Nueva Trova

La Nueva Trova Cubana is a musical genre that originated in Cuba in the mid- 1960s , but only found an organized form under this name in 1973. The Movimiento de la Nueva Trova organization disbanded in 1986 , while the genre of music persists in various forms. The name was formed from the traditional collective term for folk singer Trova (derived from the troubadours of the Middle Ages) with the addition "New", which can be translated as New Troubadours . The Nueva Trova combines traditional elements of Cuban folk music with other musical styles and is strongly determined by its political and poetic texts, which means that it is mainly spread in the Spanish-speaking world.

Similar to the Nueva canción in Chile , the songwriting movement in Europe or the protest singers in the USA , the Nueva Trova dealt with the issues that the youth of the 1960s and 1970s perceived as their themes: Vietnam War , imperialism , poverty . But there were also many songs that expressed personal experiences and feelings, including very poetic love songs .

The most important representatives of the Nueva Trova include Silvio Rodríguez , Pablo Milanés , Carlos Varela and Vicente Feliú .

In Puerto Rico , the same trend with singers like Roy Brown , Andrés Jiménez , Antonio Caban Vale and Haciendo Punto en Otro Son developed in parallel and partly in contact with the Cuban Nueva Trova .

chronology

1965

Pablo Milanés composes the song Mis 22 años (My 22 Years), which stands out for its new musical elements and which is known through the interpretation of Elena Burke .

1967

Silvio Rodríguez has a performance with young poets and the singer Teresita Fernández . In the same year he starts directing a television program called Mientras tanto ... (Meanwhile ...).

In August the 1st International Meeting of the Protest Song takes place in Havana , organized by the Casa de las Américas cultural center .

1968-1969

In February, Casa de las Américas made contact with Pablo Milanés, Silvio Rodríguez and Noel Nicola to organize a concert of the protest song . At the end of the event, the singers present, Vicente Feliú, Eduardo Ramos and Martín Rojas, were called on stage to perform their own songs. During the year Casa de las Américas organizes various similar events at which other musicians perform. For the first time, the Spanish singer Paco Ibáñez takes part as a representative of the Nueva Canción .

Because of their common interests, an exchange between the young musicians takes place in the Casa de las Américas. You get in touch with intellectuals and singers from Latin America who have similar goals.

The group from Havana establishes new contacts with singers from other cities in Cuba such as Augusto Blanca in Santiago de Cuba , Miguel Escalona in Camagüey etc.

Ascertainable are influences of the Beatles , the baroque music, Spanish and other European popular music and African music. There is also an approach to the traditional Cuban trova and influences from the American folk song ( Bob Dylan ).

The young Cuban singers establish contact with artists in other countries, such as Paco Ibáñez in Spain, Daniel Viglietti in Uruguay , Atahualpa Yupanqui in Argentina and Violeta Parra in Chile .

With the recording of an extended play for the center for protest music of the Casa de las Américas, Pablo Milanés, Silvio Rodríguez and Noel Nicola initiate what will later be called the Nueva Trova .

Songs are created for the theater and for short documentaries.

There are a number of personal or group appearances, mostly in Hubert de Blank's chamber plays , in the Museum of Fine Arts and in the auditorium of the University of Havana.

1969

In June the group for sound experiments ( Grupo de Experimentación Sonora ) of the ICAIC (the Cuban Film Institute) is founded. In this way, the vocal and instrumental repertoire is broadened, new techniques and new styles of music are included, such as the beat or Brazilian pop music . The group was founded at the suggestion of Alfredo Guevara (Director of the ICAIC) and Haydée Santamaría (Director of the Casa de las Américas ), with Leo Brouwer as Director.

As an act of solidarity, the US artist Barbara Dane publishes a long-playing record with the group's first recordings for sound experiments at the ICAIC under her record label Paredón .

1969-1971

New music groups such as Moncada , Manguaré etc. emerge. There is a predominant tendency towards Andean music and there are close contacts to the Nueva Canción from Chile .

The organizers of the Cuban Troubadour Festival in Santiago de Cuba invite the “young troubadours” to contribute to their record editions this year and in the next.

1972

In December, the first meeting of the “Young Troubadours” takes place in Manzanillo in the province of Oriente . The organizer is the Union of Communist Youth of Cuba, UJC. It was decided to found an organization that would provide a framework for young artists, both professional and amateur artists who belong to this direction.

First tours abroad take place, namely to the GDR , Chile and Italy . Pablo Milanés, Silvio Rodríguez, Noel Nicola, Augusto Blanca and Eduardo Ramos take part in them.

1973

The second national meeting of the young troubadours is called the meeting of the Nueva Trova by its organizers , which is how the name movement of the Nueva Trova was created, which united the most diverse forms and musical styles of its members.

1974

The first long-playing record with songs by Silvio Rodríguez appears: Días y flores ( Days and Flowers ).

A new group of singers appear on the scene, later called the "intermediate generation" of the Nueva Trova . They include Amaury Pérez , Alejandro García ( Virulo ), Ángel Quintero and Alfredo Carol .

Little by little, members leave the ICAIC's clay experiment group , which eventually disintegrates.

1978-1979

A new generation of Nueva Trova emerged, which later received the name Generación de los topos , along with other names : Santiago Feliú , Donato Poveda , Alberto Tosca , Carlos Varela, Frank Delgado , Gerardo Alfonso u. a.

1980

The international success of the Nueva Trova begins with the tours of Pablo Milanés and Silvio Rodríguez to Mexico , Argentina and Spain .

1980-1990

If the 1970s can be described as the years of the development of the Nueva Trova , the 1980s are the years of international success and anchoring in Cuban culture.

In 1986 the organization Movement of Nueva Trova officially dissolved, 13 years after it was founded. Since many understood the organization and the music genre as synonyms , there is some confusion at first.

Little by little , a new generation of troubadours and music groups emerged, later referred to as La Novísima ( The Latest ). Many artists of this generation were unable to make a living from their art during the Cuban economic crisis in 1993 and decided to emigrate . Most of them still maintain the connection with Cuba, and even if they have often turned to the Latino rock and pop scene, their origins from the Nueva Trova are still musically unmistakable: David Torrens , Ihosvani Caballero ( Vanito ) , Pável Urquiza u. a.

1995

A new generation of troubadours with their own musical accents emerges. First of all, the associated musicians call themselves Novísimos ( The very latest ), but are then known as De la rosa y de la espina ( About the rose and its thorn ), according to a poster that Alfredo Rostgard wrote in 1967 for 1. Meeting of the protest song for the Casa de las Américas had created.

1999-2002

With the series of events A Guitarra Limpia ( With the guitar in hand ), the cultural center Pablo de la Torriente Brau has succeeded in bringing singers of all generations and styles together, so that one can speak of a revival of the Trova movement.

Related genres

Web links

Trovacub.net - Nueva Trova Cubana