Letter L: Ernesto Lecuona
MaestroDJS
I. Prologue:
About once per decade I try to play my entire record collection in alphabetical
order by composer. This helps ensure that nothing remains unplayed for too
long. My latest traversal began nearly a year ago in May 1999 and at 3000 LPs
and 1000 CDs, it should last until December 2000. Although my survey is almost
purely alphabetical, some interesting coincidences arise. This week Letter L
brings me to Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona, at a time when Cuba is much in the
news with the Elián and Juan Miguel González custody case. Music can be a
vivid window to the cultures of other countries. During my travels abroad it
often seemed that I already understood much of the character of the local
people from immersion in their music. My wife & I have visited many countries
in North America, Europe, South America and Australia, and we hope to visit
Cuba eventually. In the meantime, music has already helped understand a bit
more about Cuba and its people, so near and yet so far.
II. Biography
Ernesto Lecuona was perhaps the most important musician in Cuba during the
first half of the 20th Century, and composed one of the most popular piano
pieces of all time: _Malagueña_. He was also the leader of a highly popular
New York City dance band called Lecuona's Cuban Boys. Lecuona was one of many
composers whose music blurred the supposed boundaries between classical and
popular, and he was equally at home in both Carnegie Hall and night clubs. His
music forms a link between the late 19th-Century virtuoso classical piano
tradition and the early 20th-Century developments which included jazz and Cuban
dance rhythms. Although his works have a narrow range and are highly charming
with generally little depth, they also have a strong and original personality.
Ernesto Lecuona was born into a middle-class family in Guanabacoa, just east of
Havana, Cuba on 6 August 1895. His two brothers and two sisters also became
musicians: one brother a violinist and the rest pianists. Lecuona's musical
genius was apparent when he was 3 years old. His first piano teacher was his
elder sister Ernestina. Hailed as a prodigy, he gave his first public
performance at age 5 and published his first composition at age 11. In 1909 he
entered el Conservatorio Nacional in Havana, and graduated in 1913 with high
honors as a pianist. Lecuona left Cuba in 1916 to pursue a career as a pianist
in New York City. In the early 1920s, Lecuona continued his musical studies in
France, most notably with Maurice Ravel. After his return to New York City in
1923 Lecuona continued to be highly successful as a pianist, but by then his
primary activity was composition.
In 1924 Lecuona toured Spain with violinist Marta de la Torre, and he gave
successful piano recitals in Paris in 1928. Cuban music was then in vogue in
France, and Maurice Ravel commented, "This is more than piano playing!" In New
York City, Lecuona formed a dance band called his Orquesta Cubana, which
performed his own works and popular Cuban music. These concerts were known as
"Conciertos cubanos" and continued from the 1920s until 1960. His band was
later renamed Lecuona's Cuban Boys and toured successfully in Europe in the
1930s. Although most of his activities were in New York City, Lecuona also
remained active in his native Cuba. He helped found La Orquesta de la Habana,
and he contributed greatly to the development of classical music performance in
Cuba. In 1943, Lecuona became honorary cultural attaché to the Cuban Embassy
in Washington DC.
III. Music
As a composer Lecuona is known primarily for his 176 solo piano pieces. These
include 3 sets of Danzas cubanas, the last of which is entitled _Danzas
afro-cubanas_. These reflect Spanish, African and Afro-Cuban elements, and
include Cuban dance forms such as the conga and rumba. For example, a comparsa
is the Cuban musical ensemble which performs during carnival season, and his
_La Comparsa_ evokes both the ensemble and their music. Other well-known piano
pieces include _Ante el Escorial_, _Aragón_, _Granada_, _La Habanera_, _María
la O_, _Para Vigo Me Voy_, _San Francisco el Grande_ and _Siboney_, many of
which he arranged from his songs.
Most famous of all his piano works are the 6 pieces of his _Andalucía (Suite
Española)_ of 1919: "Córdoba", "Andaluza", "Alhambra", "Gitanerías",
"Guadalquivir" and "Malagueña". Lecuona's vivid depiction of the traditional
dance rhythms and forms of the Andalucía region of southern Spain is all the
more impressive when one considers that he had not yet visited Europe.
"Córdoba" is impressive with its lyrical rising and cascading line. "Alhambra"
transforms a conventional idea into ingenious and whirling life. "Gitanerías"
features vivacious Gypsy dance rhythms whereas "Guadalquivir" depicts the
historic river which flows through Crdoba into the Gulf of Cadíz. Without
question "Malagueña" is his single most famous work, and it has achieved an
immense popularity. A malagueña is a type of fandango, or courtship dance in
triple meter, and Lecuona composed the ultimate malagueña. Maurice Ravel found
"Malagueña" far more fascinating than his own _Boléro_.
Lecuona also composed orchestral works, vocal music (songs, cantatas etc.),
stage works (operas, operettas and zarzuelas) and film scores. Among his
best-known songs are _Dame de tus Rosas_, _Noche Azul_, _Siboney_, and _Siempre
en mi Corazón_. He is sometimes also credited with _Babalú_, which was
actually composed by his niece Margarita Lecuona, although he arranged it for
his own band. Lecuona's music may be considered nationalistic in that it
represents the Cuba and its people that he knew and loved. Although his music
has a fairly narrow range, it has a highly distinctive and original
personality. His most famous orchestral work is _Rapsodía Negra_ a grand
fantasy for piano and orchestra on themes from his zarzuela _El Cafetal_.
Lecuona also composed 2 other works for piano and orchestra: _Rapsodía
Argentina_ and _Rapsodía Cubana_.
In the 1930s and 1940s Lecuona wrote much music for major Hollywood film
studios such as MGM, 20th Century Fox and Warner Brothers. In 1942, he was
nominated for an Academy Award for his music to the film _Always in My Heart_,
which includes his lovely song _Siempre en mi Corazón_. Other films include
_Carnival in Costa Rica_, _The Cross and the Sword_, _One More Tomorrow_,
_Pearl Harbor_, _Susana Lenox_, _Under Cuban Skies_, _The Vogues of 1938_ and
_When You're in Love_. Outside the United States he also provided music to the
films _Adios Buenos Aries_ in Argentina, _María la O_ in México and _La Ultima_
in Cuba.
IV. Epilogue
As one might expect from such a prolific composer, his works are highly uneven
in quality. Lecuona was happy to compose on cocktail napkins or while playing
cards with his friends. At its worst, his music is dazzling but trite. At its
best, his music is ingenious and inspired, characterized by subtly complex
rhythms and meters. The syncopated patterns in both the melodies and the
accompaniments produce a broad range of moods. His most distinctive works are
songs, descriptive miniatures and suites, filled with Cuban rhythms.
Throughout much of his life, Lecuona remained extremely active in the musical
theatres and concert halls of the United States, Cuba, México, Argentina and
Spain as composer, conductor and pianist. He died 9 November 1963 in Santa
Cruz de Tenerife, in the Canary Islands of Spain.
David Stybr, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Recordings in my collection:
Ernesto Lecuona (1896-1963), Cuba:
The Ultimate Collection: short pieces. Malagueña; Andalucía; Ante el
Escorial; San Francisco el grande; Siempre en mi corazón; María la O;
Siboney; Noche azul; La comparsa; Danza negra; Danza lucumi; A la antigua;
En tres por cuatro; Canto del guajiro; La habanera; Damisela encantadora;
Crisantemo; Romántico; Rosa la china; Como arrullo de palmas; Palomitas
blancas; Poético; Estudiantina; Crdoba; Music Box; Mazurka en glisado;
Polichinela; Gitanerías Aragn; Valencia mora; La brisa y yo; Devuélveme el
corazn; Preludio en la noche; Yo te quiero siempre; Pavo real; Vals de la
sombras; Bell Flower; Zambra gitana; Por eso te quiero; Vals azul; Vals en
si mayor; Muñeca de cristal; Mi amor fué una flor; Vals en re bemol;
Apasionado Amorosa; Ahí viene el chino; Al fin te ví; Por qué te vas?;
Mientras yo comía maullaba un gato; Por qué te vas?; Amorosa; Los minstrels;
No hables más; Dame tu amor; Vals en re bemol; La 32; Mis tristezas; En
tres por cuatro; Muñequita; Burlesca; La paloma; Music Box. Ernesto
Lecuona, Piano. (Recorded 1927, 1928, 1954). RCA Red Seal 09026-68671-2 (2
CDs)
Lecuona Sinfónica. Jungle Drums; La comparsa; Gitanerías; Andalucía;
Malagueña; Danza lucumi; Córdoba; Rapsodia negra; Siboney; Danzas
afro-cubanos (La conga de media noche; Danza negra; Y la negra bailaba; Danza
de los ñañigos); Guadalquivir; In 3/4 Time. Morton Gould and his Orchestra
(Recorded 1955, 1964). RCA Red Seal 09026-68922-2
David
maest...@aol.com (MaestroDJS) wrote:
Yesterday was AN e FLAT DAY ;)
david