Afro-Cuban Influences on Cuba's Music: Slavery to Present

Introduction

Both Spain and Africa have played an important part in establishing the cultural forms of Cuban customs and heritage, and each has impacted and influenced Cuban music in a significant way. Because no culture is static, however, changes to Cuban customs and culture have occurred continuously, and these too are reflected in the country's music. Examining Cuba's music over time — from the days of slavery to the present — reveals a story of Cuban history in its own right. The selection of works discussed here demonstrates how Cuban music was shaped by Afro-Cuban cultural forms from the era of slavery through the mid-twentieth century.

Early European Foundations: Esteban Salas y Castro

Born on Christmas Day in Cuba in 1725, Esteban Salas y Castro composed religious works for the Church. His Baroque style owes more to the Italian tradition than to any African one, but as a Catholic composing for the Church this is no surprise. Nevertheless, Salas y Castro was able to incorporate elements of the Cuban style into his works — most notably the layering of multiple voices one over another, a practice that would become a staple of Cuban music.

In the song "Gloria, laus et honor," the cultural form is primarily European. This influence was critically important in Cuba's history. Cuba, even today and in spite of the Communist takeover in the twentieth century, remains approximately 60% Catholic. The Christian influence, culture, sounds, and forms drawn from Spain and Italy were as powerful a force on Cuba as the African influence that would later become more pronounced in the country's secular music.

Creolization and Cuban Nationalism: Saumell, Cervantes, and Clavé

Manuel Saumell Robredo is responsible for developing the creole sound in Cuban music during the nineteenth century — Cuban musical nationalism begins with him. Born in Havana in 1818, he experienced love and loss at a young age, and this undoubtedly informed his understanding of how passion shapes a life, particularly the life of a young Cuban.

As Carpentier (2001) notes, "Saumell is absolutely prophetic in fixing certain rhythms which would be mined in the future under different names. [He] is the father not only of the contradanza but also the habanera (the prima of La Amistad), danzón (La Tedezco), the guajira (segunda of La Matilde), the criolla (the segunda of La Nené), [and] the clavé (La Celestina)" (p. 192). In the contradanza "La Suavecita," one can hear the influence of this father of Cuban nationalism: the Yoruba rhythms and creole melodies blend to create a unique Cuban sound — a passionate departure from the highly European forms of Esteban Salas y Castro.

Born in Havana in 1847, Ignacio Cervantes became a leader in the nationalization of Cuban music, further developing the creole sounds established by Saumell. Cervantes was so committed to Cuban nationalism that he performed throughout the island to raise money for Cuban independence fighters during the Ten Years' War (Sublette, 2004). In his Danzas Cubanas, one can hear the new creolization of Cuban music — a robust emphasis on the Spanish influence filtered through Cuban sensibility.

As Carpentier (2001) has noted, the Danzas Cubanas are representative of Cuban culture in the latter half of the nineteenth century, when independence was in the air and Cubans were eager to define themselves as their own people. This is reflected in Cervantes' music: the Danzas Cubanas is filled with rhythmic, percussive piano sounds that would come to define Cuban music of the period and help vitalize Latin music more broadly.

Though rumba did not become a commercial hit until the mid-twentieth century — when the first U.S. recording was produced in New York — it emerged in Cuba in the latter half of the nineteenth century, with roots in the slave barracks where African slaves sang their rhythmic chants. José Anselmo Clavé helped popularize the form and blend it with mainstream Cuban music. In Els pescadors, the energy of the rumba can be heard as a chorus of male singers supports the lead voice. The rich timbre and texture of those voices would become synonymous with Cuban music in the century to come.

Conclusion

Cuban music transformed immensely over the course of two centuries, just as its culture did. The changes in culture were reflected in the changes in musical development. From the European Baroque stylings of Esteban Salas y Castro to the mambo of Perez Prado and the chachacha of Rosendo Ruiz, Cuban music charts how far Cuban culture traveled in the modern era — progressively absorbing and reshaping its African heritage into forms that became uniquely, unmistakably Cuban.