<em>Las Tonadas Trinitarias</em>: History of an Afro-Cuban Musical Tradition from Trinidad de Cuba

Abstract

The tonadas trinitarias are an Afro-Cuban musical manifestation native to Trinidad de Cuba, a town on Cuba's south-central coast. They represent a transcultural product of guajiro (1) and Bantu-derived musical practices, originating among members of Trinidad's Cabildo de San Antonio de Congos Reales in late nineteenth century. Now confined to local folkloric stage as tourist entertainment, in their original form they were performed by neighborhood groups of singers and drummers during nocturnal transits through town's streets. In this article, I hope to accomplish three things. The first is to draw attention to and contribute to gap in research on music of Cuba's provincial areas (commonly referred to as las provincias)--particularly central provinces--which are often sidelined in favor of research focusing on cities of Havana, Matanzas, and Santiago. The second is to provide a comprehensive history of origins and evolution of a local, small-scale creole (2) genre in Cuba, drawing on literary sources and oral histories of elder musicians in Trinidad. Finally, I will assess both positive and negative effects of state support of tonadas trinitarias and accompanying process of folkloricization. My conclusions are drawn primarily from fieldwork I conducted in Trinidad in 2009 for my master's thesis, during which I interviewed various local musicians involved with tonadas trinitarias and took percussion lessons in order to learn parts. I also attended daily performances of Conjunto Folklorico de Trinidad, which are put on for tourists at El Palenque bar and restaurant. I met my informants through Cuban musicologist Enrique Zayas Bringas, a native of Trinidad, who encouraged me to document tradition. Many of musicians were longtime friends of Zayas Bringas, including members of Conjunto Folklorico de Trinidad as well as elder musicians who were no longer active participants. These elder musicians proved to be my most interesting informants, and their accounts are included here. Since tonadas trinitarias are currently only performed in staged tourist performances and primarily by younger musicians, elders' recollections served to paint a portrait of tradition in its original community-oriented context. Nonetheless, input provided by my younger informants in Conjunto Folklorico de Trinidad allowed me to contrast their experiences with those of elder performers and assess recent changes, such as effects of folkloricization. The tonadas trinitarias (also referred to as simply tonadas (3)) underwent a process of folkloricization under Cuba's Revolutionary government. Hagedorn defines folkloricization as the process of making a folk tradition folkloric, and uses performance of Afro-Cuban religious repertoire by state-sponsored Conjunto Folklorico Nacional in Havana as an example (2001, 12). She explains how creation of state-sponsored folkloric troupes by Revolutionary government in 1960s was meant to preserve and elevate folk traditions by turning them into staged, choreographed representations. Afro-Cuban folklore was heavily impacted by this, as it was a primary source of material for state's folkloric troupes. Afro-Cuban music and dance had long been looked down upon as vulgar by economically and politically dominant white population, and yet they were also promoted as a unique element of national identity since 1930s (Moore 1997). The creation of state folkloric troupes for Afro-Cuban music following 1959 Revolution was a way for state to promote traditions in a controlled setting (the public stage) in a way that was both educational and more acceptable to dominant (white) sectors of society. Notwithstanding undertones of racism and state control, state's creation of folkloric troupes had positive effects as well, particularly in case of Trinidad's folkloric troupe, created in early 1960s. …