| Bolero | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | 1880s,Santiago de Cuba,Cuba |
| Derivative forms | Bachata |
| Fusion genres | |
| Regional scenes | |
| |
| Bolero: identity, emotion and poetry turned into song | |
|---|---|
| Country | Cuba andMexico |
| Reference | 01990 |
| Region | Latin America and the Caribbean |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 2023 (18th session) |
| List | Representative |
Bolero is a genre ofsong which originated ineastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of thetrova tradition. Unrelated to the olderSpanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It has been called the "quintessential Latin American romantic song of the twentieth century".[1]
Unlike the simpler, thematically diversecanción, bolero did not stem directly from the European lyrical tradition, which included Italianopera andcanzone, popular in urban centers like Havana at the time. Instead, it was born as a form of romantic folk poetry cultivated by a new breed oftroubadour fromSantiago de Cuba, thetrovadores.[1]Pepe Sánchez is considered the father of this movement and the author of the first bolero, "Tristezas", written in 1883.[2] Originally, boleros were sung by individualtrovadores while playingguitar. Over time, it became common for trovadores to play in groups asdúos,tríos,cuartetos, etc. Thanks to theTrío Matamoros and, later,Trío Los Panchos, bolero achieved widespread popularity in Latin America, the United States and Spain. At the same time, Havana had become a fertile ground where bolero composers met to create compositions and improvise new tunes; it was the so-calledfilin movement, which derived its name from the English word "feeling". Many of the genre's most enduring pieces were written then and popularized in radio and cabaret performances by singers such asOlga Guillot andElena Burke, backed by orchestras and big bands.[3]
Boleros are generally in4
4 time and, musically, compositions and arrangements might take a variety of forms. This flexibility has enabled boleros to feature in the repertoire of Cubanson andrumba ensembles, as well as Spanishcopla andflamenco singers, since the early 20th century. Occasionally, boleros have been merged with other forms to yield new subgenres, such as the bolero-son, popular in the 1930s and 1940s, and the bolero-cha, popular in the 1950s. In the United States, therhumba ballroom dance emerged as an adaptation of the bolero-son in the 1930s. Boleros can also be found in theAfrican rumba repertoire of many artists fromKinshasa toDakar, due to the many bolero records that were distributed to radios there as part of theG.V. Series.
The popularity of the genre has also been felt as far as Vietnam, where it became a fashionable song style inSouth Vietnam before theFall of Saigon in 1975 and remains popular with the Vietnamese.
InCuba, the bolero was perhaps the first great Cuban musical and vocal synthesis to win universal recognition.[4] In2
4 time, this dance music spread to other countries, leaving behind what Ed Morales has called the "most popular lyric tradition in Latin America."[5]
The Cuban bolero tradition originated inSantiago de Cuba in the last quarter of the 19th century;[6] it does not owe its origin to the Spanish music and song of the same name. In the 19th century there grew up in Santiago de Cuba a group of itinerant musicians who moved around earning their living by singing and playing the guitar.
Pepe Sanchez is known as the father of thetrova style and the creator of the Cuban bolero. Untrained, but with remarkable natural talent, he composed numbers in his head and never wrote them down. As a result, most of these numbers are now lost, but two dozen or so survive because friends and students wrote them down. He was the model and teacher for the great trovadores who followed.[7][8]
The bolero first spread from the east of Cuba to the Dominican Republic in the year 1895, thanks totrovadorSindo Garay, who had previously brought the criolla "La Dorila" to Cuba, giving rise to a lasting interchange of lyrical styles between both islands.[9] In the early 20th century the bolero reached Puerto Rico and Mexico, where it was popularized by the first radio stations around 1915.[9] In Mexico, the genre became an essential component of the thrivingtrova yucateca movement inYucatán alongside other Cuban forms such as the clave. It leading exponent wasGuty Cárdenas.[1]
By the 1930s, whenTrío Matamoros made famous their mix of bolero andson cubano known asbolero-son, the genre was a staple of the musical repertoire of most Latin American countries.[10] In Spain, Cuban bolero was incorporated into the copla repertoire with added elements fromAndalusian music, giving rise to the so-calledbolero moruno, made famous by composers such asCarmelo Larrea and Quintero, León y Quiroga.[11]
Some of the bolero's leading composers have come from nearby countries, as in the case of the prolificPuerto Rican composerRafael Hernández and the Mexican composers:Juan Gabriel,Agustín Lara andMaría Grever. Some Cuban composers of the bolero are primarily considered trovadores.[12][13][14][15] Several lyric tenors also contributed to the popularization of the bolero throughout North and South America during the 1930s and the 1940s through live concerts and performances on international radio networks such asLa Cadena de las Americas.[16][17][18][19] Included in this group were the Mexican operatic tenors:Juan Arvizu[20][21][22][23] andNestor Mesta Chayres.[24][25][26] Their collaborations in New York City with such musicians asAlfredo Antonini,Terig Tucci,Elsa Miranda andJohn Serry Sr. on theCBS radio showViva América also introduced the bolero to millions of listeners throughout the United States.[27] Also noteworthy during the 1940s and 1950s were the performances ofTrio Los Panchos, which featured the artistry of musicians from Mexico and Puerto Rico including:Chucho Navarro,Alfredo Gil Hernando Avilés and Miguel Poventud.[28][29] Boleros saw a resurgence in popularity during the 1990s when Mexican singerLuis Miguel was credited for reviving interest in the bolero genre following the releaseRomance.[30]
José Loyola comments that the frequent fusions of the bolero with other Cuban rhythms is one of the reasons it has been so fertile for such a long period of time:
This adaptability was largely achieved by dispensing with limitations in format or instrumentation, and by an increase in syncopation (so producing a more afrocuban sound). Examples would be:
The lyrics of the bolero can be found throughout popular music, especially Latin dance music.
Bolero music has also spread toVietnam. In the 1930s, the nation grew fond of modern music, which combined Western elements with traditional music. Vietnamese bolero is generally slower tempo compared to Hispanic bolero, and is similar in style toJapaneseenka andKoreantrot.[32] Such music was romantic, expressing concepts of feelings, love, and life in a poetic language;[33] this predisposition was hated byViet Minh, who strived towards shaping the working class at the time.[34]
This genre became colloquially known asyellow music, in opposition to thenhạc đỏ (red music) endorsed by the Communist government ofHanoi during the era of theVietnam War. As a result ofNorth Vietnam winning the war, the music was banned in 1975. Those caught listening toyellow music would be punished, and their music confiscated. After theFall of Saigon, many Vietnamese migrated to the United States, taking their music with them. The ban was lightened in 1986, when love songs could be written again, but by then the music industry was killed.[34]
The government of Vietnam also prohibited the sale ofoverseas Vietnamese music, including variety shows likeAsia andParis by Night. In recent years however, bolero had grown popular again, as more overseas singers performed in Vietnam. Additionally, singing competition television series likeBoléro Idol have grown popular, with singers performing songs, including songs formerly banned.[34]
A version of the Cuban bolero is danced throughout theLatin dance world (supervised by theWorld Dance Council) under the misnomer "rumba", often spelled "rhumba". This came about in the early 1930s when a simple overall term was needed to market Cuban music to audiences unfamiliar with the various Cuban musical terms. The famous "Peanut Vendor", actually a son-pregón, was so labelled, and the label stuck for other types of Cuban music.[35][36]
In Cuba, the bolero is usually written in2
4 time, elsewhere often4
4. The tempo for dance is about 120 beats per minute. The music has a gentle Cuban rhythm related to a slowson, which is the reason it may be best described as a bolero-son. Like some other Cuban dances, there are three steps to four beats, with the first step of a figure on the second beat, not the first. Theslow (over the two beats four and one) is executed with a hip movement over the standing foot, with no foot-flick.[37]
The dance known as bolero is one of thecompetition dances inAmerican Rhythm ballroom dance category. The first step is typically taken on the first beat, held during the second beat with two more steps falling on beats three and four (cued as "slow-quick-quick"). In competitive dance the music is in4
4 time and will range between 96 and 104 bpm. This dance is quite different from the other American Rhythm dances in that it not only requirescuban motion butrises and falls such as found inwaltz andcontra body movement.[38] Popular music for this dance style need not be Latin in origin. Lists of music used in competitions for American Rhythm Bolero are available.[39]
Bolero Việt Nam rất chậm.
