On June 11, 1868 the notes of the National Anthem of Cuba are interpreted for the first time in public, a melody that was composed by Pedro (Perucho) Figueredo in the early morning of August 13 to 14, 1867, immediately after the foundation of the Revolutionary Committee of Bayamo, and at the request of Francisco Maceo Osorio, who asked Perucho to write the Cuban Marseillaise; and for this reason he titled his work La Bayamesa (The Bayamesa).
The work was interpreted for the first time in public in the religious festivities of Corpus Christie, inside the church, and it was performed under the intense patriotic emotion of the revolutionaries who went out behind the band in procession, listening to those immortal chords.
Among other revolutionaries, Perucho Figueredo, Maceo Osorio, Donato Mármol, José Joaquín Palma, Manuel Anastasio Aguilera, Juan Luis Pacheco, Esteban Estrada, Joaquín Acosta and Juan Izaguirre attended the celebration together with the relatives of the conspirators of Bayamo; also, in his capacity as governor of the city, was Colonel Julián Udaeta, his staff and a platoon of infantry.
The Spanish officer immediately understood that it was a warrior hymn, and called to his presence maestro Manuel Muñoz Cedeño, the band director and instrumentalist of the march, who, following Figueredo’s instructions, explained that he had only executed the music given to him for the occasion.
Udaeta then called Perucho Figueredo and told him “That does not seem to me to be a religious march, but a martial one”, to which the author of the immortal hymn replied “Mr. Governor, I am not mistaken in assuring, as I assure you, that you are not a musician; therefore, nothing authorizes you to tell me that this is a patriotic song”.
To which the colonel replied “You say well, I am not a musician, but rest assured that I am not deceived. You may retire with that certainty».
A few days later, on July 24, 1868, La Bayamesa was played again during another religious celebration in which the governor participated, who, when he surrendered to the Cuban forces on October 20, and upon recognizing the melody sung by the Bayamese, said: “I was not fooled! It is a war music!
