay settled in Havana in 1906, and in 1926 joined
Rita Montaner
Rita Aurelia Fulcida Montaner y Facenda (20 August 1900 – 17 April 1958), known as Rita Montaner, was a Cuban singer, pianist and actress. In Cuban parlance, she was a '' vedette'' (a star), and was well known in Mexico City, Paris, Miami and ...
and others to visit Paris, spending three months there singing his songs. He broadcast on radio, made recordings and survived into modern times. He used to say "Not many men have shaken hands with both
Jose Marti
Jose is the English transliteration
Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus ''trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Gree ...
and
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...
!"
Carlos Puebla
Carlos Manuel Puebla (; 11 September 1917, Manzanillo – 12 July 1989, Havana) was a Cuban singer, guitarist, and composer. He was a member of the old trova movement who specialized in boleros and patriotic songs.
Biography
Born into a mo ...
, whose life spanned the old and the new trova, told a good joke about him: "Sindo celebrated his 100th birthday several times – in fact, whenever he was short of money!"
José 'Chicho' Ibáñez (Corral Falso, 22 November 1875 – Havana, 18 May 1981) was the first trovador (that we know of) to specialize in the
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 also on guaguancós and afrocuban rhythms from the abakuá. He played the tres rather than the Spanish guitar, and developed his own technique for this Cuban guitar. During his extremely long career, Chicho sang and played the son in streets, plazas, cafés, nightclubs and other venues throughout Cuba. In the 1920s, when the sextetos became popular, he was forced to sell his compositions to these larger groups and their composers in order to survive. His compositions include ''Tóma mamá que te manda tía'', ''Evaristo'', ''No te metas Caridad'', ''Ojalá'' (sones); ''Yo era dichoso'', ''Al fin mujer'' (bolero-sones); ''Qué más me pides'', ''La saya de Oyá'' (guaguancos). He worked throughout Cuba, and latterly a short film was made of him ('See also' below).
The composer
Rosendo Ruiz
Rosendo Ruiz Suárez (1 March 1885 – 1 January 1983) was a Cuban singer, guitarist and composer, considered one of the founders of the trova. He wrote over 200 songs in a variety of styles ranging from canción and bolero to guajira and bambuco. ...
(Sgo de C. 1 March 1885 – Havana, 1 January 1983) was a trovador almost as long-lived as Ibáñez and Garay. He wrote the criolla ''Mares y Arenas'' in 1911, the workers' anthem ''Redencion'' in 1917, the bolero ''Confesion'', the guajira ''Junto al canaveral'' and the pregon-son ''Se va el dulcerito''. He was the author of a well-known guitar manual.
Manuel Corona (Calbarién 17 June 1880 – Havana 9 January 1950) started his career in a red light district of Havana. Originally a singer-guitarist, he became a prolific composer after his hand was damaged by a pimp's knife. It was a case of "She was a whore, and she had her man, but I loved her".
Alberto Villalón (Stgo de C. 7 June 1882 – Havana 16 07 1955) advanced the trova guitar technique and had a hand in the birth of the son septetos.
Garay, Ruiz, Villalón and Corona were known as ''the four greats of the trova'', but Ibáñez and the following trovadores should be regarded as of equally high stature.
The 20th century
Patricio Ballagas (Camaguey, 17 March 1879 – Havana, 15 February 1920);
Eusebio Delfin (Palmira, 1 April 1893 – Havana, 28 April 1965);
María Teresa Vera
María Teresa Vera (February 6, 1895 in Guanajay – December 17, 1965 in Havana) was a Cuban singer, guitarist and composer. She was an outstanding example of the Cuban trova movement.
Career
She started her career as a singer in 1911 in a th ...
(Guanajay, 6 February 1895 – Havana, 17 December 1965);
Lorenzo Hierrezuelo
Lorenzo Hierrezuelo (''Hierrezuelo La O'', 5 September 1907 in El Caney – 16 November 1993 in Havana) was a Cuban trova musician, singer, guitarist and composer. His face showed clear signs of Amerindian descent: he was an Indo-mulatto (one ...
(El Caney, 5 September 1907 – Havana, 16 November 1993);
Joseíto Fernández
José Fernández Díaz (September 5, 1908 – October 11, 1979), commonly known as Joseíto Fernández, was a Cuban singer and songwriter. He is the writer of well-known songs, including "Elige tú, que canto yo", "Amor de madre", "Demuéstram ...
(September 5, 1908 – October 11, 1979);
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 whi ...
(Antonio Fernandez: Sgo. de C. 1901 – Havana, 4 August 1982); Carlos Puebla (Manzanillo, 11 September 1917 – Havana, 12 July 1989) and
Compay Segundo
Máximo Francisco Repilado Muñoz Telles (18 November 1907 – 13 July 2003), known professionally as "Compay Segundo", was a Cuban trova guitarist, singer and composer.
Biography
Compay (meaning '' compadre'') Segundo, so called because he ...
(Máximo Francisco Repilado Muñoz: Siboney, 18 November 1907 – Havana, 13 July 2003) were all great trova musicians. And let's not forget the
Trio Matamoros
The Trío Matamoros was one of the most popular Cuban trova groups. It was formed in 1925 by Miguel Matamoros (8 May 1894 in Santiago de Cuba – 15 April 1971; guitar), Rafael Cueto (14 March 1900 in Santiago de Cuba – 7 August 1991; gu ...
, who worked together for most of their lives. Matamoros was one of the greats.
Most trovadors were creolized, drawing from both Spanish and African traditions and styles even-handedly. There were exceptions.
Guillermo Portabales (Cienfuegos 6 April 1911 – San Juan, Puerto Rico 25 October 1970) and Carlos Puebla were mostly in the guajiro tradition, whilst El Guayabero –
Faustino Oramas
Faustino Oramas Osorio (4 June 1911 – 27 March 2007), better known as El Guayabero, was a Cuban trova singer, tres guitarist and composer. Most of his repertoire consisted of sones and guaracha-sones, many with double entendres in the lyrics. ...
– (Holguín, 4 June 1911 – Holguín, 28 March 2007) was black and funky in style and content. He was the last of the old trova, the oldest working musician in Cuba, at 95, when he died. His double entendres were a joy.
![Cropped image of Compay](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Cropped_image_of_Compay.jpg)
Trova musicians often worked in pairs and trios, some of them exclusively so (Compay Segundo). As the sextetos / septetos / conjuntos grew in popularity many trovadores joined in the larger groups.
The technique of guitar-playing gradually improved; the early trovadors, being self-taught, had rather limited techniques. Later, some tapped into
classical guitar technique
In classical guitar, the right hand is developed in such a way that it can sustain two, three, and four voice harmonies while also paying special attention to tone production. The index (i), middle (m), and ring (a) fingers are generally used to ...
s to revive the accompaniment of the trova.
Guyún (Vincente Gonzalez Rubiera, Stgo de C. 27 October 1908–Havana, 1987) studied under Severino Lopez, and developed a modern concept of harmony, and a way to apply classical technique to popular Cuban music. He became more adventurous, yet still in Cuban vein, and in 1938 stopped performing to devote himself to teaching the guitar. This bore fruit, and two generations of Cuban guitarists bear witness to his influence.
Perhaps the greatest guitarist amongst modern Cuban trovadors is
Eliades Ochoa
Eliades Ochoa Bustamante (born 22 June 1946) is a Cuban guitarist and singer from Loma de la Avispa, Songo La Maya in the east of the country near Santiago de Cuba.
He began playing the guitar when he was six and in 1978 he was invited to joi ...
(b. Songo La Maya, Santiago de Cuba, 22 June 1946), the leader of ''Cuerteto Patría''. Ochoa learnt both Spanish guitar and the Cuban trés; Cuban composer and classical guitarist
Leo Brouwer
Juan Leovigildo Brouwer Mezquida (born March 1, 1939) is a Cuban composer, conductor, and classical guitarist. He is a Member of Honour of the International Music Council.
Family
He is the grandson of Cuban composer Ernestina Lecuona y Casado. ...
told him that he did not need to learn more about musical technique as he already knew too much! Ochoa plays now with an eight-stringed guitar (a self-designed hybrid of an acoustic six-string and the Cuban trés). Cuerteto Patría includes his brother Humberto Ochoa on guitar, son Eglis Ochoa on maracas, William Calderón on bass, Anibal Avila on claves and trumpet, and Roberto Torres on congas.
Offshoots of the trova
The trova movement has given rise to offshoots which have grown in the fertile musical earth of Cuba and other Latin-American countries. The following are elements in the trova's great influence:
:1. The huge number of lyric compositions which have been used in all areas of Latin-American popular music.
:2. Unforgettable musical compositions which became latin standards.
:3. The bolero, the musical form most closely associated with the trova, and its relative the
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, ...
.
:4. The development of guitar technique in popular music.
:5. Themes and initiatives related to politico-social events, such as
Afrocubanismo
Afrocubanismo was an artistic and social movement in black-themed Cuban culture with origins in the 1920s, as in works by the cultural anthropologist Fernando Ortiz. The Afrocubanismo movement focused on establishing the legitimacy of black ident ...
,
Filín
Filin ( es, filin) was a Cuban, but US–influenced, popular song fashion of the late 1940s to the early 1960s. The word is derived from ''feeling'', and is sometimes spelled ''filin'' or even ''el filin''. It describes a style of ''post-micro ...
(feeling), and
Nueva trova
Nueva Trova (, "new trova") is a movement in Cuban music that emerged around 1967/68 after the Cuban Revolution of 1959, and the consequent political and social changes.
Nueva Trova has its roots in the traditional trova, but differs from it beca ...
.
Filin
The word is derived from ''feeling''; it was a US–influenced popular musical fashion of the late 40s and the 50s. It describes a style of post-microphone jazz-influenced romantic song (
crooning
Crooner is a term used to describe primarily male singers who performed using a smooth style made possible by better microphones which picked up quieter sounds and a wider range of frequencies, allowing the singer to access a more dynamic range ...
). Its Cuban roots were in the bolero and the canción. Some Cuban quartets, such as
Cuarteto d'Aida and
Los Zafiros, modelled themselves on U.S.
close-harmony
A chord is in close harmony (also called close position or close structure) if its notes are arranged within a narrow range, usually with no more than an octave between the top and bottom notes. In contrast, a chord is in open harmony (also c ...
groups. Others were singers who had heard
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...
,
Sarah Vaughan and
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...
. Filín singers included
César Portillo de la Luz
César Portillo de la Luz (October 31, 1922May 4, 2013) was a Cuban musician, lyricist and composer. Born in Havana, Cuba, Portillo is credited with founding the '' filin'' music genre. ''The Miami Herald'' described Portillo as "a fundamental aut ...
,
José Antonio Méndez, who spent a decade in Mexico from 1949 to 1959,
Frank Domínguez Frank Domínguez (born Francisco Manuel Ramón Dionisio Domínguez y Radeón on 9 October 1927 in Matanzas, Cuba – died 29 October 2014 in Mexico) was a Cuban composer and pianist of the ''filin'' movement. Born in Matanzas, he began to play pia ...
, the blind pianist
Frank Emilio Flynn, and the great singers of boleros
Elena Burke
Elena Burke (born Romana Elena Burgues Gonzalez on February 28, 1928, in Havana, Cuba – June 9, 2002 in Havana, Cuba) was a revered and popular Cuban singer of boleros and romantic ballads.
Biography
She started her career by working in rad ...
and the still-performing
Omara Portuondo
Omara Portuondo Peláez (born 29 October 1930) is a Cuban singer and dancer. A founding member of the popular vocal group Cuarteto d'Aida, Portuondo has collaborated with many important Cuban musicians during her long career, including Julio Gu ...
, who both came from the Cuarteto d'Aida.
The filín movement, which originally had a place every afternoon on ''
Radio Mil Diez
Radio Mil Diez (or Radio 1010) was a radio station broadcasting from Havana, Cuba, owned by the Popular Socialist Party (PSP). Radio Mil Diez broadcast for five years, between 1943-1948, and played an important role in shaping contemporary Cuban ...
'', survived the first few years of the revolution quite well, but somehow did not suit the new circumstances and gradually withered, leaving its roots in jazz, romantic song and the bolero perfectly healthy. Some of its most prominent singers, such as Pablo Milanés, took up the banner of the nueva trova.
Nueva trova
The Cuban Nueva trova dates from the 1967/68, after the
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in cou ...
of 1959, and the consequent political and social changes. It differed from the traditional trova, not because the musicians were younger, but because the content was, in the widest sense, political. Nueva trova is defined, not only by its connection with Castro's revolution, but also by its lyrics. The lyrics attempt to escape the banalities of life (e.g. love) by concentrating on socialism, injustice, sexism, colonialism, racism and similar 'serious' issues.
Silvio Rodríguez
Silvio Rodríguez Domínguez (born 29 November 1946) is a Cuban musician, and leader of the Nueva Trova movement.
He is widely considered Cuba's best folk singer and arguably one of Latin America's greatest singer-songwriters. Known for his in ...
and
Pablo Milanés became the most important exponents of this style. Carlos Puebla and Joseíto Fernández were long-time trova singers who added their weight to the new regime, but of the two only Puebla wrote special pro-revolution songs.
The regime gave plenty of support to musicians willing to write and sing anti-U.S. or pro-revolution songs; this was quite a bonus in an era when many of the traditional musicians were finding it difficult or impossible to earn a living. In 1967 the ''Casa de las Américas'' in Havana held a ''Festival de la canción de protesta'' (protest songs). Much of the effort was spent applauding causes that would annoy the U.S. government.
Tania Castellanos Tania is usually a given name. It may refer to:
Given name
* Tânia Alves, Brazilian actress and singer
* Tania Brishty, Bangladesh actress and model
* Princess Tania de Bourbon Parme, French designer
* Tania de Jong, Dutch-born Australian sopr ...
, a filín singer and author, wrote ''¡Por Angela!'' in support of
Angela Davis
Angela Yvonne Davis (born January 26, 1944) is an American political activist, philosopher, academic, scholar, and author. She is a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. A feminist and a Marxist, Davis was a longtime member of ...
. César Portillo de la Luz wrote ''Oh, valeroso Viet Nam''. These were hot topics of the 1970s, but their topicality declined as time passed.
Nueva Trova, initially so popular, was dealt a blow by the fall of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, though it was already fading. It suffered inside Cuba, perhaps from a growing disenchantment with one-party rule, and externally, from the vivid contrast with the
Buena Vista Social Club
Buena Vista Social Club is an ensemble of Cuban musicians established in 1996. The project was organized by World Circuit executive Nick Gold, produced by American guitarist Ry Cooder and directed by Juan de Marcos González. They named the gr ...
film and recordings. Audiences round the world have had their eyes opened to the extraordinary charm and musical quality of the older forms of Cuban music. By contrast, topical themes that seemed so relevant in the 1960s and 70s now seem dry and passé; once a theme is no longer topical, the piece rests solely on its musical quality. Those pieces of high musical and lyrical quality, amongst which Puebla's ''
Hasta siempre
"Hasta Siempre, Comandante," ("Until Forever, Commander" in English) or simply "Hasta Siempre," is a 1965 song by Cuban composer Carlos Puebla. The song's lyrics are a reply to revolutionary Che Guevara's farewell letter when he left Cuba, in ord ...
'' stands out, will probably last as long as Cuba lasts.
Other notables
The musicians featured here are a few notables amongst hundreds of excellent musicians living the same kind of life. No complete list exists, though the musicians listed below have been mentioned in at least one source. After the name, one or two of their best compositions are noted:
* Salvador Adams ("Me causa celos")
* Ángel Almenares ("Por qué me engañaste?")
* José (Pepe) Banderas ("Boca roja")
* Emiliano Blez Garbey ("Besada por el mar")
* Julio Brito ("Flor de ausencia")
* Miguel Companioni ("Mujer perjura")
* Juan de Dios Hechavarria ("Mujer indigna", "Tiene Bayamo", "Laura")
* José (Pepe) Figarola Salazar ("Un beso en le alma")
* Graciano Gómez Vargas ("En falso", "Yo sé de esa mujer")
* Rafael Gómez (aka Teofilito) ("Pensamiento")
*
Oscar Hernández Falcón Oscar Hernández Falcón (Havana, 15 March 1891 – 3 March 1967) was a Cuban guitarist and composer. His best-known compositions include the bolero
Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of ...
("Ella y yo", "La Rosa roja")
* Ramón Ivonet ("Levanta")
* Eulalio Limonta
* Manuel Luna Salgado ("La cleptómana")
* Nené Manfugás
* Rafael Saroza Valdés ("Guitarra mía")
Duos, trios, groups
During a career, a musician may work in many different line-ups. Because of the limited sonority of the guitar, trova musicians preferred small groups, or solo performances. Boleros tend to benefit from two voices, primo and segundo, giving to melodic phrases a richness in contrast with the basic rhythm of the
cinquillo
A cinquillo is a typical Cuban/Caribbean rhythmic cell, used in the Cuban contradanza (the " habanera") and the danzón.Mauleón, Rebeca (1993: 51). ''Salsa Guidebook: For Piano and Ensemble''. Petaluma, CA: Sher Music. The figure is also a comm ...
.
[Loyola Fernández, Jose 1997. ''En ritmo de bolero: el bolero en la musica bailable cubana''. Huracan, Rio Piedras P.R. p39]
Duos
''Guaronex y Sindo'': Sindo Garay and his son.
''Floro y Miguel'': Floro Zorilla and Miguel Zaballa. Outstanding in their day.
''Floro y Cruz'': Floro Zorilla and Juan Cruz. Cruz was a terrific
baritone
A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...
.
''Pancho Majagua y Tata Villegas'': Francisco Salvo and Carlos Villegas.
''María Teresa y Zequieira'': María Teresa Vera and Rafael Zequeira.
''Dúo Ana María y María Teresa'': two female voices, Ana María García and Ma. Teresa Vera. Justa García also sang duo with each of these two women.
''Lorenzo Hierrezuelo and María Teresa Vera''.
''José 'Galleguito' Parapar y Higinio Rodríguez''.
''Juan de la Cruz y Bienvenido León''.
''Manuel Luna y José Castillo''.
''Dúo Hermanos Enriso'': Enrique 'Chungo' and Rafael 'Nené' Enriso.
''Dúo Luna–Armiñan'': Pablo Armiñan (primo) and Manuel Luna (segundo and guitar)
''Dúo Pablito–Castillo'': Pablo Armiñan (primo) and Augusto Castillo (segundo).
''Dúo Pablito y Limonta'': Pablo Armiñan (voz primo and guitar accompanist) and Juan Limonta (segunda, guitar and author). Extremely popular in Santiago de Cuba in the 1920s.
''Dúo Juanito Valdés y Rafael Enriso''.
''Dúo Carbo–Quevedo'': Pablo Quevedo (primo) and Panchito Carbó (segundo and guitar).
''Dúo Hermanas Martí'': Amelia and Bertha.
''Dúo Sirique y Miguel'': Alfredo 'Sirique' González and Miguel Doyble.
''
Los Compadres'': Lorenzo Hierrezuelo, first with Compay Segundo, then with
Rey Caney
Reinaldo Hierrezuelo La O (30 December 1926 – 23 February 2016), known professionally as Rey Caney, was a Cuban singer, guitarist, and tresero. Born in Santiago de Cuba as the youngest of 11 siblings, he led Cuarteto Patría for some time; ...
.
Trios
''Trio Palabras'': Vania Martinez, Liane Pérez, Nubia González.
See also
*1977 ''Del hondo del corazón''. 20min film, Dir. Constante Diego. Figures of the traditional trova talk and sing.
*1974 ''Chicho Ibáñez''. 11min film, Dir. Juan Carlos Tabío. Short film on the trovador José 'Chicho' Ibáñez (1875–1981), who talks and sings at the age of 99.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trova
Cuban styles of music