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Leo Brouwer: A Portrait of the Artist in Socialist CubaAuthor(s): Paul CenturySource: Latin American Music Review / Revista de Música Latinoamericana, Vol. 8, No. 2(Autumn - Winter, 1987), pp. 151-171Published by: University of Texas PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/780096

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Paul

Century

Leo

Brouwer:

A

Portrait

of

the Artist in Socialist Cuba

Leo

Brouwer-guitarist, composer,

con-

ductor,

teacher,

and

essayist-figures prominently among

the

most active

living

Cuban

musicians

today. Regarded

worldwide

as one

of

the fore-

most

living composer/guitarists,1

Brouwer

has

contributed

an

essential

component

to the

guitar's repertoire,

with

many

of

his

works

serving

as

fundamental

pedagogical

mainstays

of the classical

guitarist's

curricu-

lum.

A

prolific composer,

Brouwer's

compositions, apart

from

the

guitar

genre,

include

orchestral

and chamber

works,

instrumental

concerti,

ballet and theater

scores,

and film

music

in

styles representing

his

native

Cuban

heritage, avant-garde

art

music,

and

popular jazz-rock

idioms.2

Today

at

the

age

of

forty-eight,

Brouwer

remains in

post-revolutionary

Cuba

to

work within the Marxist

political

structure. He holds

a

number

of influential and

prestigious positions

in

the

Cuban

musical world.

Since 1964 he has headed the Music Division of

the Cuban

Film In-

stitute

(ICAIC),

and he has served as

the

Cuban

representative

on the

International Music Council of UNESCO since 1980. Brouwer is

also

currently

a

musical

advisor to

the Cuban minister of culture and artistic

director of the

Havana

Symphony.

Brouwer travels

frequently

outside

Cuba in

multiple

artistic roles. His

appearances

as

a

conductor

of

his

own music as well as the

standard

orchestra

repertoire

are

becoming

more

common,

notably

with the

BBC

and

Toronto

symphonies.

Brouwer is also

responsible

for

providing

artistic direction

and

pedagogical guidance

at

many

of

the

top-ranking

guitar

festivals

such as the World Festival

of Guitar

in

Martinique,

the

Toronto

Guitar

Festival,

and festivals

in

France,

Belgium,

Finland,

Hungary, Germany, and Japan.

Aside from his

substantial

administrative

duties and

pedagogical

activ-

ities,

Brouwer sustains

a

busy

schedule

composing

for

film,

theater,

ballet,

and instrumental ensembles. He

is

at

present engaged

in

prepara-

tory

work for his

first

opera,

a

"romantic"

story

set

in

Cuba

during

the

early

decades of this

century. Significant

among

the

larger

of

Brouwer's



152

: Paul

Century

recent

compositions

are

two

guitar

concertos

and Cancion

de

Gestafor

wind orchestra.

Brouwer shares a common cultural background with a Cuban com-

poser

better

known to

the

American

public,

Aurelio

de la

Vega.

De

la

Vega

himself has commented on their

mutual

heritage,

noting

that al-

though

he

chooses to reside

in

California and Brouwer in

Cuba,

it is

their

culture,

isolated from

any

political

issues,

which binds

them

to-

gether.

For both

composers

there was an initial

impulse

to

transcend

the

physical

limits of their

island.

Each

felt

the

necessity

to confront the

pre-

vailing

issues of

composition

in

America

and

Europe,

and it was

in

an

international context that

their Cuban

folk

affinity

was manifested.

Ronald Erin's insightful article on de la Vega (LAMR 15, no. 1) pro-

vides not

only

a

satisfying

historical

background

to

any

discussion of

contemporary

Cuban

composers

but also introduces

a

necessary analyti-

cal

approach

to an

understanding

of how a Latin American

composer

incorporates

his folk

music

heritage

into his

personal

musical

language.

I

refer the reader to

Erin's

introductory

paragraphs

on nationalism

and

the

requisite

"cultural

identity"

which

Erin

explores

with de la

Vega.

What

I

present

here

is more

of

a

"portrait"

of

Brouwer than

a

lengthy

technical discussion

of

his

compositions.

An

understanding

of

the

man

and his

philosophies precedes analysis,

a

task reserved

for

a

later

article.

As

Brouwer

himself

has

emphasized,

the total world

surrounding

the

composer

is essential to

a

complete appreciation

of

his

music,

and it is

to

this end that

these

pages

are

offered.

Musical

Background

Brouwer

began studying

the

guitar

at the

age

of

thirteen,

first with

his

father

and later

with

renowned Cuban

guitarist

Isaac

Nicola.

At

the

same

time he

began

the

study

of

painting,

which he

gave

up

after

a

number of

years

to devote himself

entirely

to music.

Essentially

self-

taught

as

a

composer,

Brouwer's

first

compositions

came at the

age

of

fifteen.

Shortly

after he

experienced

what

might

be termed

a

"moment

of

epiphany";

this

"mystical"

event marks the

point

when Brouwer

realized

the

primary

direction his life as

a

creative

artist

would

take:

There was

something

magical, magical

for

me,

I

have

to

declare it to

you.

The first time I was composing(but really composing, not joking), my

mind

changed

entirely,

in

such

a

way,

and in

such

a

speed,

that

probably

in

24

hours,

for

the first time in

my

life,

I

changed my

entire

scope-of

the

world,

of the

environment,

of

man

in

the earth.

I

got

a dimension of

everything

that

I

never had

before

. . .

This

is

something very personal:

immediately

I

realized

the

esthetics,

the

world of

creation,

good

taste,

all



Leo

Brouwer.

A

Portrait

of

the

Artist

in

Socialist

Cuba : 153

these

words that

signify

tremendous

things

. .

.I

experienced

these

all in

one

stroke,

one

flash.3

Brouwer devoured the

existing

literature for

guitar

with

great

rapidity:

"[I

saw]

. .

. like a

panorama,

a

'fast-motion,'

all

the

repertoire

of

the

guitar,

all

the

composers,

the

ones

I

liked,

the ones

I

disliked,

and

then

I

started

composing."4

Brouwer

explains:

Where was the Bart6k

of

guitar?

There was no Bart6k

of

guitar

...

Where

was the

Concerto

for Cembalo

and

Instruments

[sic]

that

de Falla

did?

.

.

.

There was no Octet

like

Stravinsky's,

no Danse

Sacree

nd

Danse

Profane

f

Debussy

for

harp

and

strings

. . . all

this

music was

a

discovery

for me

? . . and I said, I'm going to compose for guitar and strings, I did Danzas

Concertantes. . 5

As a

young

guitarist

in the 1950s with

an

open

mind

for

contem-

porary

music,

Brouwer

was,

in

effect,

filling

for

himself

a

gap

in

the

guitar

repertoire.

But

it

was not

only

the

guitar

which

attracted

him

compositionally;

Brouwer was

aware of

the

need to further

his

knowl-

edge

of other instruments

as

well. He

developed

compositional discipline

by writing

solo sonatas

for

many

other

instruments,

avoiding

the

guitar.6

Brouwer's

earliest

compositional

efforts

as

a

teenager

exhibit

a

strong

flavor of his own native Cuban-folk

heritage.7

At the same

time,

with

such works

as the

Suite

#2

and

Fuga

No.

1,

a

concern

for formal

unity

and traditional

musical

craftsmanship

is

evident. Brouwer

demonstrates

clever

contrapuntal

skill in

Fuga

No.

1,

investing

both

the

subject

and

countersubject

with

a

syncopated

Latin

rhythm. Study

#5

from

the

early

Simple

Studies

exhibits the

characteristic montuno

rhythm

of Cuba.

The

first

of half a dozen works

for

guitar

and

orchestra,

Brouwer's

Tres Danzas Concertantes

represent

a

step

into

the twentieth

century

for

the

modern

guitarist.

While the

ever-popular

Conciertode

Aranjuez

of

Joaquin

Rodrigo

remains

an idiomatic

expression

of

Spanish

tradition,

Brouwer's

youthful

concerto

explores

the

domain

of

quartal

harmony

and subtle

textural

development.

Brouwer

received his

only

formal

musical

training

in

1959-60

with

Vincent

Persichetti

at

the

Juillard

School

and Isador Freed

at

the Hartt

School

of Music.

Stylistically,

the

works

immediately following

Brouwer's

initial

period

of

study

do

not differ

substantially

from the earlier

works,

although

his

compositional

technique

shows

the benefits of his studies.

Brouwer admits that the later style was guided by a greater intellectual

understanding

of

compositional

practices

in

contemporary

music.8

His

music also became

more skilled

and well crafted

than

previously.

Of

interest

is

Elogio

de la

Danza,

which

presents

rich

harmonies with wide

timbral

changes.

A

significant

event

for

Brouwer's

musical

development

was his

atten-



(.:

10oo)

=8

Ir3

=r-

X

-

.

I

n7i

son00or

wfV

marcato

'^'

-

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1

--iL

?

i

--s'

p

0

0

Lr

&SrCr g}.

1^:o

Ex.

1.

Fuga

No.

1,

measures

1-12.

(?1972

by

Editions

Max

Eschig.

Used

by

permission.)

Allegretlo

C(montuno)

3V

4

3\

3[

1

I

I

_

m

(sn

mle)

on

~

p

onoro

cO>r

-

-

T

r

2

T

^J

Ex. 2.

Simple

Studies,

#5,

measures

1-8.

(?1972

by

Editions

Max Eschig.

Used

by

permission.)

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V/aI.

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I-a'*8)

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A_,

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Ex. 3.

Tres Danzas

Concertantes,

hird

movement,

measures

1-12.

(?1959

by Verlag

Neue Musik. Used

by

permission.)

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Ex.

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23



Leo

Brouwer:

A

Portrait

of

the Artist

in

Socialist Cuba

:

157

Lento

(J=44-46)

p

I

m

J

- --3--

r

r

.

-

.

r-

iO.

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dvbr.

,

p

p

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r0sc

- . -

m

pc

2

'"0'

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/

8tpo

Molot

3onOro

(rubato)

Ex. 4. Elogio de la Danza, measures 1-7.

(?B.

Schott's

Soehne, Meinz,

1972.

All

rights

reserved. Used

by per-

mission of

European

American Music Distributors

Corporation,

sole

U.S.

Agent

for

B. Schott's

Soehne.)

dance at

the

Warsaw Autumn Music

Festival

in

1961,

where he heard

performances

of

Lutoslawski'

s

Jeux

Vinitien,

Stockhausen'

s

Zyklus,

and

Penderecki's

Threnody

o the Victims

of

Hiroshima. He

writes of

his

ex-

periences

at

the

festival and the

subsequent

significance

for Cuban

com-

posers

of the music

performed

in Warsaw in the

essay

"The Avant-

Garde

in

Cuban Music."9

Following

his

return

from

the

Warsaw

festival,

Brouwer

became an

active

and influential

figure

both

musically

and

in

his

ideological

stance.

He

accepted

a

position

as

professor

of

harmony,

counterpoint,

and

com-

position

at

the Conservatorio Amadeo

Roldan

in

1961,

where he was

responsible

for

inspiring

a

new

generation

of

ost-revoltionotuionary

Cuban

music

students.

He also

provided

guidance

for

popular

music

performers

and

composers, assisting

them with

musical

training

and

technical ad-

vice

in

electronic

recording.10

Despite

the economic

hardships

in

Cuba

following

the American em-

bargo

of

1964, Brouwer,

fellow

composer Juan

Blanco,

and

conductor

Manuel Duchesne Cuzan

prepared

concerts of

new

music.

Blanco,

work-

ing

primarily

with electronic

music,

produced

massive multimedia

hap-

penings

such as

Contrapunto spacial

No.

3

for

twenty-four

instrumental

groups, magnetic tape,

and

twenty

actors. Carlos Fariias's Relieves

placed

five instrumental

groups

in

the

corners of

the concert

hall

performing

pointillistic

lines

among

the

groups.

Brouwer's

La

tradicin se

rompe

.

.

pero

cuesta

trabajo

presented

a

notice

to the

audience

stating

that

"in

this

work,

the

public participates."

Works of the

great

classic

composers

(the

presto

from

the

g

minor

sonata of

J.

S.

Bach,

Beethoven's

Grosse

Fuge)

are

juxtaposed

in a

controlled

aleatory; gradually

the

composer's

own sonorities are introduced.

Brouwer

described

the aesthetic of

a

com-



158:

Paul

Century

position

such as

La

tradicion

se

rompe

. .

pero

cuesta

trabajo

as "a

transfor-

mation

of

the

great

musical cliches into

a

contemporary

identity.

It is

a

vision of the universe of sound from all times, intermingling at the same

moment.

"

The

avant-garde

movement

in music

provided

for Brouwer

a means

of

incorporating

concepts

of

abstraction

prevalent

in

modern

art into the

realm

of sound textures.

In

Conmutaciones,

omposed

in 1966

for three

percussionists

on

twenty-three

instruments,

Brouwer

utilizes

a

graphic

score,

allowing

the

performers

to

interpret

the

visual

relationships

as

musical cues.

His

application

of

principles

of

visual

art to

composition

will

be considered later

in

this

article.

I-lF

lS,

i,

^

v

I - ^ . ~

1.

3n.

0

ro

o

0 0

0 0

0~~

0??

o o ' i

O~

O~~~~

r.P.-cl?

t

*bttU.

---

Ex.

5.

Commutaciones,

Section

F

Creative artists

explored

new facets

of

artistic

representation

during

the

1960s

within socialist

Cuban

society.

This

period

of

experimentation

came

to

an

abrupt

halt

in

1970

with

an economic crisis

resulting

from

the

failure

of

a

major

sugar

crop.

A

critical

reappraisal

of the

policies

and

priorities

of

Cuban

society, including

the

cultural

agencies,

followed.

Subsequently,

Cuban

folk

heritage

became

a

primary

concern

and

in-

spiration

in

the

arts.12

Coinciding

with Cuba's

time of

economic

and cultural

"soul-search-

ing,"

Brouwer embarked on

a

major

international concert

career. He

was

closely

involved

musically

with

Hans

Werner Henze

at

this

time,

performing

Henze's recital

piece

El

Cimarron

and

conducting

his

own

symphony

Exaedros

II

with the

Berlin

Philharmonic.'3

While

in

Germany



Leo Brouwer:

A

Portrait

of

the

Artist

in

Socialist

Cuba : 159

as

a

guest

of

the

German

Academy

of

Arts,

he

began composing

his

first

guitar

concerto,

a

work central to

his

avant-garde

period

of com-

position.

From

1972

to

1973,

Brouwer

was in

West Berlin on

a DAAD

grant

from the German

government.

In

Germany

he

completed

a

"tetralogy"

of works

utilizing

similar

compositional

material but

cast

in

four differ-

ent

settings,

each

involving

the

guitar.

These

are La

Espiral

Eterna,

for

solo

guitar,

Per

Suonare

a

Due,

for two

guitars

(or

guitar

and

tape),

Per

Suonare

a

Tre,

for

flute, viola,

and

guitar,

and

the concerto for

guitar

and

small orchestra

(fifteen instruments).

In

the

following

passage

of

La

Espiral

Eterna,

a fixed

left-hand

position

(a widely spaced cluster) is maintained while the right hand articulates

various

rhythmic patterns

derived from Afro-Cuban

drumming styles.

Within the soft articulations

of

this

"pseudo-drumming" appear

force-

fully

accented notes

(Part

D,

Section

2);

the

performer

is

free

to

impro-

vise

upon

the

specified

pitches

and

rhythms.

The

embodiment of

a

folk-

derived

rhythmic

improvisation

within the chromatic

background

creates

a

unique synthesis

of musical

styles.

While in

Germany,

Brouwer

was

offered

a

recording

contract

both

as

guitarist

and

composer

with

Deutsche

Grammophon.

He

made

several

solo

guitar recordings

but soon returned to

Cuba,

giving

up

the

oppor-

tunity

to become

a

marketable

commodity

in

Europe.

It is

possible

that

with the

movement toward nationalism

in

the arts

in

Cuba at this time

Brouwer felt

a

stronger compulsion

to

participate

as

a musician in

his

homeland

than to

live

as

a

foreigner

outside

Cuba.

Brouwer's most recent

compositions

reflect

a

return to

"tonality,"

to

a

style

of

neo-romanticism,

a

trend much

in

evidence in

contemporary

music

in

the 1980s.

Brouwer, however,

dislikes

the

label

"neo-romanti-

cism" to

describe his

present style;

he

prefers

instead

"hyper-romanti-

cism,"'4

an

indication

of

his

philosophical

desire not

only

to

defy

the

connotations

implied

by

the former

term but

also

to

remain in

personal

control of the labels used

to

describe his

music.

Cancion

de

Gesta

of

1981,

commissioned

by

the American

Wind

Sym-

phony

Orchestra,'5

exemplifies

Brouwer's

controlled

synthesis

of musical

cultures.

Opening

with

the theme from

Handel's

Water

Music,

the work

proceeds

with

frenetic

passages

of

Afro-Cuban

conga

drumming,

Bartok-

ian

"insect

music,"

and the

Handel theme

developed contrapuntally

and closes with a return of the Afro-Cuban drumming, which might be

described

as

Brouwer's own "Cuban

Danse

Sacrale."

More recent is

Brouwer's Canciones

Remotas

(1984),

a

four-movement

work

for

string

orchestra

inspired by

the

poetry

of

D.

Jaquinet.

In this

opening passage

of the

fourth

movement,

deep parallel

fifth sonorities

sustain

a

plaintive

melody

in

the violins.



160 : Paul

Century

Ex. 6.

La

Espiral

Eterna,

Sections

D/1

and

D/2.

(?1973

by

Schott.

Used

by

permission.)

One further

aspect

of Brouwer's

compositional activity

is his

popular

folk-song arrangements,

which

encompass chronologically

his entire

creative

output.

From

his

earliest

arrangements

of

Cuban

and

other

Latin

American folk melodies

to

his more

recent

guitar adaptations

of

Scott

Joplin piano

rags

and

the

music of

the

Beatles,

Brouwer

has con-

tinued

to

adapt folk/popular-inspired

music to the

guitar.

Brouwer

and

Art

Although

Brouwer's

youthful

excursions into

painting

were short-lived

(he

even claims to

have

destroyed

his

completed

works),

the

conceptual

basis of his art

studies

was

of considerable

importance

for

his

later direc-

tion

as

a

composer.

"It

was

an

approach

to

form

which was essential to

consider

.

. .

that

is

why

I

considered

so much

Paul Klee in

my

com-

position

class in

music."16

Klee's

theories of

modern

art

deal with basic

principles

of

line

and

color;

in

comparing

abstract

art

and

contemporary

music,

it is

possible

for

both the

artist

and

the

composer

to

interpret

"lines"

(physical

or

musical)

or

"colors"

(on

the

canvas or as

orchestra-

tion)

to

suit their

compositional

needs.

These

concepts

are best

represented

in

Brouwer's

"avant-garde"

period covering

the decade from the

mid 1960s

to

the

mid 1970s.17

In

Canticum

(1968),

the

sweeping

linear

motion toward the

pitch

b can be



Ex.

7.

Canciones

Remotas

IV-"Y

anduvo

por

la

Tierra

solo,"

measures

Ir^Asj.lo

-

Qolctly

IZvoltb

W1

r-

')

-v.ltP

t

t/

'

4

-

,

-o,.,

I

\ I

; I

i

'

-

I

's

=

j1w

_

^

t.

'?'

i

~~~~~~,.-

,

I

,

^

'

_i~

7'~

vl

r

vL

I.

t

E.

'J,

Vc.

Cb.

:

.

,

-

,

_

-



162:

Paul

Century

interpreted

visually

as a

line on the

canvas,

and

the

chordal

fragment

preceding

the horizontal

motion

can

be seen as

a

visually larger

surface.

I have chosen this

particular drawing

of Klee's to illustrate the com-

parison.

L

_

,

r

_

-r

-

-

'--

i -fmPppp

ff

f

MP P

mp

legatissimo

6

,

(t--=-~~~(~

E~ '

Ex.

8.

Canticum,

excerpt.

(?1972

by

Schott.

Used

by

permission.)

Ex. 9.

Paul

Klee's

"Dreamlike 1930"

(?1966

by

Faber

and Faber.

Used

by

permission.)

Brouwer

as

Intellectual

During

the late

1960s,

Brouwer

wrote

a

series

of

brief

essays

dealing

with such

topics

as

post-revolutionary

Cuban music

in

general,

the

avant-

garde

movement

in

Cuba,

and

aleatoric musical forms. His

writings

provide psychosocial insights

into the mind

of the

composer

in

a

socialist



Leo Brouwer:

A

Portrait

of

the

Artist in Socialist Cuba : 163

state.

In

his

essay

from

1970,

"La

musica,

lo cubano

y

la

innovaci6n,"

Brouwer

writes:

The

first

thought

that

comes to

mind when we

speak

of

music is its classi-

fication or division into

types.

This

classification-which

I

dislike-is

engendered

more

by

the

specialization

of

the

consumer

fields

than

the

product

itself,

and has remained subdivided

. .

.

into

popular

nd art

music.

. .

.The

great

contradictions that

result from

this nomenclature make

us

try

to

explain

.

.

.

the

etymological

"truths"

of

Popular

and of Art.

By

Art is

understood

that music which is

elaborated

by

a sense

of

complex

structure

and

of sonoral traditions with various historical roots linked

to

a

concert tradition.

Popular

music,

which

does not establish

a

commitment

to the eternal, is founded in simple elements of easy recognition, so as not

to disturb

the

intellectual

capacity....

18

Brouwer

then considers the

way

in

which

society

tends to

categorize

music in terms of its

function,

concluding

that

in

the

twentieth

century

such

an

interpretation

taken to its end would result

in

a

dialectic

di-

chotomy

between the

concepts

of

popular

and

art.

Brouwer's

opinions

concerning

musical

analysis

are

stated

in

the same

essay:

Music is most often analyzed by means of its technical components . . .

almost

always

neglecting

to consider the circumstances which

surround the

creator,

circumstances of

philosophical-social

background,

political

circum-

stances.

. .

.

The inner world

of

the

composer,

for

one

thing,

is an

ex-

tremely

complex array

of

theoretical

worlds,

of

academics,

of

formative

learning,

of informations-all this

amalgamated

in

the conscious

mind

to

give

way

to the

imagination,

the unconscious

...

19

It is an

engaging

and

intellectually stimulating

work.

Brouwer

writes

openly

and

convincingly

about

his

thoughts

on

music,

society,

and the

composer

in

the

twentieth

century.

The formidable task of

opening up

a

composer's

cosmos takes

us

far

beyond

an

appreciation

of

the

musical

artifact. If

by exploring

the world

of the

composer

we come

to understand the

relationship

of his music

to

our

world,

we can

perhaps

better

comprehend

our

own culture and

our

relationship

to

it;

thus

the

symbiotic kinship

of

composer

and audience.

Leo

Brouwer

enriches our world

with his music

and

his

imagination.

Notes

1.

Of

Brouwer,

Colin

Cooper

has

stated,

"

'Greatest

living

guitar

com-



164: Paul

Century

poser'

is

not

a

phrase

that comes

easily

in

any

context,

but,

all

things

considered,

it

is

impossible

to

think

of

any

other

composer

with a

better right to the title." "Chanson de Geste: Leo Brouwer and the

New

Romanticism,"

Classical Guitar

3

(June 1985):

13.

2.

The

most

complete

catalog

of

Brouwer's

music

can

be

found

in

Helie

Orovio,

Diccionario

de

la musica

cubana

(Havana:

Editorial

Letras,

1981), pp.

62-68.

An

accurate

list

is difficult to

compile

because of

the

number of

early

works

Brouwer

suppressed (but

which he

has

now been

making

available)

as

well as works

that

he

delays

publish-

ing,

sometimes for

years.

3.

Century,

"Interview

with

Leo

Brouwer," Fort-de-France,

Mar-

tinique,

December

10,

1984. Such a

mystical experience

may

be

compared

with the

creative-poetic experience

described

by

Mexican

poet-writer

Octavio

Paz,

whom Brouwer

greatly

admires. From The

Bow

and

the

Lyre

(Austin:

University

of Texas

Press,

1973),

p.

121:

"The

poetic experience,

like

the

religious

one,

is

a

mortal

leap:

a

change

of nature that

is

also

a

return to

our

originl

nature.

.

.

.

Our

being

suddenly

remembers its

lost

identity;

and

then that 'other' that

we are

appears,

emerges. Poetry

and

religion

are a

revelation

.

. .

it

is

the revelation

of himself

that

man

makes

to

himself."

4.

Century,

"Interview with

Leo Brouwer."

5.

Ibid.

6.

"Composers

Panel,"

Guitar Review

59

(Fall 1984):

11.

7.

Jose

Ardevol

wrote

of

his

great

admiration for Brouwer's

prodigious

talents

in

a

letter to the

teenage

composer,

also

remarking

that

he

was "one with

the

people."

I

am

grateful

to

Michael Lorimer for

informing

me of this

letter,

which he

saw at the

1986

International

Guitar

Festival

of Havana devoted to

the

music

of Brouwer

and to

his thirty-year contribution to Cuban music.

8.

Century,

"Interview with Leo Brouwer."

9. "La

vanguardia

de

la

musica cubana." First

published

in Muisica

1

(1970):

2-6.

10.

For Brouwer's

involvement

in

the

nueva trova

movement,

see

Rina

Benmayor,

"La

nueva

trova:

New

Cuban

Song,"

p.

19,

in

Latin

AmericanMusic Review

2,

no.

1

(Spring/Summer

1981):

11-35.

11.

"La

vanguardia

de

la

muisica

cubana,"

from

La

musica,

lo

cubanoy

la

innovacion

(Havana:

Editorial

Letras

Cubanas,

1982),

p.

32.

12. Julianne Burton deals with this issue in "An Interview with Hum-

berto

Solas,"

Jump/Cut

19

(December

1978):

27.

13.

Although

entries on

Brouwer

in

music

dictionaries

have

stated

that

Henze's music

influenced Brouwer's

(New

Grove,

Vinton's

Dictionary

of Contemporary

Music),

Brouwer's music

in

fact

does

not show

any



Leo

Brouwer:

A

Portrait

of

the Artist

in

Socialist

Cuba

:

165

similarity

with

Henze's. On the

contrary,

Brouwer

supplied

Henze

with

a

knowledge

of

contemporary

guitar

techniques

which

he

ap-

plied in his El Cimarrdn,a score

containing

a

passage

"homage to

Leo Brouwer."

14.

Century,

"Interview

with

Leo Brouwer."

15.

Recorded

on

AWSO

105,

the

American

Wind

Symphony

Orchestra,

conducted

by

Robert

Austin Boudreau. The

work is

subtitled "For

the Boat Loaded with the

Future."

16.

Century,

"Interview

with

Leo Brouwer."

17.

Other sources of

nonmusical

inspiration

for

Brouwer

include laws

of

geometric proportion represented

by

the

principles

of

the

Golden

Mean and the Fibonacci series. For a technical discussion of

Brou-

wer's

application

of

these

concepts

in

La

Espiral

Eterna,

see

my

mas-

ter's

thesis,

"Idiom

and

Intellect:

Stylistic Synthesis

in

the Solo

Guitar Music of Leo Brouwer"

(University

of

California,

Santa

Barbara),

pp.

27-36.

18.

"La

musica,

lo cubano

y

la

innovacion,"

in La

musica,

lo

cubanoy

la

innovacidn,

p.

9.

19.

Ibid.,

pp.

10-11.

Selected

Bibliography

of Leo Brouwer

To

a

younger generation

of

musicians

in

the United

States,

Cuban

music means

little

more

than

a

driving, energetic

form of

music known

as salsa.

Research

in

the

area

of Cuban

art music

currently

seems a low

priority in the United States-an unfortunate circumstance, for the two

countries share fundamental

aspects

of

their

development

during

the

twentieth

century:

1.

Both nations

are

endowed with

a rich and

dynamic

folk

music tra-

dition derived

in

part

from

indigenous

Indian

sources

and

implanted

African

musical culture.

2. Earlier

in

this

century, composers

from Cuba

and

the United States

sought

musical

guidance

in

Europe

(the

generation

of

Boulanger

pupils).

3. During the 1930s and 1940s composers and writers from the United

States

expressed

interest

in

the

music of Cuba.

Witness the

relationships

between

Henry

Cowell and

Garcia

Caturla,

Roldan,

and

Ardevol

dis-

cussed

by

Rita Mead

in

"Latin American Accents

in New

Music,"

LAMR

3,

no.

2

(Fall/Winter 1982):

211-213.

Also Nicholas

Slonimsky,

"Catur-



166 :

Paul

Century

la

of

Cuba,"

Modern Music

17,

no.

1

(October-November

1939):

76-80,

and

Lou

Harrison,

"Spring

Styles

in New

York,"

Modern Music

22,

no. 4 (May-June 1945): 258-269.

Following

the

1959

Cuban

revolution,

economic

and

cultural

ties be-

tween Cuba

and

the United

States

deteriorated;

Cuba has since

be-

come

closely

affiliated with

the Soviet Union

and

the Eastern

European

Communist nations.

Although

information

covering

the

musical

activi-

ties of these latter countries

is

available,

news

of

current

Cuban musical

life

for most

Americans is

nonexistent.

This

bibliography

achieves two

key objectives.

First,

it

presents

a

thorough representation

of Brouwer's multifaceted

accomplishments,

opening up

the

potential

for

further

research

into

his life and music.

Second,

it serves to

update

listings

of

general

sources

dealing

with Cuban

music since the revolution.

Music researchers

are

fortunately

not

faced with a

total lack of

in-

formation

from Cuba-materials

dealing

with

post-revolutionary

Cuban

music do

exist

in

the United States.

In

particular,

the

Library

of Con-

gress

continues

an

exchange

with

Cuban

libraries;

in

addition,

the

music

libraries of

the

University

of Texas at

Austin,

the

University

of

Miami,

and

the Latin American Music Center at Indiana

University

contain

music,

literature,

and

recordings

from

post-revolutionary

Cuba.

That

Brouwer

is not

better

known

in

the United States

is more an

indication

of the

current

state

of

diplomatic

affairs

between Cuba and the United

States than

of his

proper

stature

in

today's

musical world.

Bibliography

The

bibliogrphy

has been

organized

according

to

the

following guide-

lines:

(1) writings

by

Brouwer;

(2)

books, dissertations,

and

theses;

(3)

journal

articles,

excerpts

from

books,

program/record

notes,

and

selected

concert reviews.

Writings by Brouwer

Composer's

notes for Dos

Bocetos

[two

short

pieces

for solo

piano].

Ha-

vana:

Biblioteca

Nacional

"Jose

Marti,"

1964.

"Die

Avantgarde

in

der Kubanische Musik."

Trans. Norma

Fritz.

Melos

41,

no.

6

(1974):

345-346.





168 : Paul

Century

List,

George,

and

Juan

Orrego-Salas,

eds.

Music in

the

Americas.

Inter-

American Music

Monograph,

vol.

1.

The

Hague,

Holland:

Mouton,

1967.

Martin,

Edgardo.

Panorama

Historico

de

la

Musica en Cuba. Havana:

Uni-

versidad de

la

Habana,

1971.

Meyer,

Leonard

B.

Music,

the

Arts,

and Ideas.

Chicago

and London:

University

of

Chicago

Press,

1967.

Moholy-Nagy,

Laszlo.

The New

Vision and

Abstract

of

an

Artist.

New

York:

George

Wittenborn,

1947.

Orovio,

Helie.

Diccionario

de la

mtusica ubana:

Biograficoy

tecnico.

Havana:

Editorial

Letras

Cubanas,

1981.

Paz, Octavio. The Bow and the

Lyre

(El

arcoy

la

lira).

Trans. Ruth L. C.

Simms.

Austin:

University

of Texas

Press,

1973.

Sanchez

Vasquez,

Adolfo.

Esteticay

Marxismo.

2

vols.

Mexico

City:

Edi-

ciones

Era,

1970.

Sapanov,

Mihail.

Musicology

in

Socialist

Cuba

(in

Russian).

Moscow:

In-

formacionnyj

Centr Po

Problemam

Kul'tury

i

Iskusstva,

1974.

Schneider,

John.

The

Contemporary

Guitar.

Berkeley

and Los

Angeles:

University

of

California

Press,

1985.

Summerfield,

Maurice

J.

The

Classical

Guitar:

Its Evolution and Its

Players

since 1800.

Gateshead,

England: Ashley

Mark

Publishing

Co.,

1982.

Suzuki,

Dean.

"Solo

Guitar

Music of

Leo Brouwer."

Master's

thesis,

University

of

Southern

California,

1981.

Whitrow,

G.

J.

The

Structure

f

the Universe.

London: Hutchinson's Uni-

versity Library,

1949.

Reprinted

as

The

Structure

nd

Evolution

of

the

Universe.

Hutchinson

and

Co.,

1959.

Xenakis,

Iannis.

Formalized

Music:

Thought

and

Mathematics

in

Composition.

Bloomington:

Indiana

University

Press,

1971.

Journal

Articles,

Excerpts

rom

Books,

Program/Record

Notes,

and SelectedCon-

cert Reviews

Ardevol,

Jose.

"Entrevista." Union

10,

no.

4

(December 1971):

103-136.

Barnet,

Miguel.

"Brief aus Havana."

Trans.

Hildegard Baumgart,

from Zwishen den

Kulturen: Neue

Aspekte

der

Musikalischen

Asthetic, I,

ed.

Hans Werner Henze.

Frankfurt: S.

Fischer

Verlag,

1979.

Becker-Carsten, Wolfgang. "Current Chronicle: Berlin." Trans. Lau-

rence Wallack.

Musical

Quarterly

7

(1971):

314-317.

Discussion of

Exaedros

I

and

El

Cimarron.

Behague,

Gerard.

"Latin American

Music:

An

Annotated

Bibliography

of

Recent

Publications." Yearbook

or

Inter-AmericanMusical

Research

11

(1975):

209-211.



Leo

Brouwer:

A

Portrait

of

the Artist

in Socialist Cuba :

169

Benmayor,

Rina. "La nueva trova:

New

Cuban

Song."

Latin American

Music Review

2,

no.

1

(Spring/Summer 1981):

11-14.

Brouwer's con-

tribution to Cuban popular music during the 1960s is discussed.

Bodenhofer,

Andreas. "Skizze einer

Phanomenologischen Analyse."

Die

Schulwarte

22,

no.

11

(1969):

804-812.

Analysis

of Brouwer's

Dos

Conceptos

del

Tiempo

(1965).

Also

in Neue Musik

Analyse,

Erhard

Kar-

koschka

and

others.

Herrenberg:

Gotthard

F.

Doring,

1976.

Breznikar,

Joseph.

"Etudes

simples

pour

guitare."

Guitar Review

59

(Fall

1984):

36-37.

Music review of

Simple

Studies

11-20.

Buckley, Jack.

"Behind

the

Scenes:

Henze's Curious

Savage."

High

Fidelity

Magazine/Musical

America

20,

no.

11

(1970):

21,

24.

Burton, Julianne. "An Interview with Humberto Solas." Jump/Cut. A

Review

of

Contemporary

Cinema 19

(December

1978):

27-33. Valuable

discussion

of

Cuban artistic life

in

the

1970s.

Camps,

Pompeyo.

"Hacia una

vanguardia

musical

latinoamericano."

Musica

(Casa

de las

Americas,

Havana)

46

(May/June 1974):

4-10.

Castro,

Fidel.

"La

libertad

del arte

y

la

revoluci6n."

Esteticay

Marxismo

II,

pp.

403-410. Ed. from

Palabras a

los intelectuales.Havana: Edicion

del

Consejo

Nacional de

Cultura,

1961.

Century,

Paul. "Interview with Leo

Brouwer."

Unpublished

taped

in-

terview with the

composer

on December

10,

1984,

at the PLM

Hotel,

Fort-de-France,

Martinique.

Chiesa,

Ruggero.

"El

decameron

negro."

II

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Documents

Leo Brouwer. A portrait of the artist in socialist Cuba.pdf