AOS 5 Familia Valera Miranda

Question 1

Describe the style of the musical style of these songs

Answer 1

Cuban Son: fusion of musical elements from the Spanish and Africans;
West Africa: syncopated, layered rhythms, call and response and the use of percussion instruments that developed from African models.
European styles come from the use of functional (if limited) chords, as well as the use of guitar, cuatro, and double bass

Question 2

Describe what Se quema la cumbambà is about

Answer 2

About an incident in the family’s history where a piece of land caught fire

Question 3

Describe what Alla vá candela is about

Answer 3

The song is concerned with the intense joys of love

Question 4

Describe the performing forces and playing techniques in these set works

Answer 4

All male vocal group with pregón and coro;
Vocal setting is syllabic;
Cuatro plays short repeated pattern called guajeo, and also solos which are adventurous, covering a wide range with slides and chords, as well as individual notes;
Guitar plays a chordal accompaniment role, with syncopated block chords;
Double bass plays a line with only a small amount of notes, mostly from the dominant and tonic chords;
The percussion section is typical Latin America style, with improvised bongo rhythms, continuous maracas quavers, and clavé rhythms

Question 5

Describe the structure of Se Quema la chumbambá

Answer 5

Four bar cuatro introduction. Often regular eight bar pregón and eight bar unvaried coro. Lengthy cuatro solo, ending with a bongo solo provides variety, before a coda like ending, based off of the Coro

Question 6

Describe the structure of Alla vá candela

Answer 6

A bolero followed by a son