Ernesto Lecuona
Ernesto Sixto de la Asunción Lecuona Casado (born August 6, 1895 in Guanabacoa , Cuba ; † November 29, 1963 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife , Tenerife , Canary Islands ) was one of the most important Cuban composers and musicians of the 20th century and was often called "Cuban Gershwin " called.
Life
Ernesto Lecuona, son of the Canarian journalist Ernesto Lecuona Ramos, learned to play the piano from his sister Ernestina (1882–1951), who was herself a well-known composer and piano teacher. He was a child prodigy and began performing publicly as a pianist at the age of five. At the age of 11 he published his first composition. He studied piano, orchestration and conducting at the Conservatory in Havana . In the early 20s he briefly studied with Ravel in Paris.
Lecuona founded the Palau Brothers Cuban Orchestra, which he later renamed the Lecuona Cuban Boys. The group had great success in the US and Europe in the 1930s and 1940s. She also appeared in the early sound film Cuban Love Song . In 1960 he left Cuba and lived in New York City , Tampa and Tallahassee . He is buried in the Gates of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne in Westchester County , New York. The Amsterdam-based Cuban jazz pianist Ramón Valle brought and brings the European jazz audience closer to Lecuona's compositions live and on the 2002 album Danza Negra - Ramón Valle Plays Ernesto Lecuona .
Ernesto Lecuona was the cousin of Margarita Lecuona 's father . The Cuban singer and composer used to call him "uncle".
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He wrote works of various genres, including cantatas and piano pieces, but he became known for his songs: he composed more than 400 melodies.
With La Malagueña he created one of the most famous songs in Latin American music and performed it in 1927 at the Roxy Theater in New York. The Suite Andalucía (also Suite Española ), in which the Malagueña reappears, is from 1930. The Breeze and I is based on the piece Andalucía from the same suite. The title became one of the greatest successes of the singer Caterina Valente .
His Siboney (1929) was also one of the most famous Latin American songs and was recorded by various artists. This was followed by: Maria My Own (María la O, 1932); Para Vigo Me Voy (Say Si Si); La Comparsa; Dust on the moon; Jungle drums; Always in My Heart.
Other works:
Cuba y America (1909); Danzas Cubanas (1911); Vals del Rhin (1912); Suite Española (1928); El Batey (1929); Rosa la China (1932); Rapsodia Negra (1943); El sombrero de Yarey (Opera).
Filmography
Lecuona was also one of the leading composers of early talkies and wrote the music for the following films, among others:
- Under Cuban Skies (1931)
- Free Soul (1931)
- Susana Lenox (1931)
- Pearl Harbor
- La cruz y la espada (The Cross and The Sword; directed by Frank Strayer and Miguel de Zárraga, 1934)
- Always in My Heart (1942)
- One More Tomorrow (1946)
- Carnival in Costa Rica (1947)
- María la O (Mexican film)
- Adiós, Buenos Aires (Argentine film)
- La última melodía (Cuban film)
Individual evidence
- ↑ AllMusic Guide Andalucía, suite for piano (Suite Española) ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed November 25, 2007
Web links
- Ernesto Lecuona in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Works by and about Ernesto Lecuona in the catalog of the German National Library
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Lecuona, Ernesto |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Sixto de la Asunción Lecuona Casado, Ernesto |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Cuban composer and musician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 6, 1895 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Guanabacoa , Cuba |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 29, 1963 |
| Place of death | Santa Cruz de Tenerife , Tenerife , Canary Islands |