Eduardo Sánchez de Fuentes

Eduardo Sánchez de Fuentes (3 April 1874, in Havana 7 September 1944) was a Cuban composer, and an author of books on the history of Cuban folk music.[1]

The outstanding habanera ,[2] written when he was sixteen, was his best-known composition. As an adult, he composed the scores for the opera Yumurí, the ballet Dioné, the oratorio Navidad and the cantata Anacaona.

His writings are still charming and informative today, though their standing has suffered from an accurate criticism by later musicologists. They realized that he had systematically underestimated the contribution of the Africans in Cuba. He insisted, instead, on the supposed contribution of Cuba's original aboriginal population, which was subsequently disproved.

"It is a shame that a succession of errors should have spoilt the greatest work of a man who had carried his musicianship for almost half a century with rare dignity." [3]

His books

References

  1. Orovio, Helio 2004. Cuban music from A to Z.
  2. Lydie Solomon, piano, Simon Gerland, director (2012). Lydie Solomon playing and singing habanera Tú. Festivisuel. Retrieved 29 Sep 2012.
  3. Carpentier, Alejo 2001 [1945]. Music in Cuba. Minniapolis MN. p254 (this comment by Carpentier applies to the books and also to some of the musical works)

External links