Danzón
The danzón is a dance that developed from the French contredanse , which in turn emerged from the English country dance in the 17th century. During the uprising against the French colonial power in Haiti in 1791 , many black farm workers fled to the neighboring island of Cuba and brought the music and their associated dances with them (e.g. the minuet , the Rigodón and the Lanzeros).
The Danzón in Cuba
In the middle of the 19th century this developed into "Danza", an elegant salon music. It was played in charangas , which resemble a classical European orchestra: violins , violas , cellos , double bass and flute . The European timpani were replaced by the Creole timbales . As another rhythm holder who came Güiro , a hollowed-out gourd with notches on the back and is hergeschrappt and the Tumbadora added (also known as congas ).
A more rhythmic variant emerged in Danzón towards the end of the 19th century: in 1879 the first Danzón appeared with Las Alturas de Simpson by Miguel Failde . The composer named it after the Barrio Simpson in his hometown of Matanzas . In the “orquestas danzoneras”, the piano , clarinet , trumpet , trombone , ophicleide and the bombardino (a kind of euphonium / small tuba ) were increasingly included.
The movements in danzón are calm, elegant and expressive, similar to tango . Typical of the Danzón is its four-part division in the rondo according to the AB-AC-AD-AE scheme, whereby after the introduction (A), which is then repeated over and over as a refrain , an expansion of up to three different topics can follow (BCD) that quote well-known melodies from songs, hymns, operas and then vary them, which makes the Danzón very versatile. The end of the piece usually culminates in a slightly accelerated and lively finale (E), the Montuno .
But in colonial Cuba dance was also subject to ethnicity. The Danzón was reserved for the white upper class and at home in Havana's exclusive private clubs . It was only at the end of the twenties that the black population increasingly picked it up and developed it into a more and more syncopated style of music . Especially after the Cuban Revolution , the danzón has increasingly lost its importance in Cuba. The last orchestra that remained loyal to him (and did not switch to Cha-Cha-Cha like most others in the early 1950s ) is that of Antonio María Romeu (1876–1955), which was directed by his son after his death and appeared under the name of his longtime singer Barbarito Diez (1909-1995).
The most famous Cuban danzón is Almendra by Abelardo Validez. Conjuntos musicales cubanos of the present, which are still dedicated to the Danzón, are Orquesta Aragón and La Orquesta de Rodrigo Prats .
The Danzón in Mexico
Danzón, on the other hand, is still highly valued in Mexico today . At the beginning of the 20th century it came to Yucatán and Veracruz , where Cuban emigrants increasingly fled from the unrest over independence from Spain , the Spanish-American War and the subsequent hegemonic rule of the USA . In 1920 the Danzón finally reached Mexico City , where the "Salón México" was founded, by far the most famous dance salon in the Danzón.
The Danzón was not only enthusiastically received in Mexico, it was also developed further by numerous Mexican composers, arrangers and orchestras. The saxophone found its way into the dance orchestras that played at the popular Danzón dance competitions. The best known Mexican danzón is Nereidas by Amador Pérez Torres from Oaxaca (see also the film Ustedes los ricos , 1948).
The major centers of Danzón are now in Veracruz (in the Barrio La Guaca, especially between Calle Manuel Doblado and 1 ° de Mayo) and Mexico City (Salón México, Salón California, Salón Los Ángeles). Numerous films and plays testify to its popularity, which stems from the fact that the dance partners in dance were able to overcome belonging to their respective social class.
Even in modern Latin Ska , the Danzón is often quoted in Mexico, for example by the Los de Abajo group .
