Cuba: Contradanzas & Danzones

Guzman (Artist), Rotterdam Conservatory Orquesta Tipica (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 4, 1997)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Nimbus Records
• ASIN: B0000037H9
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #568,682 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A gem of classical Cuban Music', March 5, 2010

By 

Hector Rodriguez (Miami, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Cuba: Contradanzas & Danzones (Audio CD)

I was doing some research for a booklet I am writing on Cuban culture, written in the English language for those who like me hail from the old country, or those who were born in the US of Cuban extraction, but are more comfortable in English than Spanish. Being that music is amongst Cuba's greatest legacy to world culture I did some research on the music from the island starting the XVI century onwards. My curiosity was piqued as to what classical Cuban music sounded like. There are not many recordings in this genre. In fact, this is the only one that ruly and genuinely reflects the music from the period, for the creators went to great legths to recreate the actual sounds by using period instruments or a similar substitute, and by observing musical customs of he period and actual cadences. Do not buy this work expecting salsa, cha-cha-cha or mambo, though this is indeed the foundation of all that wonderful music. What you will find instead is the oldest extant contradanza (from the English "country dance") dating to 1803, a fom of music brought by the French fleeing Haiti and its slave revolt of 1790 which can be heard here. The more modern form of Cuban music, the descendant of the contradanza and the precurssor of all the modern forms, the danzon , which was first heard in "Alturas de Simpson" in 1878 is also featured, as are a medley of popular tunes and dance forms from the mid XIX to early XX century. This is in essence an anthology of Cuban music from these formative years. Highly recommneded for lovers of Cuban music wishing to explore the foundation on which modern forms of Cuban music are based.