by RAMONA WADI
Political upheaval in Cuba, from the struggles for Cuban independence to the triumph of the Cuban revolution on January 1, 1959 resulted in the Nueva Trova – a form of music which derived inspiration from Fidel Castro’s revolution, but retained a personal expression on social issues. Singer Vicente Feliú , a founder of the Nueva Trova along with Silvio Rodriguez and Pablo Milanes, discusses the origin of the Nueva Trova, the influence of the Cuban revolution and responsibility towards Cuban society and other countries facing repression, as well as the aesthetics of Cuban revolutionary song.
Ramona Wadi: How did the Nueva Trova Movement originate?
Vicente Feliú: In the mid 19th century Cubans were strongly developing the notion of independence from Spain. In 1851, three young friends composed a song called La Bayamesa, referring to the city of Bayamo where these three friends were born and raised. Years later, on October 10 1868, these men rose against the Spanish rule. A battalion led by Carlos Manuel de Cespedes declared the Republic of Cuba in Arms and hastened to the mountains, where they freed the slaves who quickly joined the insurrection. The other two men were Rafael Castillo and Jose Fornaris. On January 12 1869, unable to continue defending Bayamo and pondering the potential fall into enemy hands, the people of Bayamo decided to set fire to the city. The lady to whom the song was dedicated – Luz Vasquez; Castillo’s wife, was amongst the first to set fire to the city. The Nueva Trova Cubana was born in those days, entwined within the struggle for Cuban independence.
Until 1898, three successive wars were fought for Cuban independence from Spanish colonialism. All Cuban troubadours of those years, without exception, were linked to the struggle of Cuban independence; many of them with arms in their hands and a guitar or three slung over their backs. Some of these early Nueva Trova singers fell in battle.
The Cuban independence was hijacked by the nascent US imperialism and during the first five decades of the 20th century the Cuban Nueva Trova musicians continued their chants for homeland and sovereignty. The 1959 revolution defeated the US backed Batista regime and Cubans embraced their new reality which spread throughout the country. In the mid 1960s young people from all parts of the country started composing songs based on their individual experiences which, suddenly and without prior coordination, became a collective memory. When in 1972 it was decided to form the Nueva Trova movement, it gained momentum throughout the country because, for the first time, there was a new reality and because we were the great Trova foundation of the Cuban song.
Upside Down World for more