Tania León's Stride: A Polyrhythmic Life

by Alejandro Madrid

Acclaimed composer, sought-after conductor, esteemed educator, tireless advocate for the arts--Tania León’s achievements encompass but also stretch far beyond contemporary classical music. Alejandro L. Madrid draws on oral history, archival work, and ethnography to offer the first in-depth biography of the artist. Breaking from a chronological account, Madrid looks at León through the issues that have informed and defined moments in her life and her professional works. León’s words become a starting ground--but also a counterpoint--to the accounts of the people in her orbit. What emerges is more than an extraordinary portrait of an artist's journey. It is a story of how a human being reacts to the challenges thrown at her by history itself, be it the Cuban revolution or the struggle for civil and individual rights. Nuanced and multifaceted, Tania León's Stride looks at the life, legacy, and milieu that created and sustained one of the most important figures in American classical music.

278 pages, Paperback

Published January 18, 2022

Reviews

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book about Cuban composer Tania León takes a non-linear approach to its material. Madrid organizes the book by themes or issues that are significant in León's life and music such as immigration, race and gender, and the role of her conducting career. It thus provides a multi-faceted and more interpretive look at its subject. I found this book really interesting. I especially liked the way it discussed León's career path and the various hurdles and successes she experienced. The discussions of León's music were also excellent, focusing more on a holistic look at her compositional techniques and stylistic features rather than description or close analysis.