The Scarecrow Press, Inc.

Cuban Flute Style

Interpretation and Improvisation
By Sue Miller
BACK COVER

Richard Egües and José Fajardo are universally regarded as the leading
exponents of charanga flute playing, an improvisatory style that crystallized in
1950s Cuba with the rise of the mambo and the chachachá. Despite the
commercial success of their recordings with Orquesta Aragón and Fajardo y
susEstrellas and their influence not only on Cuban flute players but also on
other Latin dance musicians, no in-depth analytical study of their flute solos
exists.
In Cuban Flute Style: Interpretation and Improvisation, Sue Miller—music
historian, charanga flute player, and former student of Richard Egües—
examines the early-twentieth-century decorative style of flute playing in the
Cuban danzón and its links with the later soloistic style of the 1950s as
exemplified by Fajardo and Egües. Transcriptions and analyses of recorded
performances demonstrate the characteristic elements of the style as well as the
styles of individual players. A combination of musicological analysis and
ethnomusicological fieldwork reveals the polyrhythmic and melodic aspects of
the Cuban flute style, with commentary from flutists Richard Egües, Joaquín
Oliveros, Polo Tamayo, Eddy Zervigón, and other renowned players.
Miller also covers techniques for flutists seeking to learn the style—including altissimo fingerings for the
Boehm flute and fingerings for the five-key charanga flute—as well as guidance on articulation, phrasing,
repertoire, practicing improvisation, and working with recordings. Cuban Flute Style will appeal to those
working in the fields of Cuban music, improvisation, music analysis, ethnomusicology, performance and
performance practice, popular music, and cultural theory.
Sue Miller is a flute player and musical director of the United Kingdom’s only charanga orchestra, Charanga
del Norte, which she founded in 1998. She holds a doctorate in flute improvisation in Cuban charanga
performance from the University of Leeds and has studied charanga flute improvisation with Richard Egües.
She has performed with veteran charanga musicians in Havana, such as Estrellas Cubanas, Charanga de Oro,
Orquesta Sublime and Orquesta Barbarito Díez, and is a senior lecturer in music at Anglia Ruskin University,
Cambridge (UK).

THE SCARECROW PRESS, INC.

Hardback ISBN 978-0-8108-8441-0
Copyright ©2014 by Scarecrow Press, Inc

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 SELECTED EXTRACTS

INTRODUCTION

The subtitle of this book Interpretation and Improvisation implies these activities are discrete but it will become
clear as one reads through that these two areas are intertwined, with composition and improvisation shown to be
processes that are inextricably linked. As regards Cuban flute performance, interpretation lies at one end of a
continuum that moves through creative use of rubato, dynamics, articulation and ornamentation to melodic
decoration of composed material and then on to freer improvisation in the later open montuno sections of
arrangements.
(Miller, 2014, p. xxiii)

Defining Improvisation in Cuban Terms

Since improvisation (in its broadest sense) is the focal point of this book, it is interesting to look at how it is
described within the context of charanga. Various terms are used for improvisation in Cuban music and these
terms in many ways define the different approaches taken. For example, florear, meaning literally ‘to decorate
with flowers’ or ‘to play a flourish,’ is often (but not solely) used in the context of danzón where embellishment
of composed melodic material is more common. Mambear is a term used to refer to strong, rhythmic
improvising which often takes place over backing coros and would appear to have originated with the charanga
mambo style in the late 1930s. Inspirar (‘inspire’ or ‘inhale’) is used frequently to refer to improvisation, and
inspiraciones are usually short improvisations in between call and response coros. Descargar (‘to unload’) is
usually used in more informal ‘jam’ sessions but very probably has its origins in cathartic Afro-Cuban religious
ritual. Another term, montunear, has the connotation of ‘grooving.’
(Miller, 2014, p.xxiv)

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CHAPTER 3 The Early Twentieth-Century Florear Style

Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on
Tres ‘Lindos’ Cubanos: Comparing Pereira, Delabart and Egües

A danzón’s composed melodies are often implied by the note choices of players, alluding to but not always
stating all of the melody directly for the listener.29 As with Keats’ unheard melodies (and incidentally
Wordsworth’s inward eye of his famous Daffodils poem),30 the remembered experience can sometimes be more
powerful than the original. In other words, embellishments and melodic decorations are heard against the
‘norm’ of the composed melody. In the comparative study that follows the structural features of the main theme
from ‘Linda Cubana’ (otherwise known as ‘Tres Lindas Cubanas’) are analyzed before comparing recordings of
it by three different generations of charanga flute players.
‘Linda Cubana’ was composed by pianist Antonio María Romeu in 1926, but the main theme (F and G
sections of my score) is based on an older son tune.31 Here four versions recorded by Tata Pereira (1924),32
Francisco Delabart (193933 and 1954)34 and Richard Egües (1957 or 1960)35 are compared to the Romeu score
in order to see the degrees to which composed elements are interpreted (rubato, vibrato, dynamics and
articulation), decorated (ornamentation, slight melodic or rhythmic variations) and extemporized upon.
Whilst other scores must have existed which pre-date Romeu’s score, all these versions from 1924 to
1957/1960 are clearly following the melodic structure of the ‘Linda Cubana’ theme and can therefore be
fruitfully compared. Tata Pereira recorded ‘Linda Cubana’ with his own charanga orquesta on January 12, 1924,
for Columbia records. Delabart’s two recordings of this danzón feature on recordings by Orquesta Antonio
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María Romeu, namely ‘Tres Lindas Cubanas’ from a 1939 recording, and another later one in 1954 entitled
‘Linda Cubana.’ Egües’ 1957/1960 version of ‘Tres Lindas Cubanas’ with Orquesta Aragón is now featured on
a reissued CD of the original Victor recording.
Below is the main theme from Romeu’s score which has been annotated for analytical purposes.
Transcriptions of versions by Pereira, Delabart and Egües then follow. For the purposes of this short
comparative study I will only be looking at the main son melody in order to draw some further conclusions
about the charanga flute style’s development.

‘Linda Cubana’: The Composition (main theme in 2/4)

The melody at F of ‘Linda Cubana’ is a descent from bb3 to c3 and the melody notes bb3Æ a3 Æ g3 Æ c3 are the
main structural points here. The melody in bars 78-81 of the G section is simply a decorated version of this
melodic descending line using intervals of thirds and a cinquillo rhythm until the final three bars of the melody
(which function as a coda). As we shall see, this structural event has correspondence with the interpretations by
Pereira, Delabart and Egües.

Example 3.24 Score of the main ‘Linda Cubana’ theme36

The melodies here are the same as those of the coro, with the words corresponding directly to the flute melody
lines, both rhythmically and melodically:

Tres, tres, lindas Cubanas

Tres, tres, lindas Cubanas
Si paso por Paso Franco alma mia, nunca me digas que no
Si mañana yo me muero, lleven flores.

[Three, three, beautiful Cuban girls

Three, three, beautiful Cuban girls
If I pass by Paso Franco my love, and don’t ever say that I won’t,
Bring flowers.]

Finishing on the dominant chord C7 you could also see this ‘unresolved’ ending as apt for the words of the son
tune ‘si mañana yo me muero, lleven flores’ (if I die tomorrow bring flowers) with its implied meaning (using

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the subjunctive) of ‘but I’m not dead yet!’ Interestingly, in contrast, the 1924 version by Pereira has a different
coda and resolves to the tonic (perhaps they were more certain about death in the 1920s!).

1924: Tata Pereira’s Version

Example 3.25 Pereira’s F2 and G2 sections of ‘Linda Cubana’

In Pereira’s version of ‘Linda Cubana’ (transposed to F major from G major to facilitate comparison), the F and
G section melodies follow on from a different ‘Linda Cubana’ composition, and introduce the final proto-
montuno vamp section (presumably the one adapted by Romeu). The first playing of these melodies is not
prominent on the flute, but in the second playing the flute line departs further from the composition with busier
textures, repeated note figures and acciaccatura ornamentation. The articulation is staccato (picado) with narrow
vibrato on the longer notes and has a jagged ragtime feel about it. Although this performance pre-dates Romeu’s
score one can see that it is a decorative rendition of the later score (aside from the last 8 bars which form a
different coda).

(Miller, 2014, pp.84-86)

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CHAPTER 4 Que Suene La Flauta Richard

The Singing Flute

In many Orquesta Aragón arrangements Egües takes on the role of the improvising vocalist, as in his solo on
‘Charlas Del Momento’ (Gossip of the Day).17 Egües’ soloing ideas often have their roots in song, whether from
light opera or the Cuban popular song tradition; even his more sequential playing is derived from melodic
motifs gleaned from the composition itself or from the wider charanga repertoire. The complete transcription of
the flute part for ‘Charlas del Momento’ in example 4.25 demonstrates Egües’ melodic style, although other
elements already discussed in the ‘Bombon Chá’ analyses are also in evidence (e.g., sequences exploiting the
dominant note as axis, converging infrastructural lines, classically articulated runs and octave leap efectos).
Egües’ solo on ‘Charlas Del Momento’ presents another facet of Egües’ playing in that it is very conversational
in character, with sonero style inspiraciones in call and response with the coros. The vocalists sing two coros in
full and ‘half’ form throughout most of the piece whilst Egües improvises phrases in between or over them,
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with stretches of soloing amongst the coro/inspiración sections. Egües draws upon the coro melodies of
‘Charlas del Momento’ (sung in unison by Rafael Lay, Pepe Olmo and Rafael Bacallao) for his improvisations,
and on closer inspection it becomes clear that Egües’ inspiraciones and solos relate to these composed coro
melodies in terms of pitch content and rhythmic motifs. A guaracha about the scandal of sayitas cortas (‘short
miniskirts’ which the gossips complain ‘hardly cover the knees’!), the song has one main coro, ‘no la estires
más, agrégale un poco más’ (don’t stretch it, sew a bit more [material] on), as in example 4.22.

Example 4.22 coro 1

Egües starts his solo by quoting the beginning of this coro a sixth higher as in example 4.23.

Example 4.23 Egües’ quotation of coro 1

Within this melodic fragment lie key components of other ideas in the solo, such as the rhythm and contour of
‘’sti-res’ and the pitches of c4 and b3 which are prominent throughout the solo. The rhythm of the words is also
apparent in the motifs he chooses as in example 4.24.

Example 4.24 coro rhythms forming new motifs (lyrics superimposed)

(Miller, 2014, pp.114-115)

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CHAPTER 8
Chapter 8
Individual Style within the Charanga Típica
Individual style within the típica tradition is rooted in a collective style which, although related to the written
repertoire (and indeed Western art music), has essentially been formed over years through oral methods of
transmission (both live and recorded). Broad characteristics of the típica style can be described through a close
study of influential players, but one must also take into account individual differences and personal preference
when describing the style as a whole. Many players talk about their ‘sello,’ their own personal ‘stamp,’
including Orquesta Aragón’s Eduardo Rubio:

Llevan muchas cosas de Richard—hay grabado muchas cosas de Richard. Todo el mundo sabe. El es la
escuela de todo, de todo. Entonces me puso oïr a Richard allí, las cosas que hace Richard, las cosas que
hace otra gente también como Fajardo—oí a Loyola—a otros flautistas. Trato de mantener el estilo y
differenciarme un poco. ¿Cada uno tiene su personalidad tocando un instrumento no?1

[Lots of things come from Richard—there’s lots of Richard’s ideas on record—he is the school for
everything, everything. So I set about listening to Richard, what Richard does, what other players do too,
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 like Fajardo. I listened to Loyola and other flute players. I try to maintain the style whilst differentiating
myself a little. Everyone has their own personality when they play an instrument don’t they?]

Individual style can be manifested in very subtle differences in timbre, articulation and rubato use, or a
penchant for certain melodies, rhythms or sequential phrases. Many charanga flautists, particularly in the 1950s,
can be identified purely from their sound and manner of articulation.
(Miller, 2014, p. 215)

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