The Tonadas Trinitarias: The Folkloric Music of Trinidad, Cuba
Tonadas Trinitarias, Cuban Folk Music
ByYami Cabreraย (Cuban musicologist and Business Development Director of Havana Music Toursย and Musical Getaways)ย
Trinidad is a beautiful city in the center of Cuba. There we can find a very distinctive genre of this city, known as Tonadas Trinitarias. In the beginning, this musical expression was developed as part of a festive musician-dance event of a movement and purely profane nature. This style is currently performed by some of its main folkloric-traditional musical groups from Trinidad city.
Although its name refers to a generic species linked to country Cuban music, the Tonadas Trinitarias musical form is very distant from this type of music. On the contrary, it denotes a type of music that is accompanied by three small drums with the parietal wedge, a guataca, a guiro, and a mixed choir. This type of group is also very similar โin terms of sound and instrumental formatโ to that of the harpsichord choirs from the rumba and typical of the cities of Matanzas and Sancti Spรญritus.
This tradition dates back to the second half of the 19th century, and some sources highlight its similarity with the beginning of the independence struggles and the revolutionary fervor of the time. They were organized by choral groups of men and women, in charge of representing the different neighborhoods established in the town.
During the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century, it was known of the existence of two main groupings of Tonadas Trinitarias, each one representing specific neighborhoods, such as La Popa or Jibabuco and Simpรก or El Tamarindo. However, the socio-cultural changes that occurred in the neocolonial stage caused a strong depression in the practice of these tunes, leaving both groups practically disabled.
The group meets again with the Triumph of the Revolution. This was possible at the request of government entities such as Cultura Municipal, and with the help of young art instructors. They bring together the main bearers of the tradition, it makes possible the creation of the Tonadas Trinitarias Group in 1963.
Unfortunately, starting in the 80s, this process led to the degradation of the tradition.ย The Tonadas Trinitarias became a generic type to be included as part of a repertoire of the Conjunto Folclรณrico de Trinidad, and other local groups.
However, due to the ideological and commercial value attributed to the tradition, this tradition has a new resurgence as a cultural product after opening the city to tourism in the 2000s. The Tonadas reaches into the present despite the great challenges in improving its practice.
Currently, the group remains in force thanks to its own members’ efforts and some of the cultural authorities of the town. The Tonadas Trinitarias can be found in different places in the very center of Trinidad, Cuba, such as the Palenque de Los Congos Reales, or in the Patio Bรฉcquer.
Here are a couple of different videos,
including a collaboration with Havana Music Tours founder, Chaz Chambers
Gracias Amiga estamos muy agradecido de tus palabras sobre nuestra agrupaciones. Un abrazo desde Trinidad
Muchas Gracias a ustedes por el trabajo hermoso que realizan cada dรญa para mantener esta tradiciรณn!