Danzón is the official musical genre and dance of
Cuba.
[Urfé, Odilio 1965. ''El danzón''. La Habana.] It is also an active musical form in
Mexico and
Puerto Rico.
Written in
time, the danzón is a slow, formal
partner dance
Partner dances are dances whose basic choreography involves coordinated dancing of two partners, as opposed to individuals dancing alone or individually in a non-coordinated manner, and as opposed to groups of people dancing simultaneously in a ...
, requiring
set footwork around
syncopated
In music, syncopation is a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm": a "place ...
beats, and incorporating elegant pauses while the couples stand listening to virtuoso instrumental passages, as characteristically played by a
charanga or
típica ensemble.
[
The danzón evolved from the Cuban contradanza, or habanera (' Havana-dance'). The contradanza, which had English and French roots in the country dance and contredanse, was probably introduced to Cuba by the Spanish, who ruled the island for almost four centuries (1511–1898), contributing many thousands of immigrants. It may also have been partially seeded during the short-lived British occupation of Havana in 1762, and Haitian refugees fleeing the island's revolution of 1791–1804 brought the French-Haitian kontradans, contributing their own Creole syncopation.][ In Cuba, the dances of European origin acquired new stylistic features derived from African rhythm and ]dance
Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
to produce a genuine fusion of European and African influences. African music
Given the vastness of the African continent, its music is diverse, with regions and nations having many distinct musical traditions. African music includes the genres amapiano, Jùjú, Fuji, Afrobeat, Highlife, Makossa, Kizomba, and others. The ...
al traits in the danzón include complex instrumental cross-rhythms, expressed in staggered cinquillo and tresillo patterns.[
By 1879, the year ]Miguel Failde
-->
Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael. It may refer to:
Places
*Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands
*São Miguel (disambi ...
's ''Las alturas de Simpson'' was first performed (in Matanzas
Matanzas (Cuban ) is the capital of the Cuban province of Matanzas. Known for its poets, culture, and Afro-Cuban folklore, it is located on the northern shore of the island of Cuba, on the Bay of Matanzas (Spanish ''Bahia de Matanzas''), east ...
), danzón had emerged as a distinct genre. Danzón went on to interact with 20th century Cuban genres such as son, and through the danzón-mambo it was instrumental in the development of mambo and cha-cha-chá.
History
The danzón developed from the habanera, a creolized Cuban dance form. By 1879, the year ''Las alturas de Simpson'' composed by Miguel Failde
-->
Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael. It may refer to:
Places
*Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands
*São Miguel (disambi ...
(leader of the Orquesta Faílde) was first performed in Matanzas
Matanzas (Cuban ) is the capital of the Cuban province of Matanzas. Known for its poets, culture, and Afro-Cuban folklore, it is located on the northern shore of the island of Cuba, on the Bay of Matanzas (Spanish ''Bahia de Matanzas''), east ...
,[ danzón had emerged as a distinct genre.] Creation of the new danzón form is generally attributed to Faílde. The classical composer Manuel Saumell has also been cited as a key figure in its delineation.
Precursors: figure dances
The English contradanza was the predecessor of the " habanera", also known as danza criolla. Out of this Creole genre, the Habanera, was born in 1879 another Cuban genre, called danzon, a sequence dance, in which all danced together a set of ''figures''. The first use of the term ''danzón'', which dates from the 1850s, is for just such a dance. Havana's daily paper, ''El Triunfo'', gave a description of this earlier
danzón. It was a co-ordinated dance of figures performed by groups of Matanzas blacks. The dancers held the ends of colored ribbons, and carried flower-covered arches. The group twisted and entwined the ribbons to make pleasing patterns. This account can be corroborated by other references, for example, a traveler in Cuba noted in 1854 that black Cubans "do a kind of wreath dance, in which the whole company took part, amid innumerable artistic entanglements and disentanglements". This style of danzón was performed at carnival comparsas by black groups: it is described that way before the late 1870s.
Faílde's first danzóns were created for just such sequence dances. Faílde himself said "In Matanzas at this time there was a kind of square dance for twenty couples who carried arches and flowers. It was really a dance of figures (sequence dance), and its moves were adapted to the tempo of the habanera, which we took over for the danzón."
Structure and instruments
The form of danzón created by Miguel Faílde in 1879 (''Las alturas de Simpson''), begins with an ''introduction'' (four bars) and ''paseo'' (four bars), which are repeated and followed by a 16-bar melody. The introduction and paseo again repeat before a second melody is played. The dancers do not dance during these sections: they choose partners, stroll onto the dance floor, and begin to dance at precisely the same moment: the fourth beat of bar four of the paseo, which has a distinctive percussion pattern that's hard to miss. When the introduction is repeated the dancers stop, chat, flirt, greet their friends, and start again, right on time as the paseo finishes.
Early danzón was played by groups called '' orquestas típicas'', which were based on wind instruments. They had several brass instruments (cornet
The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopr ...
, valve trombone, ophicleide
The ophicleide ( ) is a family of conical-bore keyed brass instruments invented in early 19th century France to extend the keyed bugle into the alto, bass and contrabass ranges. Of these, the bass ophicleide in C or B took root over the cours ...
), a clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound.
Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...
or two, a violin or two and tympani ( kettle drums). At the beginning of the 20th century, the lighter and somewhat more elegant sound of the '' charanga'' emerged (see Early Cuban bands). Initially, they were small orchestra of two violins, a cello, flute, timbales, güiro
The güiro () is a Puerto Rican percussion instrument consisting of an open-ended, hollow gourd with parallel notches cut in one side. It is played by rubbing a stick or tines (see photo) along the notches to produce a ratchet sound.
The güiro ...
, and doublebass
The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...
. Charanga and típicas competed with each other for years, but after 1930 it was clear that the days of the típica were over.
In 1898, a piano was included in a charanga for the first time. In Antonio María Romeu's hands a piano became standard. Its musical flexibility, its ability to influence both melody and rhythm, made it invaluable. In 1926, in his arrangement of ''Tres lindas cubanas'', Romeu incorporated a piano ''solo'' for the first time. His was Cuba's top charanga for many years.
Initial perception
Similar to other dances in the Caribbean and Latin America, the danzón was initially regarded as scandalous, especially when it began to be danced by all classes of society. The slower rhythm of the danzón led to couples dancing closer, with sinuous movements of the hips and a lower centre of gravity. The author of a survey of prostitution in Havana devoted a whole chapter to the iniquities of dancing, and the danzón in particular. Articles in newspapers and periodicals took up the theme:
:"Because I love my country, it hurts me to see danzón at gatherings of decent people."
:"We recommend banning the danza and danzón because they are vestiges of Africa and should be replaced by essentially European dances such as the quadrille and rigadoon."
Apparently, the danzón, which later became an insipid dance for older couples, was at first danced with "obscene movements" of the hips by young couples in close embrace, with bodies touching, and by couples who might come from different races...
:"First we had the danza, then came the danzón... next it will be the rumba, and finally we'll all end up dancing ñáñigo!"
So, behind the concern about music and dance were concerns about sexual licence, and about miscegenation, the mixing of races. As with other similar cases, the criticism was to no avail. The danzón became hugely popular, and was the dominant popular music in Cuba until the advent of the son in the 1920s. At length the Cuban government made Faílde the official inventor of the danzón – ''but not until 1960'', by which time the danzón had become a relic, and its 'child', the chachachá, had taken over.
Influence of son
In 1910, some 30 years after Faílde's early days, José Urfé
José Urfé González (February 6, 1879 – November 14, 1957) was a Cuban clarinetist and composer. An innovator of the danzón, his 1910 composition "El bombín de Barreto" pioneered the introduction of elements from son cubano into the genr ...
added a montuno as a final part of his ''El Bombín de Barretto''. This was a swinging section, consisting of a repeated musical phrase, which introduced something of the son into the danzón (a tactic which was to recur again). Because of the popularity of son in the 1920s and 1930s, Aniceto Díaz
''Aniceto'' is a 2008 Argentine
Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical o ...
in ''Rompiendo la rutina'' in 1929 added a vocal part, thereby creating a new genre called the danzonete.
Later development led to more syncopation
In music, syncopation is a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm": a "place ...
, which eventually led to the danzón-chá, nuevo ritmo Nuevo is the Spanish word for "new". It may refer to:
* Nuevo, California, a town in the state of California
* Nuevo (band), featuring singer and musician Peter Godwin
* Nuevo (Bayamón), a settlement in Puerto Rico
* "Nuevo", Spanish-language vers ...
, cha-cha-chá, pachanga and mambo. From the 1940s to the 1960s danzón and its derivatives were highly popular in Cuba, with several truly fine charangas playing most days of the week. Orquesta Aragón kept up an exceptionally high standard for many years, but the danzón itself gradually dropped out, and is now a relic dance.
Danzón has never ceased to influence Cuban musicians, and it is reflected in many popular Cuban music genres, in Cuban Latin jazz, salsa, songo
Songo may refer to:
* Songo music, a type of contemporary Cuban music originating in Havana
* Songo people, of northern Angola
* Songo-salsa, a style of music that blends Spanish rapping and hip hop beats with salsa music and songo
* Songo.mn, ...
and timba, the latter building upon the charanga orchestration. Groups like Los Van Van and Orquesta Revé developed from charangas. Their make-up and orchestration (by Juan Formell) has been so greatly altered that it is difficult to identify traces of danzón; indeed, their present styles owe more to son than to danzón. The addition of brass instruments such as trombones and trumpets, and conga drums signalled a wider range of music.
Mexican Danzón
Danzón was also very popular in the Gulf Coast state of Veracruz, Mexico, because of the strong Cuban influence in the region. Later on, danzón developed in Mexico City, specially in the famous ''Salón México''; it has survived as a dance longer there than in Cuba. Danzón also flourished in the city of Oaxaca, and many famous danzones were composed by Oaxacan musicians such as the famous Nereidas and Teléfono de larga distancia, both works of Amador Pérez Dimas Amador may refer to:
People
*Amador (name)
Places
*Amador County, California
* Amador City, California
* Amador, Panama
* Lake Amador, a reservoir
* Amador Valley, Alameda County, California
*Dougherty, Alameda County, California, formerly call ...
, from the town of Zaachila, near Oaxaca city.
Today, people still dance danzón in Mexico, particularly in the main plazas of Veracruz, Oaxaca and Mexico City, and in yearly festivals across Mexico. The dance had a second revival in the 1990s, especially among Mexico's senior citizens.
A film called '' Danzón'' was released in 1991 directed by María Novaro.
Concert music
''Danzón no. 2
''Danzón No. 2'' is an orchestral composition by Mexico, Mexican composer Arturo Márquez. Along with Carlos Chávez's ''Sinfonia India'' and Silvestre Revueltas' ''Sensemaya'', ''Danzón No. 2'' is one of the most popular and most frequently per ...
'' by Mexican composer Arturo Márquez
Arturo Márquez Navarro (born 20 December 1950) is a Mexican composer of orchestral music who uses musical forms and styles of his native Mexico and incorporates them into his compositions.
Life
Márquez was born in Álamos, Sonora, in 1950 wher ...
(b. 1950) is a popular piece in orchestral concerts.
Rhythmic structure
The basic timbales part for danzón is called the baqueteo. In the example above, the slashed noteheads indicate muted drum strokes, and the regular noteheads indicate open strokes. The güiro
The güiro () is a Puerto Rican percussion instrument consisting of an open-ended, hollow gourd with parallel notches cut in one side. It is played by rubbing a stick or tines (see photo) along the notches to produce a ratchet sound.
The güiro ...
also plays this pattern. The danzón was the first written music to be based on the organizing principle of sub-Saharan African rhythm, known in Cuba as clave.
Style and form structure
Danzón is elegant and virtuoso music, with dance. A danzón, in its original form, was not sung, and did not feature any improvisations, unlike some other Cuban genres.
A danzón has the following typical structure:
*An ''introduction'' or ''paseo'' (A), usually 16 bars.
*The ''theme'' or principal melody (B), featuring the flute, thus often referred to as ''parte de (la) flauta''.
*A repeat of the introduction.
*The ''trio'' (C), featuring the strings, thus also called ''parte del violín''.
*Ending. This could either be a cliché ending (there are a few standard danzón endings), another repeat of the introduction, or a combination of both.
The classic form is thus ABAC or ABACA.
A danzón-chá or danzón-mambo typically add another part (D), a syncopated open vamp in which soloists may sometimes improvise, creating an ABACD or, more common, ABACAD.
Mambo section
In danzón, the mambo section is the final section of an arrangement. It was first devised by Orestes López, who added syncopated motifs taken from the son, together with improvised flute variations. He called this type of danzón ''ritmo nuevo'' (new rhythm). Orestes' danzón ''Mambo'' was the start of a trend continued by '' Arcaño y sus Maravillas''.Max Salazar
Max or MAX may refer to:
Animals
* Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog
* Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE)
* Max (gorilla) (1 ...
"Orestes Lopez and the mambo"
'' Latin Beat Magazine'', September 2002
See also
* French contredanse
* Guaracha
* La tumba francesa
* Music of Haiti
* Twoubadou
References
*Rebeca Mauleón
Rebeca Mauleón (born April 16, 1962) is an American pianist, composer, arranger and writer, specializing in Salsa music, salsa and other Latin music (genre), Latin American and Afro-Caribbean music.
Career
Mauleón was born in Santa Monica, Ca ...
''The Salsa guidebook for piano and ensemble'' (1993). Petaluma CA: Sher Music.
*Peter Manuel, editor. "Creolizing Contradance in the Caribbean" (2009). Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
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Cuban styles of music
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Mexican styles of music
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