On this day in the year 1896, the talented Ernesto Lecuona Casado was born in Guanabacoa. He is considered an exceptional musician and the most widely known Cuban composer in the world, not only because of the quantity of his works, but also because of their quality.
When he was 15 years old he composed what is considered his first quality work, Danzas Cubanas, in which he expresses his musical mastery and where we can appreciate his interest in the use of themes from native roots.
Together with Gonzalo Roig and Rodrigo Prats, he integrates the most important trilogy of Cuban lyric theater, especially zarzuela; his masterpiece: María la O contributed to the genre the Cuban romanza in its definitive form, and created true masterpieces such as Triste es ser esclavo, Rosa la China and Lamento africano.
Other genres in which Lecuona ventured are waltzes for piano, opera and ballet; his fame as a composer of international light songs is based on hits such as Canto Carabalí, Siboney, La Comparsa and La Malagueña; at the same time his name gained prestige in the classical field and for his incursions in certain rhythms of African influence, among them, the rumba-arabic or Cuban folkloric dances.
Ernesto Lecuona was a man of great initiative who organized the Havana Symphony Orchestra and a lyric theater company.
