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The
Cuatro and Puerto Rican music in a nutshell:
Puerto Ricans also created,
from their earliest days, other different --and equally beautiful--stringed
instruments, but these have largely disappeared from public view. These
instruments-- the various forms of the small tiple and the large
bordonúa,--
are just now beginning to enter the public sphere once again, as a result of the
efforts of cultural rescue groups such as ours and others on the island.
The cuatro was historically In the 19th century, the cuatro was heard both in the countryside and the city: in Puerto Rican coastal cities it played the counterpoint in formal salon orchestras during performances of light classical and European figure dance music for the city elites and middle class, while in the countryside it was heard in "orquestas jíbaras" -- ensembles comprised by the cuatro playing the melody line, the tiny tiple playing the accompanying chords and the large bordonúa playing the deep bass line.
But the principal role of jibaro instrument ensembles
was to accompany a singer. Since the island's earliest days, the traditional
singer or trovador sang lyrics that in reality were verses following
the ancient poetic patterns of the décima
and the decimilla.
A form of the décima,
but with verses of only 6 syllables,
known as the decimilla (small décima) has also been popular across the Puerto Rican
countryside through the centuries. When the decimilla is the form of the
traditional singers lyric, the accompanying musicians strike up another
rhythmic form called the Aguinaldo, or "gift", of which there are
also many styles which vary with the region of origin and to other distinctive characteristics.
The aguinaldo, with its decimilla lyrics is popularly--but
not exclusively--heard during the Christmas season.
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Don
Marcelino and his
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Graciela Quiñones, cuatro and tiple maker
Our
Homage to Arturito Avilés Who is today's best cuatrista? It's an
interminable debate among fans of Yomo, Modesto, Edwin, Prodigio, Neri, Pedrito, etc.
But wait until you hear the perfection of sound and execution; the musical
maturity and the musical ingenuity of the marvelous
Arturito
Avilés --cuatrista of long experience and recipient of the greatest respect
among other musicians. Although he is not as well known as the other among
today's public, if
his artistry could be heard widely, new arguments would form among those who
would insist that he be placed among the greatest cuatristas alive--perhaps,
who ever lived. Tuto
Feliciano
We are still grieving the recent death of the great Agustín "Tuto" Feliciano--consummate
professional and celebrated grandmaster of the Puerto Rican ten-and
eight-stringed cuatro--who passed away on November 24, 2005 in Perth Amboy, New
Jersey. A special welcome to We are informed by Felix J. Mercado, CPT, MSC that the Cuatro Project web page is enjoyed by Puerto Rican soldiers in Iraq. The Project extends a warm embrace to our compatriots and our concern for their safety and for a quick return!
The Singing Poet's
Round Table The Cuatro Project recreates a lost tradition called La Mesa Redonda [The Round Table] for a soon-to-be-released documentary on the ancient Décima tradition. The recreation was carried out by a gathering of some of the best traditional musicians and singing poets (trovadores) on the Island. We have a new page dedicated to the Mesa Redonda here. (Spanish only at this time, but you can still enjoy the sound clips!)
Polo and Ramón
treat us to The legendary guitar accompanist to the late, eminent composer/cuatrista Maestro Ladí, Apolo Ocasio and the versatile cuatrista Ramón Vázquez offer our visitors an informal, off-the-cuff sampling of no less than 26 different Puerto Rican seises, for our delight and enlightenment. Hear them here. (The text is in Spanish, but the music is universal!)
Do you have a
question about your cuatro? Luthier William Cumpiano who has been making string instruments at a professional leverl for thirty'five years (and is the co-founder of the Cuatro Project) has made himself available to answer questions you may have about the construction or improvement of your cuatro, or about any problems which you may be having, be you a musician or another maker. If your question is of general interest, we will publish your question and the answer in our Question Page. Send your question to Mr. Cumpiano here. Questions in Spanish will be answered in Spanish and questions in English will be answered in English for the time being. Another
member of the Old Guard leaves us...
Remembering Efraín Ronda
"Efraín Ronda was truly a
great among greats. He had a vision that dimmed that of many of his contemporaries. I
admire him greatly, I must have one of his methods back in my parent's house.
We're proud of our long, warm friendship with the young cuatro superstar, Alvin Medina. Over the last decade Alvin has been a loyal collaborator and advocate of the Cuatro Project and for our part we have done everything in our power to support and promote his promising career--as we have done for other distinguished young cuatristas of the present day. From his beginnings playing hymns at the age of six in the church of his parents, through his debut in numerous cultural festivals in the United States--including one at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC and his solo performance before the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra--up to the launching of his latest CD recording projects, traditional cuatro music on Mi Música Borincana and his sensational classic music cuatro album Eternal , we have followed his steps with great interest. It is our conviction that the future of our National Instrument and the future of our traditional music is in his hands and in those of other admirable artists of his generation.
The Great Jíbaro Singers Collector/folklorists José Gumersindo Torres of Pennsylvania and David Morales of Massachusetts have joined forces with the Cuatro Project to create a wonderful and vital cultural resource: an index of the greatest singers and composers of the music of the Puerto Rican countryside. This work in progress features photographs, biographies and sound clips of all the most important singers of authentic Puerto Rican country music of today and yesterday. To visit this new page, click here. The great master cuatro
maker, Eugenio Méndez, has died "Don Heño" Méndez died December 3, 2003 at his home in Juncos, Puerto Rico, as the result of a brain hemorrhage. Born in Aibonito, Méndez is considered one of the most distinguished and admired makers of our national instrument that ever lived on the Island. He elevated the technique of cuatro-making to a world-class level and his instruments have become the standard against which all other cuatros are compared. He furnished concert-grade cuatros to the most skilled and famous cuatro players, including Maso Rivera, Yomo Toro, and Edwin Colón Zayas. In 1994, Méndez described for us his cuatro-making method. Photo by John Sotomayor. Who was "El Zurdo de Isabela" [Lefty from Isabela]?
Now available from the Cuatro Project: Full-size builder's plan drawing of a traditional Puerto Rican Cuatro
Why do Puerto Ricans love the cuatro? The perennial love affair between Puerto Ricans and their stringed instruments can be traced back to the seventeenth century. Since then, the cuatro has served the Puerto Rican society in significant ways: it inspired its secular and religious festivities; it served as a companion in its sorrow and loneliness; and it provided a cultural anchor for its people.
"The
cuatro is our national instrument, and that's what we were always taught. Folks
always associate it with the countryside, with the Puerto Rican jíbaro,"
and that's why we love it so. When you hear a cuatro, well, it lifts your spirits, it
makes you happy; you can taste its "pure Puerto Rican flavor!"
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HIGHLIGHTS
Newsletter #3 The Cuatro Project
Frequently Asked Questions Hear a cuatro:
Carving Cuatros Families
of the Cuatro
What is a Décima?
There's a Tres, too!
The Cuatro Project is necessary because: "...when I talk of housing development culture, of mall culture, the culture of the super-highway, the consumer culture, the television culture, I'm referring to culture that is all-present in Puerto Rico today. It's culture where very little social interaction occurs, due to the pervasive use of the television set; where people no longer create music, because it is given to them ready-made. Where very little communal activity occurs, like bomba dances or trullas de promesas, or fiestas de cruz, which are communal activities." "But, because of television's power, these communal activities have been thrown overboard. They have been relegated to obscurity and the average Puerto Rican has no idea of them. My university students generally don't know what a fiesta de cruz is; have never seen a baile de bomba done as a communal activity-unless its by a professional troupe performing on a stage, in an artificial way--not a real baile de bomba. They don't know what that is. They immediately think its an group which is formally organized to perform on stage; and that is not what it is." "When I refer to communal music activity, it is something that neighbors do, something which is properly theirs, a natural behavior of theirs, a kind of cultural manifestation which is completely natural, something they have been seeing and doing from birth. And that is not carried on in the urban development environment." "In the urban development environment, something else is created--a culture of consumption, where what pesters people on radio and on television is what they hear and what they dance to. And generally speaking, that is how people in Puerto Rico live today. They live in urban zones, or in an urban development. In contrast, at the start of the twentieth century, most people lived in rural areas. So what has been produced is a certain uniformization, everybody does the same; everybody listens to the same: merengue, salsa, ballads, rock, and rap. Everything is imposed by commerce." "Commerce imposes what people will buy, what they will hear, even what they will sing. And that is what I refer to when I speak of urban development culture, but it is also the culture of the mall, of the superhighway, of television, of ATM machines. It is a culture where all that is natively Puerto Rican seems strange, as if it were from Mars--but where the foreign is completely familiar. The product of the Chicago streets, or New York City--like rap music--is more familiar than a baile de bomba to the ordinary Puerto Rican. And even to those who don't actually live in urban developments, because it is a culture that permeates the whole country. There exists a disarrangement of customs; what is Puerto Rican, what is native is distant, exotic. And the foreign is what is most natural, and most familiar." Emmanuel Dufrasne, musicologist, University of Puerto Rico
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In
the meantime, here is a sample of a piece from his personal recording
which he made of the danza
