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A Spanish colony occupied by the English, inhabited by slaves from Africa, an asylum for the French fleeing the Revolution in Santo Domingo, Cuba is an island of cultural blending. From this cradle have emerged a multitude of musical forms, whose evolution is strongly linked with the vitality of the island’s bands and musicians.
This Charanga band, created in 1994, brings together twelve of the best musicians from the region of Santiago: Osvaldo Correa Marten is the artisitic director and his repertoire is that of classical Charangas, Danzon, Son, Cha-cha-cha, Bolero and Guaracha.
Photograph : all rights reserved.
Son and Danzon, both of them originating from the region of Santiago, are two of Cuban music’s major genres. In 1789, French contredanse arrived in Santiago. Undergoing the influence of Creole music, it became Cuban contredanse. It is accompanied on a 2/4 measure by a typical band: two violins, two clarinets, a double-bass, a slide trombone, a cornet, a figle, a guiro, kettledrums. Then came the appearance of Cuban dance, on a 6/8 measure. They both use the tango or habanera rhythm, of Black origin, and are characterised by a subtle balance between European and African influences. In 1879, they gave birth to a new musical genre: danzon, considered the Cuban national dance for many years. Its musical structure alternates “introductions” with different instrumental parts.
It was in 1920 that Danzon took on a new dimension with the arrival of Charanga. Composed of two violins, a piano, two flutes, a double-bass, tympani and a guiro, this new formation gives the musicians a lot of freedom and a free rein to the soloists. This then lead to the emergence of a whole new generation of composers and musicians of the highest level. Creating new playing styles, they launched a trend. However, Danzon was pushed into second place by the tidal wave of Son, which revolutionised Cuban music by introducing African drums and percussion. It was not until 1937 that the Arcaño Y sus Maravillas Orchestra, bringing together the island’s best musicians, gave it a new lease of life. To the initial formation they added the cello and Cuban percussive instruments such as the congas and the tumbadoras. And so the genre was continued, carried through the fifties by charangas such as Ideal, Siglo XX, Gris, Aragon. Currently it is still evolving, integrating the new rhythmic and melodic conceptions and electronic instruments. You only have to go to the Charanga Festival, which is held once a year in Palma Sariano, in the Santiago de Cuba province, to see that danzon has lost none of its vitality and the audiences none of their fervour. Amongst the new groups, Estrella de la Charanga is definitely the most representative of the tradition of excellence that has marked the history of this genre.
Go to :
Magaly Bernal .
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