Music

Mambo - Rumba - Salsa - Son

The people of Cuba include descendants of the Spaniards (and some other Europeans) and the Africans who were brought as slaves. After a while, some aspects of the music and dance of these groups of people mixed together and some aspects stayed original.

The indigenous peoples of Cuba, after living there many thousands of years, died soon after the arrival of the Spanish, either from diseases, to which they had no immunity or from mass suicide when forced into working for the Spanish in the mining industry. Chinese workers also came to Cuba in the late 1800s, but they did not blend culturally with other people in Cuba at the time.

There is not a lot of information about the music from Cuba before the year 1800. Though it is known that early Cubans played wooden and conch shell trumpets, hollow wooden drums, flutes and shakers.

When the Spaniards came to colonize Cuba in the 1500s, they brought with them European art music. Early Catholic church music in Cuba was documented. There is evidence of music for choirs and organ, with the occasional addition of string instruments. In the early 1800s, symphonies and operas were performed in churches.

Robredo Manuel Saumell (1817–1870) wrote dance pieces for piano that paved the way for classical concert music in Cuba. The development of Cuban art music followed that of Europe into the twentieth century, through many different styles, except that Afro-Cuban rhythms and percussion instruments were added. Some notable Cuban twentieth-century classical composers include Catalonia-born José Ardévol (1911–1981), Argeliers León (born 1918), who was also an ethnomusicologist and Aurelio de la Vega (born 1925). Afro-Cuban religious music has provided a way for Africans to retain traces of life in their ancestral home. Santería, the largest Afro-Cuban religion, mixes Yoruban spirituality with Catholicism. Music and dance are very important to the ceremonies of Santería, since followers believe they are the only means of contacting ancestors. Sacred drums of Santería are called batá.

Today, popular Cuban music and dance styles include salsa, son, rumba, mambo, and cha-cha-cha. The instruments used include the claves, maracas, guiro, thumb piano (like the African mbira), and cowbell, as well as various drums, including bongos and a large conga. Some European-style instruments may also be used. In Cuban music, a special rhythm played on the claves (called the clave rhythm) sets the tempo and maintains it.