04 Sep.
The Spanish influence in Cuban music, and Afro-Latin music (including all the Caribbean countries), came from the Spanish guitar, as well as the bongos that arrived from North Africa, the maracas (one of the few native indigenous instruments), and a type of guitar imported by immigrants from the Canary Islands, which had 3 double strings called “Timple”. Not to confuse instruments, there is also “El Cuatro” from Puerto Rico, and “El Cuatro” from Venezuela, “El Charango” from the Andes, as well as “El Tiple” in Colombia. They all have similar sounds, but they are not the same. Surely the grandfather of all these instruments was the “Spanish Vihuela” which was very popular in the renaissance in Spain and Portugal around the 16th century.
The “Tres” appeared in the rural areas of northern Cuba, and became popular from the end of the 19th century, used in folkloric genres such as the Changüí and the Son whose roots come from the Nengón and the Kiribá of Baracoa, among others. There are references to this instrument in the “campaign diaries” from 1868, during the wars of independence when “guateques campesinos” were held in the Cuban countryside, which was used to entertain the Mambi troops.
It is basically a modified guitar with six strings divided into three double lines. Some ethnologists argue that this instrument is not a Cuban invention but already existed in medieval Spain.
It is important to recognise the importance of this instrument in order to understand the role of the piano in salsa.
Its beginnings date back to 1816, when the French pianist Juan Federico Edelmann, considered the “father of pianistics in Cuba”, inaugurated the Academia Santa Cecilia. During those first decades of the 19th century, pianists of Italian and Spanish origin settled in the country and, although they were not professionals, they went out and devoted themselves to teaching. Some taught in that institution and others taught informally in their residences.
The piano in its beginnings tried to imitate the rhythmic figures and guajeos of the tres, but little by little it evolved by adding melodic lines with two voices, arpeggios and block chords, as well as octaves and an endless number of rhythmic and harmonic possibilities.
By 1920, popular music in Cuba consisted of sextets with: tres, guitar, double bass, bongos, and two singers who played maracas and claves. Later on, the septet appeared and added the trumpet.
It was probably Arsenio Rodríguez who first recorded a new format in the 1940s that included piano and congas, as well as multiple trumpets. Creating a new format called conjunto típico. This is the first time that the piano starts to be part of the groups and ensembles playing Cuban rhythms.
Playing complete chords with several voices was not easy for a tres, so the piano gained prominence for its countless possibilities.
While all this was going on, the piano was already a very popular and fundamental instrument in jazz big bands in the United States, and it was also beginning its incursion into tango in Argentina. It was here to stay and to consolidate itself as the leader of harmony and the basic instrument for composition and arrangements.
THE FIRST PIANISTS in Cuban music
– Manuel Samuell Robredo (1817-1870): Cuban pianist, then Spanish, specialised in Spanish contradanzas and the adaptation of operas. He played the piano in churches, wrote reviews in the press and gave lessons to people close to him. The music conservatory in Havana was named after him. In some of his contradanzas, the rhythmic keys of the Cuban popular music of the 19th century appear for the first time.
– Ignacio Cervantes (1847-1905): Born in Havana. Considered the most important influence on Cuban music in the 19th century. A child prodigy, he studied at the Paris Conservatoire. Expelled from the island for having performed concerts to raise money for the separatist cause, he went to the United States where he developed his musical career, writing operas, chamber symphonies, zar-zuelas and his famous Danzas Cubanas. He used his music as a weapon of struggle, showing a nationalist sentiment.
– Antonio María Romeu Marrero (1876-1955): Born in Jibacoa, Cuba. Cuban pianist, composer and orchestra conductor. Specialised in the performance of danzón, he led the charanga genre for more than 30 years. He was invited to play in the “Orquesta Cervantes”, one of several charanga groups founded at the beginning of the 20th century, the first known group to incorporate the piano into Cuban popular music. He founded his own orchestra in 1910. He wrote more than 500 dan-zones. Some were originals and others adaptations of existing works. His most famous work was the danzón “Tres lindas cubanas”, an arrangement of an old song.
– María Cervantes (1885-1981): Born in Havana, she was a pianist and composer, daughter of Ignacio Cervantes.
– Ernesto Lecuona, Ernesto Sito de la Asunción Lecuona Casado (1895-1963): Born in Guanabacoa, Cuba. He gave his first recital at the age of 5, and at 13 he wrote his first composition. After graduating from the National Conservatory in Havana, he went to New York where he studied with Maurice Ravel. He is considered one of the most outstanding Cuban musicians. He made a great contribution to zarzuela and orchestral composition.
– Ignacio Jacinto Villa Fernández, “Bola de Nieve”. (1911-1971) Born in Guanabacoa, Cuba. A singer, composer and pianist, he internationalised Cuban popular music all over the world thanks also to his appearances on television and radio.
– Anselmo Sacasas (1912-1998) Manzanillo Cuba, was a bandleader, composer and arranger. As a pianist he took inspiration from the Cuban thirties like Arsenio Rodriguez adapting it to his language as a soloist in Cuban music orchestras.
– Pedro Nolasco Jústiz Rodriguez, “Peruchín”. (1913-1977). He was born in Holguín, Cuba. He began his artistic career with the “Orquesta de Chepin” in 1933. He was a member of orchestras in Havana. He worked with his group at the Cabaret Tropicana. His piano solos were very popular and admired and were recorded on several records. He also worked as an arranger and orchestrator for Benny Moré’s orchestra.
– Lino Frias, Ezequiel Lino Frias Gomez (1915-1983). Born in Matanzas, Cuba. He was a great composer, founded the group “Son de la Loma” and worked with “La Sonora Matancera”. One of his best known compositions is “Mata Siguaraya”.
– LilÍ MartÍnez. Luis Martinez Griñan (1915-1990). Cuban pianist specialising in son montuno, he worked with Arsenio Rodriguez and the Conjunto Chappottín. He participated in the development of the modern piano style in the 1940s. He has been a great influence on pianists such as Eddie Palmieri, Pappo Lucca and Larry Harlow among others.
– José Curbelo (1917-2012). He was a Cuban pianist and orchestra conductor. He played a key role in the development of son montuno and mambo, as an important figure in the “Latin” band scene in the United States.
Hat das Klavier versucht, das “tres” in der kubanischen Musik zu ersetzen?
Der spanische Einfluss in der kubanischen Musik und in der afro-lateinamerikanischen Musik (einschließlich aller Länder der Karibik) geht auf die spanische Guitare zurück, aber auch auf Bongos aus Nordafrika, Maracas (eines der seltenen einheimischen Instrumente) und eine von Einwanderern von den Kanarischen Inseln importierte Art von Guitare, die drei Doppelsaiten hatte und “Timple” genannt wurde. Um die Instrumente nicht zu verwechseln, gibt es auch “El Cuatro” aus Porto Rico, “El Cuatro” aus Venezuela, “El Charango” aus den Anden und “El Tiple” aus Kolumbien. Alle diese Instrumente haben einen ähnlichen Klang, sind aber nicht identisch. Der große Vater all dieser Instrumente ist sicherlich die “Vihuela espagnole”, die während der Renaissance in Spanien und Portugal zu Beginn des 16. Jahrhunderts sehr beliebt war.
Die “Tres” tauchte in den ländlichen Gebieten im Norden Kubas auf und wurde ab Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts populär, wo sie in folkloristischen Genres wie Changüí und Son verwendet wurde, deren Rhythmen unter anderem aus Nengón und Kiribá de Baracoa stammen. Hinweise auf dieses Instrument finden sich in den “journaux de campagne” von 1868, während der Unabhängigkeitskriege, als auf dem kubanischen Land “guateques campesinos” zur Unterhaltung der Mambi-Truppen organisiert wurden.
Es handelt sich im Wesentlichen um eine modifizierte Guitare mit sechs Saiten, die in drei Doppelsaiten aufgeteilt sind. Einige Ethnologen behaupten, dass dieses Instrument keine kubanische Erfindung ist, sondern dass es bereits im mittelalterlichen Spanien existierte.
Es ist wichtig, die Bedeutung dieses Instruments zu erkennen, um die Rolle des Klaviers in der Salsa zu verstehen.
Ihre Anfänge gehen auf das Jahr 1816 zurück, als der französische Pianist Juan Federico Edelmann, der als “Vater der Pianistik auf Kuba” gilt, die Akademie Santa Cecilia eröffnete. In den ersten Jahrzehnten des 19. Jahrhunderts ließen sich Pianisten italienischer und spanischer Herkunft im Land nieder und widmeten sich, obwohl sie keine Profis waren, dem Unterricht. Einige von ihnen unterrichteten in dieser Einrichtung, andere informell in ihren Wohnsitzen.
In seinen Anfängen versuchte das Klavier, die rhythmischen Figuren und die Guajeos des Diskantklaviers zu imitieren, aber es entwickelte sich nach und nach weiter, indem es zweistimmige melodische Linien, Cembalos und Blockakkorde sowie Oktaven und eine unendliche Anzahl von rhythmischen und harmonischen Möglichkeiten hinzufügte.
1920 bestand die kubanische Volksmusik aus Sextuoren: Tres, Guitare, Contrebasse, Bongos und zwei Sängern, die Maracas und Claves spielten. Später kam das Septuor auf und fügte die Trompete hinzu.
Wahrscheinlich war es Arsenio Rodríguez, der in den 1940er Jahren zum ersten Mal ein neues Format aufnahm, das ein Klavier und Congas sowie mehrere Trompeten umfasste. Es entstand ein neues Format, das conjunto típico genannt wurde. Dies war das erste Mal, dass das Klavier Teil von Gruppen und Ensembles wurde, die kubanische Rhythmen spielten.
Das mehrstimmige Spielen kompletter Akkorde war für einen Diskantisten nicht einfach, weshalb das Klavier dank seiner unzähligen Möglichkeiten so wichtig wurde.
Zu dieser Zeit war das Klavier bereits ein sehr beliebtes und grundlegendes Instrument in den großen Jazzbands in den Vereinigten Staaten, und er begann auch seinen Vorstoß in den Tango in Argentinien. Er blieb dort und festigte seine Position als Leiter des Harmonieorchesters und Basisinstrument für Komposition und Arrangement.
