Teodora Ginés (1530–1598) was a Dominican musician and composer. She is credited as the creator of the song titled "Son de la Má Teodora".

Life

Ginés was formerly a slave, born in

Santiago de los Caballeros Santiago de los Caballeros (; '' en, James, son of Zebedee, Saint James of the Knights''), often shortened to Santiago, is the second-largest city in the Dominican Republic and the fourth-largest city in the Caribbean by population. It is the cap ...

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 ...

, but was freed. Along with her sister, Micaela, she emigrated to Cuba, where they were both engaged at the orchestra at the Cathedral of

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 ...

: Micaela as a

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist, and Teodora playing the

Bandola The bandola is one of many varieties of small pear-shape chordophones found in Venezuela and Colombia. They are related to the bandurria and mandolin. Traditional varieties Instruments known as ''bandola'' include: *Bandola llanera: tradit ...

. Teodora is credited with the authorship of the song " Son de la Má Teodora", circa 1562. This song was transcribed by the Cuban Laureano Fuentes Matons, in his book "The Arts in Santiago de Cuba" published in 1893. Matons argued that the "Son de la Má Teodora" was the first in Cuban history.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gines, Teodora 1530 births 1598 deaths 16th-century composers 16th-century Dominican Republic people 16th-century Cuban people 16th-century women composers