Rosendo Ruiz Suárez (1 March 1885 – 1 January 1983) was a Cuban singer, guitarist and composer, considered one of the founders of the

trova ''Trova'' is a style of Cuban popular music originating in the 19th century. Trova was created by itinerant musicians known as ''trovadores'' who travelled around Cuba's Oriente province, especially Santiago de Cuba, and earned their living by s ...

. He wrote over 200 songs in a variety of styles ranging from

canción ''Canción'' ("song") is a popular genre of Latin American music, particularly in Cuba, where many of the compositions originate.Orovio, Helio 2004. ''Cuban music from A to Z''. p42 Its roots lie in Spanish popular song forms, including tiranas, P ...

and

bolero Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It ha ...

to guajira and

bambuco Bambuco is a traditional music genre from Colombia. Its metric structure is similar to the European waltz or polska (dance), polska (not to be confused with the polka). Typically a bambuco piece is accompanied by a stylized group dance in either ...

. Although he was a popular performer, founding several successful groups, he made very few recordings. He lived for almost a century, having a great influence on the music of his country.

Career

Rosendo Ruiz Suárez was born in

Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana. The municipality extends over , and contains ...

on 1 March 1885. He became a tailor, but soon became interested in music. Like Sindo Garay, Ruiz had a humble background and he taught himself the guitar. Pepe Sánchez gave him lessons to improve his guitar technique and took him into a group of musicians who were brightening up ''fiestas'' for wealthy whites in the environs of Santiago de Cuba. Short of money, he moved first to

Cienfuegos Cienfuegos (), capital of Cienfuegos Province, is a city on the southern coast of Cuba. It is located about from Havana and has a population of 150,000. Since the late 1960s, Cienfuegos has become one of Cuba's main industrial centers, especia ...

, then to

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

. His first composition was "Venganza de amor", written in 1902. He later composed "Mares y arenas", with lyrics by Francisco Vélez Alvarado. The song became a success in 1911 when it was premiered by José "Galleguito" Parapar at Havana's

Teatro Martí Teatro Martí is a Neoclassical theater in Havana, Cuba. It was inaugurated on 8 June 1884 as the Teatro Irijoa, named after its founder and owner Ricardo Irijoa, from the Basque Country, Spain. It was originall used for the performance of za ...

in his first professional performance. The first recording of a composition by Ruiz was Maria Teresa Vera's and

Rafael Zequeira Rafael may refer to: * Rafael (given name) or Raphael, a name of Hebrew origin * Rafael, California * Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Israeli manufacturer of weapons and military technology * Hurricane Rafael, a 2012 hurricane Fiction * ...

's 1914 rendition of "Tere y Gela". The duo would go on to record many of Ruiz's songs, sometimes accompanied by Manuel Corona on guitar: "Rosina y Virginia" (also known as "Dos lindas rosas"), "Confesión", "Naturaleza", "Encanto de Estela", "Patria y honor", "Violeta", "Mi Cuba bella", "Llanto del corazón" and "Cuba aliada". In 1917 he composed his socialist anthem, "Redención", which premiered on 1 May 1919 (

International Workers' Day International Workers' Day, also known as Labour Day in some countries and often referred to as May Day, is a celebration of labourers and the working classes that is promoted by the international labour movement and occurs every year on 1 May ...

) at the Teatro Payret in Havana. In 1918, José Castillo and Manuel Luna recorded one of his most famous songs, "Falso juramento". In 1926 he founded the Cuarteto Cuba with Vitaliano Matas (lead guitar), Eusebio Corzo (vocals) and Rafael Ruiz (lead vocals). In 1929 he founded the Trío Habana with Emilio Betancourt and Enrique Hernández, making several recordings for

Brunswick Records Brunswick Records is an American record label founded in 1916. History From 1916 Records under the Brunswick label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, a company based in Dubuque, Iowa which had been manufacturing prod ...

the same year. In 1929 he was bestowed an honorary award at

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsul ...

Ibero-American Exposition The Ibero-American Exposition of 1929 (Spanish: ''Exposición iberoamericana de 1929'') was a world's fair held in Seville, Spain, from 9 May 1929 until 21 June 1930. Countries in attendance of the exposition included: Portugal, the United Stat ...

. In 1932, the Cuarteto Machín recorded in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

his famous guajira "Junto a un cañaveral", and Julio Cueva's orchestra recorded his pregón "Se va el dulcerito" in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

. In 1936 he formed the Trío Azul in Havana with Guillermo Rodríguez Fiffe and Enrique Valls, who came as a duo from Santiago. They had a hit with "Bilongo" (also known as "La negra Tomasa"), a composition by Rodríguez Fiffe. In 1937 they recorded a single for Victor: "La comparsa Malaco" / "Solavaya". He wrote a guitar manual which ran into several editions, and was a president of the ''Forum de la Trova'' (1967). His son, Rosendo Ruiz Quevedo, known as

Rosendo Ruiz Jr. Rosendo is a Spanish male given name. The name comes from St. Rudesind, San Rosendo, in Spanish (907–977) who was Bishop of Iria Flavia at the time of Rodrigo Velázquez. Places named after the saint include San Rosendo, a town in Chile. The bes ...

, also became a musician and one of Cuba's most prolific composers. Ruiz died on 1 January 1983 in Havana, Cuba aged 97.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruiz, Rosendo 1885 births 1983 deaths Cuban male guitarists Cuban composers Male composers 20th-century guitarists 20th-century Cuban male singers Cuban male musicians