Music in Cuba

by Alejo Carpentier, Timothy Brennan (Editor)

In the wake of the Buena Vista Social Club, the world has rediscovered the rich musical tradition of Cuba. A unique combination of popular and elite influences, the music of this island nation has fascinated since the golden age of the son -- that New World aural collision of Africa and Europe that made Cuban music the rage in Paris, New York, and Mexico beginning in the 1920s.Originally published in 1946 and never before available in an English translation, Music in Cuba is not only the best and most extensive study of Cuban musical history, it is a work of literature in its own right. Drawing on such primary documents as obscure church circulars, dog-eared musical scores pulled from attics, and the records of the Spanish colonial authorities, Music in Cuba sweeps panoramically from the sixteenth into the twentieth century. Carpentier covers European-style elite Cuban music as well as the popular rural Spanish folk and urban Afro-Cuban music.

In a substantial introduction based on extensive original research, Timothy Brennan explores Carpentier's career prior to the writing of his novels. Looking especially at Carpentier's work as a music reviewer, radio producer, and musical theorist, Brennan suggests new ways of thinking about the role of Latin American artists in Europe between the wars and about the central place of radio and music-club cultures in the European avant-gardes.

Genres: Nonfiction, Music

312 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1946

About the author

Writings of Cuban author, musicologist, and diplomat Alejo Carpentier influenced the development of magical realism; his novels include El siglo de las luces! (1962) and The Kingdom of This World (1949).

Alejo Carpentier Blagoobrasoff, an essayist, greatly influenced Latin American literature during its "boom" period.

Perhaps most important intellectual figure of the 20th century, this classically trained pianist and theorist of politics and literature produced avant-garde radio programming. Best known Carpentier also collaborated with such luminaries as Igor Stravinsky, Darius Milhaud, Georges Bataille, and Antonin Artaud. With Havana, he strongly self-identified throughout his life. People jailed and exiled him, who lived for many years in France and Venezuela but after the revolution of 1959 returned. He died in Paris, but survivors buried his body in Havana.

Reviews

[Kevin James · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars, an interesting survey of all the musical influences that making Cuban music distinct though pretty dry and academic in its prose

[Gordon Isnor · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is an older book on Music in Cuba and I found it a slog. It’s very much from the perspective of classical music. For someone looking for an amazing and delightful introductory survey to Cuban music and history – take a look at Ned Sublette instead.

[Curtis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, if dated. This covers up to the 1940s basically. It mainly looks at Santiago and Havana. The geographical and chronological limits are its main shortcomings. For examining church and concert music of Cuban from 1500s to 1940s, it is excellent.