A History of Cuban Music

The Pre-Columbian Period

Hardly anything is known about the music of the earliest inhabitants of Cuba. There are no records in existence of melodies or rhythms nor of the significance of music during areitos (festivities). All that survives are the descriptions of a few Indian instruments in early travel reports. Amongst these are bells (cascabeles), rattles (maracas) and simple drums, fashioned from tree trunks.

16th -19th century

During this period Cuba was predominantly settled by the Spanish. After the decline of almost the entire Indian population African slaves were brought to Cuba. These came for the most part from the Congo-Angola area and belonged to the Yoruba, Carabalis, Bantu and Arara cultures.

At the end of the 18th century there was a considerable influx of people from neighbouring French Haiti to the eastern part of the island, due to the Slave Revolt of 1793. The new white émigrés introduced new European influences and their slaves, new African or Afro-Caribbean influences into Cuba's music.


The cultural tradition of European music was at first fostered in traditional songs from Spain and the Canary Islands, even today this is a very strong influence in Cuban popular music. From it developed the Guajira, the music of the Cuban rural population.


History of European Music introduced 'artificially' into Cuba.

The most important impetus for music 'artificially' introduced from Europe into Cuba was, of course, the Catholic Church. The first stimulus occurred in 1788 when Cuba's Cathedral was moved from Santiago to Havana, so creating new posts for musicians. Important early Cuban composers are: Lazlo de la Varga (?-1803), Juan Paris (1759-1845) and Esteban Salas y Castro (?-?). All three belong either to the period of the Late Baroque or Early Classicism.

In the 19th century European music again exerted a defining influence on the musical landscape. Several composers worthy of note but not exceptional are e.g. Fuentes Mantons (1825-1898), Gaspar Villantes (1851- 912), Antonio Raffelin (1796-1882), Nicolas Ruiz Esperado (1832-1890).

It was the composer Manuel Saumel Robredo who was responsible for introducing a Caribbean influence into music. He wrote more than 50 contradanzas, distinctive in their rhythmic structure. These contradanzas are the forerunners of the later danzones, and thereby an important source for the many musical directions taken by Cuban music. The first truly Cuban composer was Ignacio Cervantes (1847-1905) whose work was highly instrumental in the development of a national style. He combined European musical composition with elements of afrocaribbean music, his most important works being the 21 danzas cubanas.



The early 20th Century

The composers Eduardo Sánchez de Fuentes, Amadeo Roldán and Alejandro Carpentier followed in the tradition of Cervantes and embraced the late 19th century movement for self-government.

In their works European and Afro-Cuban instruments and music meld and an original music form evolves. All are supporters of Afrocubanism, the movement for an original culture and an independent country.

With the founding of the "Grupo Renovación Musical" in 1942 José Ardevol (1911-1981) brought new ideas into Cuba's 'artificial' music. Following the essays into neo-classicism of the Twenties new music and serial composition techniques brought their influence to bear.

Other new composers of note are Argliers León (1918-1991) and Hilario Gonzalez (*1920).

In the realm of guitar music Cuba's ambassador is Leo Brouwer who deliberately incorporates Afro-Cuban elements, mostly rhythmic in nature, in his work.