Alberto Alén Pérez (1948 in Havana – 14 October 2004) was a
Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
n
musicologist
Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...
and
cellist
The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...
.
Early life and education
Alén studied
violoncello
The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C ...
Havana
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Amadeo Roldán Conservatory in the same city. He also studied psychology at the Havana University and musicology in the Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA) where he graduated in 1982.
Biography
As a cellist, Alén worked in several orchestras such as the Orquesta Popular de Conciertos founded by Alfredo Diez Nieto and the Orchestra of the Grand Theater of Havana. He also performed in other orchestras affiliated to the Cuban Radio and Television Network. Alén taught at the Higher Institute of Art (ISA) and worked as researcher at the Center for
Research and Development
Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in some countries as OKB, experiment and design, is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products. R&D constitutes the first stage ...
of Cuban Music. He worked also as an adviser for musical programs in Cuban Television. Alberto Alén gave classes and lectures in Cuba, Mexico and
Algeria
Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
. His works on musicology include: ''Perspectivas de la investigación musical actual'' (1976), ''La forma de las formas musicales'' (1978) and ''La génesis del espacio musical'' (1986). Also in 1986, Alén received the prestigious
Casa de Las Américas Prize
The Casa de las Américas Prize (''Premio Literario Casa de las Américas'') is a literary award given by the Cuban Casa de las Américas. Established in 1959, it is one of Latin America’s oldest and most prestigious literary prizes.
The award ...
on the musicology category for his book: ''Diagnosticar la musicalidad''.
Work
Although Alén's work remains relatively unknown to the general public, it actually represents a relevant contribution to musicology. According to
Eugene Chadbourne
Eugene Chadbourne (born January 4, 1954) is an American banjoist, guitarist and music critic.
Life and career
Chadbourne was born in Mount Vernon, New York, Mount Vernon, New York, but grew up in Boulder, Colorado. He started playing guitar wh ...
, “Musicology students might consider making Spanish their Language Major simply to study the works of Alberto Alén... by any standards Alen's most challenging work has been a series of five books written and published between 1976 and 1986”.
His early work: ''La forma de las formas musicales (The form of musical forms)'', is for the musicological science what the Bauhaus investigations and experimentations represented for the modern development of visual arts and design. In this article, Alberto Alén applied his extensive knowledge of psychology and statistics to the traditional musical forms analysis. In it he explains, referring to the perception of musical structures: “The visual forms (as well as the audition and tactile forms) are something different from a succession or sum of particular sensations. They are something else. The complex of stimulations that arrive to the retina (or to the Organ of Corti in the case of audition) generate, at a cortical level, – so affirms Pavlov- “functional systems that act integrally as in the case of an elemental conditioned reflex’, where all particular contents of different stimulations is transcended when reflecting their multiple reciprocal relationships, that are continuously exerting influence between each other (González, 1960: 72; Rubinstein, 1967:274).Alén, Alberto. La forma de las formas musicales. Casa de las Américas. Boletín de Música No. 72. Pag. 5.
“''Diagnosticar la Musicalidad'', the latest of Alen's tomes, continues an in-depth study of practical musical phenomena that rivals the writings of the German composer and musicologist
Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith ( ; ; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German and American composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advo ...
”... states Eugene Chadbuorne in reference to this particular work from Alberto Alén. In Diagnosticar la Musicalidad, the author presents to the general public the results of an extensive investigation, conducted between 1976 and 1983 with the purpose to improve the musical tests performed in Cuban schools to select new music students.
See also
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 ...