Ernesto Lecuona

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Ernesto Lecuona


1935

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Ernesto Lecuona y Casado (August 6, 1895 Guanabacoa, Havana, Cuba - November 29, 1963 Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain) was a Cuban composer and pianist of Canarian father and Cuban mother, and worldwide fame. He composed over six hundred pieces, mostly in the Cuban vein, and was a pianist of exceptional quality.

Biography
Lecuona started early studying piano under his sister Ernestina, a famed composer in her own right. He later studied at the Peyrellade Conservatoire under Antonio Saavedra and the famous Joaquin Nin. Lecuona graduated from the National Conservatory of Havana with a Gold Medal for interpretation when he was sixteen. And he performed outside of Cuba at the Aeolian Hall (New York) in 1916.


Ernesto Lecuona: dedicated to Gonzalo RoigHe first travelled to Spain in 1924 on a concert tour with violinist Maria de la Torre; his successful piano recitals in 1928 at Paris coincided with a rise in interest in Cuban music.

He was a prolific composer of songs and music for stage and film. His works consisted of zarzuela, Afro-Cuban and Cuban rhythms, suites and many songs which are still very famous. They include Siboney (Canto Siboney), Malagueña and The Breeze And I (Andalucía). In 1942, his great hit, Always in my heart (Siempre en mi Corazon) was nominated for an Oscar for Best Song; however, it lost to White Christmas. Lecuona was a master of the symphonic form and conducted the Ernesto Lecuona Symphonic Orchestra. The Orchestra performed in the Cuban Liberation Day Concert at Carnegie Hall on October 10, 1943. The concert included the world premiere of Lecuona's Black Rhapsody. Lecuona gave help and the use of his name to the popular touring group, the Lecuona Cuban Boys, though he did not play as a member of the band. He did sometimes play piano solos as the first item on the bill.

In 1960, thoroughly unhappy with Castro's new regime, Lecuona moved to Tampa. Lecuona lived his final years in the US. He died 3 years later at Santa Cruz de Tenerife at age 68, and is interred at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York 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 (who, contrary to popular folk lore, did not write the song).

Selected Compositions

For piano
Suite Andalucía
Córdova/Córdoba
Andalucia/Andaluza
Alhambra
Gitanerías
Guadalquivir
Malagueña
San Francisco El Grande
Ante El Escorial
Zambra Gitana
Aragonesa
Granada
Valencia Mora
Aragón

The grave of Ernesto Lecuona in Gate of Heaven Cemetery Waltz
Si menor (Rococó)
La bemol
Apasionado
Crisantemo
Vals Azul
Maravilloso
Romántico
Poético

Others
Ahí viene el chino
Al fin te vi
Amorosa
Andar
Aquí está
Arabesque
Bell Flower
Benilde
Burlesca
Canto del guajiro
Cajita de música
Como el arrullo de palma
Como baila el muñeco
Dame tu amor
Danza de los Ñáñigos
Danza Lucumí
Diario de un niño
Ella y yo
¡Echate 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
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 glissado
Melancolía
Mientras yo comía maullaba el gato
Mis tristezas
Muñequita
Negra Mercé
Negrita
¡No hables más!
No me olvides
No puedo contigo
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
Tú serás
Tres miniaturas
¡Y la negra bailaba!
¡Y sigue la lloviznita!
Yo soy así
Yumurí
Zapateo y guajira
Zenaida