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Famelia Valera Candela - Cana Quema (RHYTHM & METRE (Metre (SQLC: 2/2…
Famelia Valera Candela - Cana Quema
CONTEXT
Familia Valera Miranda
family group of traditional musicians from East Cuba
During 19th century
subsistence farmers
ardent nationalist who fought for Cuba's freedom against Spanish colonists
one of the most celebrated groups in the area
discovered by Cuban musicologist Danilo Orozco
found fame through appearance on one of his recordings
Do?
Write a Cuban
son
successfully merge different musical cultures
what counts as success? Using a range of elements? Taking the "best" of each culture?
a fusion of European/Spanish model with Latin American (incl. Afrian influences) music
reflect text / singer's feelings
Typical?
Cuban music
History
During 19th century, African slaves brought to Cuba by Spanish colonists
cheap manual labour for growing sugar industry
fusion of West African & European (mostly Spanish) influences
features of Cuban music:
Clave
rhythm made up of 1/2 bar patterns produced by different instruments
repeats & forms metronomical pulse for piece
rhythmic foundation
different clave patterns associated w/ different styles & dances
layered texture reminiscent of African drumming
Forward claves
3 note bar followed by 2 note bar
Reverse claves: 2,3
Guajeo
ostinato melody
often consists of arpeggiated chords in sync. patterns
Descarja
jam sessions, featuring improv.
both set works were created in this manner
Cuban styles
Habanera
song characterised by dotted rhythms
WL:
Bizet Habañera from Carmen
Debussy: Éstampes no.2 (set work)
Also Debussy Prélude (... La puerta del Vino)
was perceived as Spanish dance although originally from Cuba
Bolero
slow, sentimental Cuban song/dance in duple/quadruple time
Spanish bolero in triple time
often chromatic harmonies
originated in 19th century
at first 2 16-bar sections
separated by guitar instrumental
Bolero-son
became popular dance in Cuba
underlying dance rhythm associated w/ rumba
Son
genre from eastern-Cuba amongst Spanish-descendent farmers
fusion of Spanish and African musical elements
1920, became important part of Cuba's national identity.
originally solely vocal call & response
when it began to be used at dances, chordal accompaniment instruments added
traditionally concerned w/ love & patriotism
more recently have become socially & politically orientated
Western-African influences:
syncopated, layered rhythms
percussion section
claves
bongos
congas
coro-pregon structure (call & response)
'pregon' - lead singer
1 more item...
'coro' - chorus
3 more items...
European/Spanish influence:
functional & limited chords
strophic structure
Latin American percussion
Spanish metrical patterns
decima lyrics (ten lines)
octosyllabic verses
stringed instruments
guitar
double bass
cuatro
4 more items...
other characteristics:
anticipation bass
bass pulse played before down beat
clave patterns
duple metre
instrumental passage breaking up strophic structure
Cana Quema
guitar, cuatro, claves, double bass, bongos & maracas
each instrument has fixed role & plays same pattern throughout
except for some improvised elaborations
Se quema la chumbamba
story from Valera family's history
tells story of when a plot of land caught fire
when the owner rushes out to tell his busy wife, she is not interested at all
Alla va candela
story concerning agitation of one of the members falling deliriously in love
STRUCTURE
both are sons
Se quema la chumbamba
son montuno
name may refer to origins in mountainous region of eastern Cuba
characteristics
fast tempo
semi-improvisation
repetitive refrain
brash instrumental climax
son characteristics in piece:
call and response structure
duple metre
3-2 clave pattern
harmonically restricted to mostly tonic & dominant chords
cuatro solo breaks up strophic format
verse based upon Spanish metrical patterns
structure
instrumental intro presents guajeo
verse 2
verse 3 (no 'candela' intro)
call and response between prego and coro
cuatro solo
coro refrain
verse 4
coda
verse 1
alternations between 8 pregon verses and 8 coro refrains. Interrupted by cuatro solo between verse 3 & 4
Alla va candela
Bolero
cuatro guajeo intro
vocal A
vocal B
vocal C
Son
tutti vocal refrain
cuatro guajeo link
cuatro & bongo solo
cuatro link
tutti vocal refrain
vocal C
Tutti vocal refrain (w/ solo vocal improv.)
INSTRUMENTATION
Voice
Pregon/solo male
SQLC: limited range of minor 6th
AVC: wide range of 12th in bolero. More restricted in son
Coro/chorus
SQLC: limited range (together span a minor 9th. Sing in 3rds, 6ths, dim. 5ths & perfect 4ths
AVC: restricted to 8ve 'Es'
Stringed instruments
cuatro
SQLC:
plays guajeo as intro then accompaniment
melodic lines & chords
solo covers wide range, using slides & chords
AVC:
plays 2 different guejos, one for each section
guitar
syncopated, accompaniment block chords using either 4 or 6 notes
double bass
pizz. line w/ limited notes, mostly from dominant & tonic chords
Percussion
maracas
SQLC: quaver, quaver, crotchet rhythm throughout
AVC: continuous quaver pattern
bongos
play repeated pattern, more adventurous during solo
SQLC: continuous semiquavers in 'clave'
AVC: rhythm made up of quavers & crotchets in 'clave'
claves
SQLC: outlines the 2-3 clave pattern
AVC: outlines 3:2 clave rhythm
TEXTURE
monophonic cuatro opening
mel-dom-hom although rhythmic polyphony between different parts
guitar provides chordal accompaniment
backing vocals sing in 2-part homophony
MELODY
balanced phrases
SQLC: 2-bar phrasing
AVC: vocal refrain us 2-bar repeated phrases
guajeo melody
SQLC: ascending & triadic melody which moves down in sequence
AVC:
1 - ascending & descendiing sync. triadic shape. A similar melody is taken on by soloist
2 - larger intervals (descending 6th) & notes outside of the harmony (C#)
lead vocalist melody
SQLC: built on first 6 notes of Gm scale. Narrative phrases begin on dominant but have more speech-like quality (more syllables in the same amount of space)
AVC:
Candela refrain - starts on dominant & ends on repeated tonic notes
Vocal A: rising & falling triadic shape w/ repeated interval of 4th
Vocal B: appears only once. Lower tessitura w/ exception of occasional 5th
Vocal C: wide range, ascending octave in first phrase then descends back to starting not
Refrain: simple repetition of notes in E major & B major triad
coro melody
SQLC: generally start on median or supertonic
AVC: repeated E's in 8ves
cuatro solo
SQLC: wider range w/ all notes of Gm harmonic scale. Additional chromatic notes, broken dom 7th patterns & leaps of minor 9ths
AVC: melodically flexible. Triadic & stepwise shapes w/ some larger leaps, ALL NOTES OF CHROMATIC SCALE, ornamentation
TONALITY & HARMONY
both stay in tonic w/ no modulation
SQLC: Gm
AVC: E major
limited chords in son
SQLC: vocal sections only use tonic & dominant in 4 bar pattern
AVC: only I & V7 chords
some harmonic enrichment
SQLC: frequent Ebs over D7 (creates dom. 9th)
AVC: frequent use of sub-mediant
Bolero chords (AVC)
wider range of chords
tonic & dominant varied with chord IV and V/V
cuatro solo
SQLC: wide range of chords w/ sliding parallel octaves & false relations
AVC: wide range used w/ chromatic inflections & extensions
RHYTHM & METRE
Metre
SQLC: 2/2 but sync/ sometimes disguises first beat
AVC: Bolero (medium tempo & Son (faster tempo) in 2/2
clave rhythm
SQLC: rhythms fit to 3:2 clave rhythm
AVC: rhythms fit to 2:3 clave rhythm. Occasionally reverses w/ sections of irregular lengths
sync. in vocal line
SQLC: verses begin on second crotchet. 3 straight crotchets anchor rhythm at end
AVC: vocal line sync/ throughout. Creates cross-rhythms
anticipation bass
cuatro solo
SQLC: varied rhythmic divisions
sync. quavers
triplet crotchets
cross-rhythms
AVC: rhythmically complex
sync.
triplets
hemiola figures
rapid quaver passages
bass line
SQLC: simple crotchets in 2nd half of bar
AVC:
Bolero - 'square rhythm' - minim, 2 crotchets
more syncopated in son