The bowed string instruments have been always present in Cuba since its discovery, first as the viol or bowed vihuela and at a later time as the Italian violin. As other instruments and the culture in general, also the violin enjoyed in Cuba a period of great relevance during the 19th century. The violin was part of the instrumental ensembles that accompanied the Contradance and the Dance, the first Cuban musical genres, as well as other subsequent genres as the Danzón and the Cha cha cha. The violin also intoned some of the most beautiful melodies composed in Cuba, such as "La Bella Cubana" by José White. At all times, the Cuban violinists have been prominent representatives of the Cuban music throughout the entire world.
Early history of the violin in Cuba
We can find a representation of the bowed strings family in Cuba's history since a very early stage, because during the 16th century a musician from the Ville of Trinidad, named Juan Ortiz, is mentioned by the chronicler Bernal Díaz del Castillo as a "great performer of "vihuela" and "viola" (viol). The Renaissance viol is the direct ancestor of the modern Italian violins, which began to become popular since the 16th century.
There is documentation during the 18th century about the utilization of the violin in the musical activity of the Island. Alejo Carpentier mentions in his book "La Música en Cuba" the existence of a family composed by musicians that established their residence in the city of Santiago de Cuba, about the first half of the century.
The founder of the family, violinist Leonardo González Abreu (1706), was born in the Canary Islands, Spain, and was married to a local harpist named Bernarda Rodríguez Rojas, along which he raised an entire family dedicated to the music activity for several generations.
On February 8, 1764, Esteban Salas y Castro, the new Chapel Master, arrived at the Santiago de Cuba Cathedral. To fulfill his musical duties, Salas counted with a small vocal-instrumental group that included two violins.
After the arrival in Santiago de Cuba, in 1793, of numerous colonists who fled from the slave revolt in Saint Domingue, Karl Rischer and Madame Clarais, having brought with them a clavichord, founded an orchestra with flute, oboe, clarinet, trumpet, three horns, three violins, viola, two violoncellos and percussion.
Also during the second half of the 18th century, violinist Ramón Menéndez earned great reputation and the respect of the new generations of musicians; for that reason he was called "The Master" (El Maestro). He was a professor of many renowned performers, such as Tomás Buelta y Flores and Secundino Arango.
19th century
During the transition from the 18th to the 19th centuries, the Havanese Ulpiano Estrada (1777–1847) offered violin lessons and conducted the Teatro Principal orchestra from 1817 to 1820. Apart from his activity as a violinist, Estrada kept a very active musical career as a conductor of numerous orchestras, bands and operas, and composing many contradanzas and other dance pieces, such as minuets and valses. Similarly to Estrada and approximately during the same time period, José Mercedes Betancourt (17?-1866) developed an active career as violinist and professor, as well as conductor and composer, but this time in the city of Camagüey. Aldo Joaquín Gavira (1780–1880) was also a prominent violinist and professor in Havana. José Vandergutch, Belgian violinist, arrived at Havana along with his father Juan and brother Francisco, also violinists. They returned at a later time to Belgium, but José established his permanent residence in Havana, where he acquired great recognition. Vandergutch offered numerous concerts as a soloist and accompanied by several orchestras, around the mid-19th century. He was a member of the Classical Music Association and also a director of The "Asociación Musical de Socorro Mutuo de La Habana." Another important violinist from the first half of the 19th century was Secundino Arango. A disciple of Ramón Menéndez, he served as an organist in the La Merced Church. Arango composed many danzas and guarachas, as well as religious music, motets and salves. Near the end of his life he worked as an organist at the San Francisco Convent in Guanabacoa, Havana. José White dedicated his last study, from a series of six to Secundino Arango, thus highlighting with his homage the renown acquired by this Havanese musician during his lifetime.
During the 19th century, within the universe of the classical Cuban violin, there were two outstanding masters that were considered among the greatest violin virtuosos of all times; they were José White Lafitte and Claudio Brindis de Salas Garrido.
After receiving his first musical instruction from his father, the virtuoso Cuban violinist José White Lafitte (1835–1918) offered his first concert in Matanzas on 21 March 1854. In that presentation he was accompanied by the famous American pianist and composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk, whom encouraged him to further his musical instruction in Paris, and also collected funds for that purpose.Josephine Wright, "Violinist José White in Paris, 1855-1875", in Black Music Research Journal, Vol. 10, No. 2, Fall 1990. José White studied musical composition in the Conservatoire de Paris from 1855 to 1871. Just ten months after his arrival he received the First prize in the violin category on the Conservatorie's contest and was highly praised by Gioachino Rossini. At a later time he was a professor of the renowned violinists George Enescu and Jacques Thibaud. From 1877 to 1889, White was appointed as director of the Imperial Conservatory in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, where he also served as court musician of the Emperor Pedro II.Miguel Ficher, et al., Latin American Classical Composers, Scarecrow Press, 1996, p. 373 At a later time he returned to Paris, where he stayed until his death. The famous violin named "Swan's song" was his preferred instrument and his most famous composition is the Habanera "La bella cubana". White also composed many other pieces, including a concert for violin and orchestra.
Claudio Brindis de Salas Garrido (1852–1911) was a renowned Cuban violinist, son of the also famous violinist, double-bassist and conductor Claudio Brindis de Salas (1800–1972), which conducted one of the most popular orchestras of Havana during the first half of the 19th century, named "La Concha de Oro" (The Golden Conch). Claudio José surpassed the fame and expertise of his father and came to acquire international recognition.Orovio, Helio 1981. Diccionario de la música cubana. La Habana. p60Guillén, Nicolás 1935. Brindis de Salas: el rey de las octavas. La Habana.Giro, Radamés 2007. Diccionario encyclopédico de la música en Cuba. vol 1, La Havana. p161 Brindis de Salas began his musical studies with his father and continued with Maestros José Redondo and the Belgian José Vandergutch. He offered his first concert in Havana in 1863, in which Vandegutch participated as accompanist. The famous pianist and composer Ignacio Cervantes also participated in that event. According with the contemporary critique, Brindis de Salas was considered one of the most outstanding violinists of his time at an international level. Alejo Carpentier referred to him as: "The most outstanding black violinist from the 19th century... something without any precedent in the musical history of the continent...".Carpentier, Alejo 2001 . Music in Cuba. Minneapolis MN. p162 The French government named him member of the Légion d'Honneur, and gave him a nobility title of "Baron". In Buenos Aires he received a genuine Stradivarius, and while living in Berlin he married a German lady, was named Chamber Musician of the Emperor and received an honorary citizenship from that country. Brindis de Salas died poor and forgotten in 1911 from tuberculosis, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In 1930 his remains were transferred to Havana with great honors.
Another outstanding Cuban violinist from the 19th century was Rafael Díaz Albertini (1857–1928). He studied violin with José Vndergutch and Anselmo López (1841–1858), well known Havanese violinist that was dedicated also to music publishing. In 1870, Albertini travelled to Paris with the purpose of perfecting his technique with famous violinist Jean-Delphin Alard, and in 1875 received first prize in the Paris Contest, in which he subsequently participated as a Juror. He toured extensively through the world, accompanied some times by prestigious Masters such as Hugo Wolf and Camille Saint-Saëns. In 1894 he made presentations, along with Ignacion Cervantes, through the most important cities of Cuba.
A list of prominent Cuban violinist from the second half of the 19th century and the first of the 20th may include: Manuel Muñoz Cedeño (1813– ), José Domingo Bousquet (1823– ), Carlos Anckermann (1829–1909), Antonio Figueroa (1852– ), Ramón Figueroa (1862– ), Juan Torroella (1874– ), Casimiro Zertucha (1871–1960), Joaquín Molina (1884– ), Marta de La Torre (1888– ), Catalino Arjona (1895– ) and Diego Bonilla (1898– ).
20th century
During the first half of the 20th century the name of Amadeo Roldán stands out (1900–1939), because apart from an excellent violinist, professor and conductor, Roldán is considered one of the most important Cuban composers of all times. He was born in Paris from a Spanish father and a Cuban mother. At a later time he travelled to Cuba, obtained its citizenship, and studied with his mother, pianist Albertina Gades. Afterwards he went to the "Conservatorio de Música y Recitación" in Madrid, Spain, where he studied violin with Agustín Soler and Antonio Fernández Bordas.
In 1917 Roldán received the Sarasate violin award and began working in the Madrid Symphony Orchestra as a violinist. He also offered concerts in several Spanish cities. In 1919 Roldán travelled to Cuba, where began working as a professor, and subsequently, in 1922, he joined the Havana Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Pedro Sanjuán. In 1926, he organized together with Alejo Carpentier a series of concerts of contemporary Cuban music, and next year participated as first violin in the Havana String Quartet, along with famous composer Joaquín Turina. In 1931, he founded with the pianist César Pérez Sentenat the Havana "Escuela Normal de Música" and was named conductor of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Havana. Roldán was also director of the Havana Municipal Conservatory, that still bears his name.
Alberto Mateu (1903-1972) was born in Guanabacoa, Havana, and studied violin at Conservatorio Mateu, from which his father was founder and director. At a later time, Mateu travelled to Brussels, where he continued his musical studies. He offered concerts in several European cities, as well as in Cuba, where he appeared as a soloist and also accompanied by the Philharmonic Orchestra of Havana. He performed in the United States and became a U.S. citizen and lived in Chicago.
After his graduation at the Conservatoire de Paris in 1935 with just 16 years old, the renowned Cuban violinist Ángel Reyes (1919–1988) developed a very successful career as a soloist and also accompanied by prestigious orchestras of many countries. He established his residence in the United States at a very young age, obtained an award in the Ysaÿe Contest in Brussels and was a professor at the Michigan and Northwestern Universities, until his retirement in 1985. Reyes was the owner the famous violin Lipinsky Stradivarius, with which he performed the Glazunov violin concert along with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Havana, conducted by Massimo Freccia, in November 1942. He also performed the same piece with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy. Reyes also obtained a violin from Carlo Bergonzi, known as the "Kreisler Bergonzi", previously owned by Fritz Kreisler and at a later time by Itzhak Perlman.