{"id":4317,"date":"2025-08-12T06:45:58","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T10:45:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/?p=4317"},"modified":"2025-08-11T16:48:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T20:48:12","slug":"las-alturas-de-simpson-and-the-origins-of-cuban-danzon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/las-alturas-de-simpson-and-the-origins-of-cuban-danzon-12082025\/","title":{"rendered":"Las Alturas de Simpson and the Origins of Cuban Danz\u00f3n"},"content":{"rendered":"

Composed on August 12, 1877, Las Alturas de Simpson<\/em><\/strong> was the first danz\u00f3n ever written in Cuba. Created by Miguel Fa\u00edlde, the piece was first performed on January 1, 1879, at the Liceo Art\u00edstico y Literario in Matanzas (now the Jos\u00e9 White Concert Hall). At that time, the city\u2014known as the Athens of Cuba\u2014had become a vibrant hub for promoting art and literature. Influenced by European styles, particularly the contradanza introduced by French immigrants following the Haitian Revolution, the cultural circles fostered an environment conducive to artistic growth.<\/p>\n

According to historians, the danz\u00f3n\u2019s name refers to a Matanzas landowner named Simpson who donated a plot of land to Fa\u00edlde and his friends to play baseball. This site later became one of the city\u2019s most popular neighborhoods and was also a meeting place for conspirators opposing Spanish colonial rule in Cuba.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 1871, [Fa\u00edlde] founded his t\u00edpica orchestra, which gained renown throughout Matanzas and the country. In 1879, he premiered Las Alturas de Simpson<\/em><\/strong>, the first danz\u00f3n in the history of this popular dance genre. This was followed by pieces such as Ant\u00f3n Pirulero, Los Tirabuzones, La Malague\u00f1a, A la Habana me voy, El Mondonguito, El Malakoff, Cuba Libre, Yaka-Hula, El Amolador, Los Chinos, <\/em>and La Diosa Japonesa<\/em>. He also composed danzas, waltzes, pasodobles, and marches. In 1920, he played his last dance leading his orchestra in Palos,\u201d writes Helio Orovio in the Dictionary of Cuban Music.<\/p>\n

Despite facing opposition from some musicians and the racism inherent to the era, Las Alturas de Simpson quickly gained popularity and boosted Fa\u00edlde\u2019s artistic career. The piece pays tribute to the neighborhood where he lived, featuring a slower, more varied rhythm and greater cadence.<\/p>\n

The piece\u2019s fame and rapid spread led other orchestras to incorporate the new genre into their repertoires. Characterized by a 2\/4-time signature, the genre typically begins with an introduction, followed by a first section showcasing the clarinetist\u2019s agility and the flutist\u2019s technique, reflecting a French contradanza style fused with Cuban musical influences.<\/p>\n

This hallmark effectively marks the birth of a genre that, in 2013, was declared an Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Cuban Nation. Fa\u00edlde is credited with composing 144 danzones and other works, situating the origin of danz\u00f3n within the historical evolution of Cuban society. The genre\u2019s Creole elements and its role as a vehicle for traditional music and emerging Cuban national identity underline its profound cultural significance.<\/p>\n

Translated by Luis E. Amador Dominguez<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Composed on August 12, 1877, Las Alturas de Simpson was the first danz\u00f3n ever written in Cuba.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4318,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[995,996],"ppma_author":[14],"class_list":["post-4317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-specials","tag-las-alturas-de-simpson","tag-miguel-failde"],"authors":[{"term_id":14,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"lazaro-hernandez-rey","display_name":"L\u00e1zaro Hern\u00e1ndez Rey","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4317"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4317\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4320,"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4317\/revisions\/4320"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4317"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=4317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}