The Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces Military Bands Department is a

military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind instrument, wind and percussion instruments. The conducting, conductor of a ...

service based in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces The Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces (; FAR) are the military forces of Cuba. They include Cuban Revolutionary Army, Revolutionary Army, Cuban Revolutionary Navy, Revolutionary Navy, Cuban Revolutionary Air and Air Defense Force, Revolutionary A ...

. It was notably led by Lieutenant Colonel Ney Miguel Milanés Gálvez (born in 1944), who had been leading the for 46 years from 1974 to 2019. The band service is a cultural tool for the Revolutionary Armed Forces aimed at maintaining the patriotism and high morale of the servicemen and women and veterans. It is based on a mix of

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

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, and

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military musical tradition.

Brief history and contemporary role

It was founded on 1 April 1960, by order of

Juan Almeida Bosque Juan Almeida Bosque (17 February 1927 – 11 September 2009) was a Cuban politician and one of the original commanders of the insurgent forces in the Cuban Revolution. After the rebels took power in 1959, he was a prominent figure in the Commun ...

, at the request of

Ernesto "Che" Guevara Ernesto "Che" Guevara (14th May 1928 – 9 October 1967) was an Argentines, Argentine Communist revolution, Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and Military theory, military theorist. A majo ...

, who was then the President of the National Bank of Cuba. It was a descendant of the Havana Infantry Regiment Band (Banda de Música del Regimiento de Infantería de La Habana). It plays an important role in providing accompaniment for military parades that take place on Revolution Square on January 2. This group is also present at ceremonial activities on the island. In May 2007, the band took part in the welcoming of the ''Capitán Miranda'' of the

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Havana Harbor Havana Harbor is the port of Havana, the capital of Cuba, and it is the main port in Cuba. Other port cities in Cuba include Cienfuegos, Matanzas, Manzanillo, Cuba, Manzanillo, and Santiago de Cuba. The harbor was created from the natural Havan ...

. During the state visit of President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written by American lawyer Francis Scott Key on September 14, 1814, after he witnessed the bombardment of Fort ...

saying that they did a "Good job". During the

death and state funeral of Fidel Castro Former first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba and president of the Council of State, Fidel Castro died of natural causes in his sleep at 22:29 ( CST) on the evening of 25 November 2016, at the age of 90. His brother, Raúl Castro, who wa ...

in November 2016, a march was composed specifically for the occasion by the band. The march, known as ''Eternal Fidel'' (Eterno Fidel), was composed by Lieutenant Colonel Milanés.{{Cite web, url=http://www.fidelcastro.cu/es/articulos/eterno-fidel, title=Eterno Fidel | Fidel soldado de las ideas

Composition

The Military Bands Department is made up of the following bands: * Band of the General Staff of the Armed Forces (Banda de Música del Estado Mayor General de las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias) * Band of the Ceremonial Unit of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (Banda de Música del Unidad Ceremonial de las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias) * Central Band of the Ministry of the Interior (Banda de Música del Ministerio del Interior), affiliated to the Ministry of the Interior * Band of the Eastern Army * Band of the Western Army * Band of the Central Army * Band of the Jose Maceo Military College * Band of the Antonio Maceo Military College * Band of the Jose Marti Military Technical Institute * Band of the Granma Naval Academy If massed on parade, the massed bands of the department are made up of 370 bandsmen from several of the bands.

References

Military bands Military units and formations established in 1960 1960 establishments in Cuba Cuban musical groups Musical groups established in 1960 Military units and formations of Cuba