La música en Cuba: Orígenes e historia: del clasicismo colonial al afrocubanismo

by Alejo Carpentier

"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." "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 from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries. Carpentier covers European-style elite Cuban music as well as the popular worlds of rural Spanish folk and Afro-Cuban urban music."--BOOK JACKET.

Genres: Nonfiction, Music

329 pages, Paperback

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.