Ernesto Lecuona

Ernesto Lecuona y Casado (; August 7, 1896 – November 29, 1963)

In the 1930s, he helped establish a popular band, the Lecuona Cuban Boys, which showcased some of his most successful pieces and was later taken over by Armando Oréfiche. In the 1950s, Lecuona recorded several LPs, including solo piano albums for RCA Victor. He moved to the United States after the 1959 Cuban Revolution, and died in Spain in 1963.

Early years

Lecuona was born in Guanabacoa, Havana, Cuba, Kingdom of Spain, to a Cuban mother and a Canarian father. There are inconsistencies surrounding his birthdate, with some sources indicating the year 1895, and others still giving the day as August 6. He started studying piano at the age of five, He later studied at the Peyrellade Conservatoire under Antonio Saavedra and Joaquín Nin. Lecuona graduated from the National Conservatory of Havana with a gold medal for interpretation when he was 17 years old. The entire musical score of the film Carnival in Costa Rica was penned by Lecuona. He was interred at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York, but his will instructed that his remains be repatriated after the Cuban régime changes. A great deal of Lecuona's music was first introduced to mass American audiences by Desi Arnaz, a fellow Cuban and Lucille Ball's spouse.

Lecuona's talent for composition has influenced the Latin American world in a way quite similar to George Gershwin in the United States, in his case raising Cuban music to classical status.

Ernesto and Ernestina's cousin Margarita Lecuona was another accomplished musician and composer. She was the author of the song "Babalú", made popular in the Latin American world by Miguelito Valdés, and in the United States by Desi Arnaz.

Selected compositions

For piano

Ante El Escorial
Aragón
Aragonesa
San Francisco El Grande
Siboney
Suite Andalucía
Córdoba
Andalucía
Alhambra
Gitanerías
Guadalquivir
Malagueña
Valencia Mora
Zambra Gitana

Waltz

Apasionado
Crisantemo
La bemol
Maravilloso
Poético
Romántico
Si menor (Rococó)
Vals Azul

Others

Afro-Cuban suite
Ahí viene el chino
Al fin te vi
Amorosa
Andar
Aquí está
Arabesque
Bell Flower
Benilde
Burlesca
Canto del guajiro
Cajita de música
Como arrullo de palmas
Como baila el muñeco
Dame tu amor
Danza de los Ñáñigos
Danza Lucumí
Diario de un niño
Ella y yo
¡Échate pa'llá María!
El batey
El miriñaque
El sombrero de yarey
El tanguito de Mamá (también llamada A la Antigua)
En tres por cuatro
Eres tú el amor
Futurista
Gonzalo, ¡no bailes más!
Impromptu
Jungle Drums
La 32
La primera en la frente
La Comparsa
La conga de medianoche
La habanera
La danza interrumpida
La mulata
La negra Lucumí
La Cardenense
Los Minstrels
Lola Cruz
Lola está de fiesta
Lloraba en sueños
Mazurka en glissando
Melancolía
Mientras yo comía maullaba el gato
Mis tristezas
María la O
Muneca de Cristal
Muñequita
Negra Mercé
Negrita
¡No hables más!
No me olvides
No puedo contigo
Noche Azul
Orquídeas
Pensaba en ti
Polichinela
¿Por qué te vas?
Preludio en la noche
¡Que risa me da! Mi abuela bailaba así
Rapsodia Negra
Rosa, la china
Siempre en mi corazon
Tú serás
Tres miniaturas
¡Y la negra bailaba!
¡Y sigue la lloviznita!
Yo soy así
Yumurí
Zapateo y guajira
Zenaida

Recordings

Lecuona Interpreta A Lecuona (RCA Victor, 1955, reissued in 1986 as Virtuoso), Lecuana performing on the piano
Lecuona Plays for Two (RCA Victor, 1955), Lecuana performing on the piano

References

External links

Songwriters Hall of Fame
Piano Rolls (The Reproducing Piano Roll Foundation)
Villaverde, Christina, Cinco Canciones con Versos de Juana de Ibarbourou: The Art Song Style Of Ernesto Lecuona (2011). Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations. Paper 5249.
Ernesto Lecuona recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings