What kind of music would George Gershwin have written if he had the rigorous classical piano training of, let us say, Sergei Rachmaninoff?
Ernesto Lecuona y Casado (August 6, 1895 Guanabacoa, Havana, Cuba - November 29, 1963 Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain) was a Cuban composer and pianist of Canarian father and Cuban mother, and worldwide fame. He composed over six hundred pieces, mostly in the Cuban vein, and was a pianist of exceptional quality.
Lecuona started early studying piano under his sister Ernestina Lucuona, a famed composer in her own right. He later studied at the Peyrellade Conservatoire under Antonio Saavedra and the famous Joaquin Nin. Lecuona graduated from the National Conservatory of Havana with a Gold Medal for interpretation when he was sixteen. And he performed outside of Cuba at the Aeolian Hall (New York) in 1916.
He first travelled to Spain in 1924 on a concert tour with violinist Maria de la Torre; his successful piano recitals in 1928 at Paris coincided with a rise in interest in Cuban music.
He was a prolific composer of songs and music for stage and film. His works consisted of zarzuela, Afro-Cuban and Cuban rhythms, suites and many songs which are still very famous. They include Siboney (Canto Siboney), Malaguena and The Breeze and I (Andalucía). In 1942, his great hit, Always in my Heart (Siempre en mi Corazon) was nominated for an Oscar for Best Song; however, it lost to White Christmas. Lecuona was a master of the symphonic form and conducted the Ernesto Lecuona Symphonic Orchestra, employing soloists including Cuban pianist and composer Carmelina Delfin. The Orchestra performed in the Cuban Liberation Day Concert at Carnegie Hall on October 10, 1943. The concert included the world premiere of Lecuona's Black Rhapsody. Lecuona gave help and the use of his name to the popular touring group, the Lecuona Cuban Boys, though he did not play as a member of the band. He did sometimes play piano solos as the first item on the bill.
In 1960, thoroughly unhappy with Castro's new régime, Lecuona moved to Tampa. Lecuona lived his final years in the US. He died 3 years later at Santa Cruz de Tenerife at age 68, and is interred at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York; his will instructs that his remains be repatriated once the current régime runs its course. A great deal of Lecuona's music was first introduced to mass American audiences by Desi Arnaz, a fellow Cuban and Lucille Ball's spouse.
Lecuona's talent for composition has influenced the Latin American world in a way quite similar to George Gershwin in the United States, in his case raising Cuban music to classical status.
Ernesto and Ernestina's cousin Margarita Lecuona was another accomplished musician and composer. She was the author of the song “Babalu”, made popular in the Latin American world by Miguelito Valdes, and in the United States by Desi Arnaz (who, contrary to popular folk lore, did not write the song).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernesto_Lecuona
Ernesto Lecuona, a contemporary of Gershwin, provides us with a provocative hint. In his late teens, Lecuona write a smashingly complex and unforgettable fandango, Malaguena, which became part of his six-song Andalusian Suite. A collection of Lecuona playing his own piano works is available on CD as Lecuona – The Ultimate Collection 09026-68671-2; A lushly orchestrated version of many of his works is available as Lecuona Sinfonica – Morton Gould and his Orchestra 09026-68922-2.
Biographical information from Wikipedia:
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Ernesto Lecuona y Casado (August 6, 1895 Guanabacoa, Havana, Cuba - November 29, 1963 Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain) was a Cuban composer and pianist of Canarian father and Cuban mother, and worldwide fame. He composed over six hundred pieces, mostly in the Cuban vein, and was a pianist of exceptional quality.
Ernesto Lecuona
Lecuona started early studying piano under his sister Ernestina Lucuona, a famed composer in her own right. He later studied at the Peyrellade Conservatoire under Antonio Saavedra and the famous Joaquin Nin. Lecuona graduated from the National Conservatory of Havana with a Gold Medal for interpretation when he was sixteen. And he performed outside of Cuba at the Aeolian Hall (New York) in 1916.
He first travelled to Spain in 1924 on a concert tour with violinist Maria de la Torre; his successful piano recitals in 1928 at Paris coincided with a rise in interest in Cuban music.
He was a prolific composer of songs and music for stage and film. His works consisted of zarzuela, Afro-Cuban and Cuban rhythms, suites and many songs which are still very famous. They include Siboney (Canto Siboney), Malaguena and The Breeze and I (Andalucía). In 1942, his great hit, Always in my Heart (Siempre en mi Corazon) was nominated for an Oscar for Best Song; however, it lost to White Christmas. Lecuona was a master of the symphonic form and conducted the Ernesto Lecuona Symphonic Orchestra, employing soloists including Cuban pianist and composer Carmelina Delfin. The Orchestra performed in the Cuban Liberation Day Concert at Carnegie Hall on October 10, 1943. The concert included the world premiere of Lecuona's Black Rhapsody. Lecuona gave help and the use of his name to the popular touring group, the Lecuona Cuban Boys, though he did not play as a member of the band. He did sometimes play piano solos as the first item on the bill.
In 1960, thoroughly unhappy with Castro's new régime, Lecuona moved to Tampa. Lecuona lived his final years in the US. He died 3 years later at Santa Cruz de Tenerife at age 68, and is interred at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York; his will instructs that his remains be repatriated once the current régime runs its course. A great deal of Lecuona's music was first introduced to mass American audiences by Desi Arnaz, a fellow Cuban and Lucille Ball's spouse.
Lecuona's talent for composition has influenced the Latin American world in a way quite similar to George Gershwin in the United States, in his case raising Cuban music to classical status.
Ernesto and Ernestina's cousin Margarita Lecuona was another accomplished musician and composer. She was the author of the song “Babalu”, made popular in the Latin American world by Miguelito Valdes, and in the United States by Desi Arnaz (who, contrary to popular folk lore, did not write the song).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernesto_Lecuona
No comments:
Post a Comment