Familia Valera Miranda, Cana quema

How does Cuban son reflect the country’s past trauma?

This set work is challenging because Alla va candela and Se quema la chumbamba are not unusual
examples of their genre – much wider listening is therefore very similar in sound. It is also
challenging because of the number of different genres of Cuban music that students should be
familiar with, and because of the subtle differences between them. More than any other set work,
with this piece we need to teach a style not a work.

Big idea Wider listening

Son Roberto Torres, ‘Mi son cubano’
Influence from African percussion Eliades Ochoa, ‘Yiri Yiri Bom’
Son montuno (led to mambo) Buena Vista Social Club, ‘Candela’
Son bolero Compay Segundo, ‘Chan chan’
‘Guantanemera’
Buena Vista Social Club, ‘Orgullecida’
Coro-pregon (African) Roberto Torres, ‘Mi son cubano’
Alberto Zayas, ‘A Malanga’
Buena Vista Social Club, ‘Candela’
Other styles Sexteto La Playa, ‘Guajira cubana’ (cha cha cha)
Perez Prado, ‘Mambo no. 5’ and Machito y Sus
Afro-Cubanos, ‘Mambo sentimental’ (mambo)
Alberto Zayas, ‘A Malanga’ and ‘Ave Maria
Morena’ (rumba)
Cuban music revival in the 1990s (during/after Anything by Buena Vista Social Club
the Special Period) (watch documentary/cite individual musicians)
Different instrumental groups (conjuntos,
descargas, big bands)
Spanish slave trade, instruments and language
Influence from American tourist industry during
Cuban Republic