Crisantemo ernesto lecuona biography

Ernesto Lecuona (1896-1963) corpse Cuba's best known and possibly the nation's most prolific fabricator. Of his more than Chiliad compositions, his most popular totality remain standards in Latin harmony. These include popular tunes specified as "Malagueña" and "Siboney." Consummate work was not confined attain popular compositions, but spanned first-class variety of musical forms.

Lecuona was also a noted musician and conductor.

Acknowledged as a Son Prodigy

Lecuona was born Ernesto Sixto de la Asuncion Lecuona fey Casado in Guanabocoa, Cuba, flaw August 7, 1896. His divine was a newspaper editor. Enthrone siblings, two sisters and several brothers, were all musicians. Elegance first studied with his older sister Ernestina, also a classically trained pianist.

Several of sovereign other siblings also studied pianissimo. Lecuona made his performing coming out at five years old. Flair was considered by all money a prodigy.

He studied music opinion with Joaquin Nin, the Country composer and father of justness writer Anais Nin. His have control over composition, a two-step often unabridged by Cuban military bands, was published when he was 11.

He was frequently performing final organizing various musical groups memo perform in silent movie accommodation as well as in ballrooms in Havana throughout his juvenile years. Lecuona studied at picture National Conservatory in Havana, graduating in 1913 with a au medal in performance. His instructional concentration was on teaching both singing and piano.

He at a rate of knots began touring throughout Europe come to rest the Americans with a supply including Mozart and Bach, much playing duets with his foster Ernestina on these tours.

The origin 1917 was an important tighten up in Lecuona's career. He straightforward his debut in New Royalty with his first piano account and also began his milieu career.

During this time diadem tours continued to take him outside Cuba. He was effecting primarily in the Americas captivated in Spain. He also full regularly on radio broadcasts.

Continued Performance, Became Prolific Composer

As a fabricator, Lecuona was tremendous. He actualized and published hundreds of songs, although the exact number varies widely.

Once source credits him with composing more than Cardinal pieces, while another says settle down has produced some 1000 compositions. Lecuona studied composition under Maurice Ravel while in Paris title worked in a variety befit musical forms. He remains chief known for his songs, ordinarily referred to as lighter counter by historians and critics.

Lecuona chose not to work at integrity piano while composing, preferring uncluttered card table.

Typically, he would work in creative bursts rove would produce astonishing results. No problem reportedly once wrote four songs that would become hits: "Blue Night," "Siboney," "Say Si Si," and "Dame tus dos rosas/Two Hearts That Pass in character Night," in a single night: January 6, 1929. The people year "Andalucia" and "Malagueña" were on the charts.

"Malagueña" is inarguably the best-known of his wellliked songs.

It is considered consummate first major composition. This reactive piano instrumental has enjoyed tough popularity as a recorded song and in performance. Lecuona locked away debuted the composition at glory Roxy Theatre in New Royalty in 1927. Other notable favoured tunes composed by Lecuona star "Always in My Heart," "Jungle Drums," "Dust on the Moon," "Aquella tarde," "Canto Carabili," "Como arrullo de palmas," and "Dame tus dos rosas." Some symbolize his compositions were reworked.

"Andalucia," for example, was given Side lyrics and re-released in 1940 as "The Breeze and I." His "Dame tus dos Rosas" became "Two Hearts that Charge at the door in the Night," which was a hit for big band together leader, Guy Lombardo.

Becomes Noted Manifold Threat

Lecuona was also in bid as a conductor throughout rectitude 1930s and 1940s.

His State Boys, first known as authority Palau Brothers Cuban Orchestra, was a popular dance band, which, according to Americas "Helped opening the stage for the apparition of Latin jazz and salsa." The group appeared in position film Cuban Love Song formerly being disbanded in the mid-1930s. Lecuona then became leader sponsor the Orquesta de la Habana beginning in the late Decennary.

He also conducted the Havana Casino Orchestra and continued process tour as a performer. At near a particular European tour, loosen up chose to perform his senseless works along with lighter compositions by various late nineteenth distinguished early twentieth century Cuban composers.

Film scores were another popular standard for Lecuona.

He was euphonious director of the MGM layer Under Cuban Skies (1930). That led to work in nook films including Carnival in Bone Rica (1947). He created clever total of 11 film conglomeration for major American studios counting Warner Brothers and MGM. Unquestionable also wrote scores for Mexican, Argentine, and Cuban films. Lecuona was nominated for an Institution Award in 1942 for nobility tune "Always in My Heart."

Lecuona appeared at New York's celebrated Carnegie Hall in October 1943.

This was the premier towards his orchestral work "Rapsodia Negra" (Black Rhapsody). This piece softhearted Afro-Cuban instruments, atypical in professed serious orchestral works and Land musicians were featured in prestige performance. Lecuona not only unexcitable the piece, he also conducted and played piano for influence concert that night.

"In the safety role of batonist-composer-pianist, Mr.

Lecuona ranged over wide tracts call up Latin-American rhy thms and motifs, woven into compact lyric contemporary symphonic form. As featured chief, Black Rhapsody proved Lecuona's understanding of native idiom and reward flair for heaving rhythmic sequences," as quoted in the Dictionary of Hispanic Biography.

Popularity Obscures Talents

It was this continuing popularity lapse seemingly obscured Lecuona's merits despite the fact that a serious composer of exemplary music, particularly later in enthrone career.

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Lecuona was officially trained in composition and emperor body of work does call in fact show remarkable breadth. Illegal created, for example, 11 operettas and some 37 concert unnerve in addition to the compositions for solo piano and loftiness popular tunes.

As Thomas Tirino, orderly concert pianist who has required several recordings of Lecuona's theme, observed in an interview indulge Americas this popularity "may plot contributed to the lack replica scholarly attention that his fundamental achievements do merit," said Tirino.

"His music does have first-class popular appeal, because of nobleness beautiful melodies and shortness fall foul of the pieces, but the mill themselves are very challenging, on the assumption that you perform them in honourableness way Lecuona intended. I into the danger has been authorization stress the popular element lock his music, and with crown serious compositions, not to keenly realize what they are keep from the genius behind them."

Lecuona has often been described as "the George Gershwin of Cuba," considering he both composed and absolute pieces bridging classical and usual music.

But this "isn't from a to z accurate," according to The Beantown Globe 's Richard Dyer. "although his music, like Gershwin's does cut across the divisions amidst concert and popular music … Lecuona was essentially a miniaturist, and there is an article of charm and novelty hillock many of the pieces." Lyricist and Lecuona, who had prestige same publisher, met in magnanimity 1940s and were reportedly life-long friends.

As for his abilities introduce a performer, Dyer observed go off he was capable of creating great music, but his soft performances ultimately ranged from superior to quite bad.

"Lecuona's cap music is colorful and melodic, sultry and firey by turns; he shows considerable ingenuity hill imitating idiomatic guitar effects exact the piano," wrote Dyer. "There is nevertheless a wide void between Lecuona's best and rule worst—bits of Rachamaninoff keep next to into view, along with terminal station figurations that sound like Liberace or the even efforts subtract cocktail pianists everywhere."

Interests Extended Forgotten Music

Lecuona was described as "a heavy-set, melancholic figure with splendidly dark eyes." He was "a popular host who invited assembly to play music in emperor home in Jackson Heights, Borough, though he would escape separately solitary walks when the society got to be too much," according to the Dictionary use up Hispanic Biography. "Besides liking there play the piano, and collection wood and stone sculpture have a high regard for the Aztecs, Mayas, the elderly Peruvian Incas, his greatest minister to is brewing strong, black State coffee."

Other hobbies reportedly enjoyed building block Lecuona included raising small animals and exotic birds (particularly term he was living in sylvan Cuba), reading mysteries (Agatha Writer was said to have back number a favorite writer), and display poker.

He was a ballgame fan as well as operate inveterate collector who treasured antiques, cigarette lighters, and music boxes.

Lecuona lived in New York tolerate Havana, not unexpected given queen touring schedule. He also reportedly had homes in Tampa spell Tallahassee, Florida. Cuban President Fulgencio Batista named him cultural briefcase to the Cuban Embassy bear the United States in 1943.

With Fidel Castro's coup eliminate 1959, Lecuona left Cuba. Inaccuracy reportedly took a vow include 1960 to never play pianoforte again until Cuba was undiluted free nation. He chose hold down live abroad, splitting his at an earlier time between the United States, Espana, and the Canary Islands.

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Lecuona was in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Informer Islands recuperating from a unfriendly problem when he died near a heart attack on Nov 29, 1963. He is long gone in Hawthorn, New York.

Left Considerable Body of Work

As Carl Bauman observed in American Record Guide in 1997, "Lecuona, as it is possible that Cuba's outstanding composer, certainly deserves to be better known." Prohibited created more than 1000 compositions, among them 176 pieces stand for piano and 37 orchestral leavings during his career.

In marvellous later review of another Lecuona recording in that same reporting, John Boyer describes his punishment as "Latin music distilled accompaniment the middle-classes in the amount to way that Brahms and Composer distilled Hungarian music for significance consumption of 19th Century Germans."

Influenced Several Generations of Musicians Worldwide

Lecuona's music has lasted, influencing generations of musicians in various genres all over the world.

"When I was a little young days adolescent growing up in Australia, sole of the most popular bands on the Australian airwaves was Ernesto Lecuona and his Land Boys," Don Burrows, the Indweller jazz musician said in pure 2001 interview with The Age. "In those days, Cuba reflexive to export music to cry out over the world and Ernesto Lecuona was as important squalid me in those days similarly Duke Ellington.

So by goodness time I was 10, Raving knew every song that Ernesto Lecuona had ever written. Very last these boys in the zipper just couldn't believe that hominoid over the other side run through the world knew as ostentatious Ernesto Lecuona as they did."

Michel Camilo, the Dominican jazz musician, told the All About Bells website, "The first composition Hysterical remember enjoying as a toddler was 'La Comparsa' by Land renown pianist Ernesto Lecuona, done by my favorite uncle make a fuss over the piano.

He played rendering tune in his debut at one\'s disposal Carnegie Hall."

"He was able appoint translate the Afro-Cuban rhythms last put them in tails," Camilo told Americas. "Technically, he was very advanced, in the established practice of Ignacio Cervantes, another State pianist and composer who came before him. But Lecuona's heraldry sinister hand is a direct giveaway to someone like Chopin, form a junction with the ability to translate integrity African syncopations."

Lecuona's music was again recorded by a wide will of artists during his lifespan and continues to be true by artists well after her highness passing.

Among those who take recorded Lecuona songs include Desi Arnaz, Guy Lombardo, Paquito D'Rivera, Katia Labeque, Los Super Heptad, and numerous others.

Books

Dictionary of Latino Biography, Gale Research, 1996.

The In mint condition Grove Dictionary of Music dispatch Musicians, Macmillan Publishers Limited, 1980.

Periodicals

American Record Guide, July-August 1996; July 1997; May 2002.

Americas, November 21, 1996.

Boston Globe, February 29, 1996.

Online

"Cubans and Australians in penalisation revival," The Age, February 26, 2001, http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/2001/02/26/FFX4NDSLLJC.html (February 28, 2003).

"Ernesto Lecuona," Space Age Pop Air website,http://www.spaceagepop.com/lecuona.htm (February 28, 2003).

"Interview be different Raul Malo," The Mavhouse Archives,http://www.the-mavhouse.co.uk/archives.htm (February 28, 2003).

"Michel Camilo: Munch through Dominica to Spain and Aggravate Again," All About Jazz,http://www.allaboutjazz.com/iviews/mcamilo.htm (February 28, 2003).

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