Cuban Flute Style: Interpretation and ImprovisationRichard Egües and José Fajardo are universally regarded as the leading exponents of charanga flute playing, an improvisatory style that crystallized in 1950s Cuba with the rise of the mambo and the chachachá. Despite the commercial success of their recordings with Orquesta Aragón and Fajardo y sus Estrellas and their influence not only on Cuban flute players but also on other Latin dance musicians, no in-depth analytical study of their flute solos exists. In Cuban Flute Style: Interpretation and Improvisation, Sue Miller—music historian, charanga flute player, and former student of Richard Egües—examines the early-twentieth-century decorative style of flute playing in the Cuban danzón and its links with the later soloistic style of the 1950s as exemplified by Fajardo and Egües. Transcriptions and analyses of recorded performances demonstrate the characteristic elements of the style as well as the styles of individual players. A combination of musicological analysis and ethnomusicological fieldwork reveals the polyrhythmic and melodic aspects of the Cuban flute style, with commentary from flutists Richard Egües, Joaquín Oliveros, Polo Tamayo, Eddy Zervigón, and other renowned players. Miller also covers techniques for flutists seeking to learn the style—including altissimo fingerings for the Boehm flute and fingerings for the five-key charanga flute—as well as guidance on articulation, phrasing, repertoire, practicing improvisation, and working with recordings. Cuban Flute Style will appeal to those working in the fields of Cuban music, improvisation, music analysis, ethnomusicology, performance and performance practice, popular music, and cultural theory. |
Contents
Chapter 1 The Cuban Charanga
| 1 |
Chapter 2 Charanga Flute Performance Techniques
| 29 |
Chapter 3 The Early TwentiethCentury Florear Style
| 65 |
Chapter 4 Que Suene la Flauta Richard
| 99 |
Chapter 5 La Flauta de José
| 131 |
Chapter 6 The Thieving Magpie
| 165 |
Chapter 7 Learning the Style
| 193 |
Chapter 8 Individual Style within the Charanga Típica
| 215 |
Conclusion Oye Se Acabó
| 245 |
Appendix A Glossary
| 249 |
Appendix B Sample Scores
| 263 |
291 | |
299 | |
303 | |
About the Author
| 325 |
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Common terms and phrases
Afro-Cuban Antonio Arcaño Arcaño arpeggio articulation band bass Bodeguero Boehm-system flute Cachita call and response CD re-issue chachachá chapter Charanga del Norte charanga flautists charanga flute players charanga flute style charanga orquestas charanga típica chord classical clave composed congas contradanza Copyright Sue Miller coro cross-rhythms Cuba Cuban charanga Cuban flute Cuban music Cuban popular danzón Díaz Doña Olga Eddy Zervigón Eduardo Rubio Egües and Fajardo embellishment Estrellas example Figure fingerings five-key flute Flauta de José flautists florear flute solos guajira güiro Havana Iconografía Iconografia del Danzón Interview jazz Joaquín Oliveros José Antonio José Fajardo later line-up llamada mambo Mambrú Maravillas melodic decoration melody montuno section motif Música Cubana musicians notes nuevo ritmo octave Orquesta América Orquesta Aragón orquesta típica paseo Pereira performance phrases Polo Tamayo recordings repertoire rhythm rhythmic Richard Egües Rodríguez Domínguez Romeu rubato Santería sequences Sue Miller timbales tonic tradition triplet Tulou Valdés vibrato violins virtuosic Whilst