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Cha-cha-cha (music)
Encyclopedia
The Cha-cha-chá is a style of Cuban music
. It is popular dance music which developed from the danzón
in the early 1950s.
, then violinist and songwriter with the charanga
band Orquesta América
. (Orovio 1981:130)
As to how the cha-cha-chá came about, Jorrín said:
From its inception, cha-cha-chá music had a symbiotic relationship with the steps that the dancing public created to the new sound.
; but with a novel structural conception: introduction-verse-bridge-coda in double time."
However, he notes that, "Incomprehensibly, Jorrín and his imitators did not maintain this structural formula in later compositions, so strictly speaking, we can say that 'La Engañadora' was the only cha-cha-chá based on this novel idea."
Olavo Alén (1994:87-8) emphasizes the inheritance that the cha-cha-chá received from the danzón:
Although the rhythm originated with Orquesta América
, writers including Santos (1982) consider the Orquesta Aragón
of Rafael Lay and Richard Egűes, and the orchestra of José Fajardo to have been particularly influential in the development of the cha-cha-chá. The coincidental emergence of television and 33⅓ RPM LP discs were significant factors in the sudden international popularity of the music and dance of the cha-cha-chá. (Santos 1982). The cha-cha-chá was first presented to the public through the medium of the charanga
, a typical Cuban dance band format made up of a flute, strings, piano, bass and percussion. The popularity of the cha-cha-chá also revived the popularity of this kind of orchestra (Alén 1994:87).
Music of Cuba
The Caribbean island of Cuba has developed a wide range of creolized musical styles, based on its cultural origins in Europe and Africa. Since the 19th century its music has been hugely popular and influential throughout the world...
. It is popular dance music which developed from the danzón
Danzón
Danzón is the official dance of Cuba. It is also an active musical form in Mexico and is still beloved in Puerto Rico where Verdeluz, a modern danzón by Puerto Rican composer Antonio Cabán Vale is considered the unofficial national anthem...
in the early 1950s.
Origin
As a dance music genre, cha-cha-chá is unusual in that its creation can be attributed to a single composer, Enrique JorrínEnrique Jorrín
Enrique Jorrín was a Cuban composer, violinist and band director. He is famous as the inventor of a style of Cuban dance music called cha-cha-chá.-Biography:...
, then violinist and songwriter with the charanga
Charanga
Charanga is a term given to traditional ensembles of Cuban dance music. They made Cuban dance music popular in the 1940s and their music consisted of heavily son-influenced material, performed on European instruments such as violin and flute by a Charanga orchestra....
band Orquesta América
Orquesta América
Orquesta América is a Cuban then later Californian latin band or charanga orchestra.The band was founded in 1942 by singer Ninón Mondéjar with Alex Sosa , Enrique Jorrín, Antonio Sánchez, and Félix Guerra , Juan Ramos and others. Mondéjar and Sosa went to Mexico, then later revived Orquesta...
. (Orovio 1981:130)
As to how the cha-cha-chá came about, Jorrín said:
"I composed some danzones in which the musicians of the orchestra were singing short refrains. The audiences liked it, so I kept it up. In the danzónDanzónDanzón is the official dance of Cuba. It is also an active musical form in Mexico and is still beloved in Puerto Rico where Verdeluz, a modern danzón by Puerto Rican composer Antonio Cabán Vale is considered the unofficial national anthem...
'Constancia,' I inserted some well-known montunosMontunoMontuno has several meanings pertaining to Cuban music and its derivatives. Literally, montuno means 'comes from the mountain', and so Son montuno may refer to the older type of son played in the mountainous rural areas of Oriente...
and when the audience joined in singing the refrains; it led me to compose more danzones in this style. I asked all the members of the orchestra to sing in unison. This accomplished three things: the lyrics were heard more clearly and had greater impact and also the [poor] vocal quality of the [instrumental] musicians (who were not actually singers) was masked. In 1948, I changed the style of 'Nunca,' a Mexican song by Guty de Cárdenas. I left the first part in the original style and I gave a different feeling to the melody in the second part. I liked it so well that I decided to separate the last part, that is to say, the third trio or montuno, from the danzón. Then I came up with pieces like 'La Engañadora' (1951), which had an introduction, a part A (repeated), a part B, a return to part A and finally, a coda in the form of a rumba. From nearly the beginning of my career as a composer of dance songs, I watched how the dancers danced the danzón-mamboDanzón-mamboThe danzón-mambo is a sub-genre of Cuban dance music that represents, among other things, a transition from the classical danzόn to the cha-cha-chá...
. I noted that most of them had difficulty with syncopated rhythms, owing to the fact that their steps fell on the upbeat (contratiempo), or in other words, the second and fourth eighth notes of the (2/4) measure. The dancers dancing on the upbeat and the syncopated melodies made it very difficult to coordinate the steps with the music. I began to compose melodies to which one could dance without instrumental accompaniment, trying to use as little syncopation as possible. I moved the accent from the fourth eighth note- where it was normally found in the mambo- to the first beat of the cha-cha-chá. And so the cha-cha-chá was born- from melodies that were practically danceable by themselves and a balance between melodies on the downbeat and the upbeat." (Orovio 1981:130-2)
From its inception, cha-cha-chá music had a symbiotic relationship with the steps that the dancing public created to the new sound.
"What Jorrín composed, by his own admission, were nothing but creatively modified danzones. The well-known name came into being with the help of the dancers [of the Silver Star Club in Havana], when, in inventing the dance that was coupled to the rhythm, it was discovered that their feet were making a peculiar sound as they grazed the floor on three successive beats: cha-cha-chá, and from this sound was born, by onomatopeia, the name that caused people all around the world to want to move their feet..." (Sanchez-Coll 2006)
Characteristics
Odilio Urfé (1994:72) describes the cha-cha-chá as follows: "...monodic choral vocal style with accents from the chotis madrileño [see Spanish Wikipedia article "Chotis"] and rhythmic elements from the mambo-style danzónDanzón-mambo
The danzón-mambo is a sub-genre of Cuban dance music that represents, among other things, a transition from the classical danzόn to the cha-cha-chá...
; but with a novel structural conception: introduction-verse-bridge-coda in double time."
However, he notes that, "Incomprehensibly, Jorrín and his imitators did not maintain this structural formula in later compositions, so strictly speaking, we can say that 'La Engañadora' was the only cha-cha-chá based on this novel idea."
Olavo Alén (1994:87-8) emphasizes the inheritance that the cha-cha-chá received from the danzón:
"Actually, the cha-cha-chá appears to be a variant of the danzón. The former maintains a structure very similar to that of the danzón, since, in spite of dispensing with the rondoRondoRondo, and its French equivalent rondeau, is a word that has been used in music in a number of ways, most often in reference to a musical form, but also to a character-type that is distinct from the form...
form [of the danzón], it does so only by an internal transformation of the melodic and rhythmic elements used in the composition of each of its sections. Also, in the cha-cha-chá, the interpretative function of the flute is retained. That is to say, its role as a soloist and the characteristics of its manner of improvisation in the danzón reappear in the cha-cha-chá with hardly any alteration.
Another important debt that the cha-cha-chá owes to the danzón is the allocation of timbres in its instrumentation. The melodies of the violins alternate with those of the flute and those of the voices in the way that had become standardized in the danzón and the danzonete.
The principal element that differentiates the cha-cha-chá from the danzón is the rhythmic cell that gives its name to the genre. Cha-cha-chá is an onomatopoeic representation of two rapid beats followed by a longer (two eighth notes followed by a quarter note).
It is also significant that the cha-cha-chá abandons the elements from the sonSon (music)The Son cubano is a style of music that originated in Cuba and gained worldwide popularity in the 1930s. Son combines the structure and elements of Spanish canción and the Spanish guitar with African rhythms and percussion instruments of Bantu and Arará origin...
that had been incorporated into the danzonete and returns to the strict utilization of elements of musical style that arose and were developed in the context of the danzón family of musical genres."
Later developments
"During the 1950s, cha-cha-chá maintained its popularity thanks to the efforts of many Cuban composers who were familiar with the technique of composing danzones and who unleashed their creativity on the cha-cha-chá. Such was the case with Rosendo Ruiz, [Jr.] (above all for "Los Marcianos" and "Rico Vacilón"), Félix Reina ("Dime Chinita," "Como Bailan Cha-cha-chá los Mexicanos"), Richard EgűesRichard EgüesRichard Egües nicknamed "la flauta magica" , was a Cuban flautist and musician, on of the country's most famous artists. Egües was a member of the Orquesta Aragón band which he joined in 1953...
("El Bodeguero" and "La Cantina") and Rafael Lay ("Cero Codazos, Cero Cabezazos")."(Alén 1994:88)
Although the rhythm originated with Orquesta América
Orquesta América
Orquesta América is a Cuban then later Californian latin band or charanga orchestra.The band was founded in 1942 by singer Ninón Mondéjar with Alex Sosa , Enrique Jorrín, Antonio Sánchez, and Félix Guerra , Juan Ramos and others. Mondéjar and Sosa went to Mexico, then later revived Orquesta...
, writers including Santos (1982) consider the Orquesta Aragón
Orquesta Aragón
Orquesta Aragón was formed on 30 September 1939, by Orestes Aragón Cantero in Cienfuegos, Cuba. The band originally had the name Ritmica 39, then Ritmica Aragón before settling on its final form. Though they did not create the Cha-cha-cha, they were arguably the best charanga in Cuba during 1950s...
of Rafael Lay and Richard Egűes, and the orchestra of José Fajardo to have been particularly influential in the development of the cha-cha-chá. The coincidental emergence of television and 33⅓ RPM LP discs were significant factors in the sudden international popularity of the music and dance of the cha-cha-chá. (Santos 1982). The cha-cha-chá was first presented to the public through the medium of the charanga
Charanga
Charanga is a term given to traditional ensembles of Cuban dance music. They made Cuban dance music popular in the 1940s and their music consisted of heavily son-influenced material, performed on European instruments such as violin and flute by a Charanga orchestra....
, a typical Cuban dance band format made up of a flute, strings, piano, bass and percussion. The popularity of the cha-cha-chá also revived the popularity of this kind of orchestra (Alén 1994:87).
See also
- Cha-cha-cha (dance)Cha-cha-cha (dance)The Cha-cha-cha is the name of a dance of Cuban origin.It is danced to the music of the same name introduced by Cuban composer and violinist Enrique Jorrín in 1953...
- Cha-cha-chá (Cuban dance)
- Enrique JorrínEnrique JorrínEnrique Jorrín was a Cuban composer, violinist and band director. He is famous as the inventor of a style of Cuban dance music called cha-cha-chá.-Biography:...
Discography
- Orquesta Enrique Jorrín; "Todo Chachacha"; Egrem CD-0044
- Johnny Pacheco; "Early Rhythms"; Musical Productions MP-3162 CD
- Various orchestras; "El chachachá me encanta"; Egrem CD-0503