La Bella Cubana ( Edison recording 1924)

An experimental recording in 1924 by
Thomas Alva Edison.

"La bella Cubana - habanera (1924)

"La Bella Cubana ‐ José White (composer)

José Silvestre de los Dolores White Lafitte (1835‐1918) was such a fine violinist that
they called him 'el Paganini cubano' (the Cuban Paganini). José White, violinist and com‐
poser, was an African‐American Cuban, partly of Haitian background. He was such a fine
violinist, that he was compared favorably with his contemporaries Weinawski, Viewtemps,
and Ole Bull (a great Norwegian violinist). White was famous in Europe, especially in Paris,
and performed in New York and Boston as well on a Stradivarius violin. He was a friend of
the famous Afro‐American musician Gottschalk of Louisiana. Despite the prejudices of the
times, José White was a student of and then an assistant to the great violin teacher Delphin
Alard in the 1860s at the Paris Conservatoire; he also married a French Countess.

José White wrote a lot of violin music, including a concerto for violin and the song
La Bella Cubana, which became his most famous work and the most popular Cuban song
after the National Anthem. The middle section of La Bella Cubana is a Cuban zapateado.
From about 1870 to the1970s his concerto was lost. Finally, it was found at the Paris Conser‐
vatoire and was premiered first by Ruggiero Ricci, then by Aaron Rosand with the New
York Philharmonic, and then in 1976 by Maestro Luís Haza at Catholic University in Wash‐
ington, D.C.. Maestro Luís Haza, who heard Rosand's concert, is a violinist in the National
Symphony Orchestra and is the conductor of the American Youth Philharmonic in Northern
Virginia. José White's Concerto, in the very difficult key of F# minor, has also been performed
by Alex Kerr, a concertmaster in Amsterdam. The Concerto, unfortunately out of print,
sounds like a combination of Paganini, Viewtemps, and Weinawski.

"La bella cubana", a Habanera, was originally written for two violins and piano."

"La Bella Cubano- Habanera
Performed by: El Trio Cubano - violins and piano
Record format: Edison Diamond Disc test pressing
Matrix number: 9717-A-1-1
Recording date: September 18, 1924
NPS object catalog number: EDIS 77575
This item is part of the collection: Open Source Audio
Author: El Trio Cubano
Date: 1924-00-00 00:00:00
Source: National Park Service
Creative Commons license: Public Domain"
קובה

• Category

  People & Blogs

[ertlflora]

this music is very hungarian feeling:D I love CUBA+HUNGARY:D:):)

[albertdiner]

are you referring to a tzigainer sound? It must

be due to the violins used. this song is very

nostalgic for Cubans. they cry when they

listen to it.

[4yall]

Cuba, sufro tus lagrimas y las de tus hijos. Vives encadenada por revoluciones y desgobiernos que desde tu nacimiento te han esclavizado y explotado. Tu historia ha sido borrada ya casi completamente bajo las manos de gente sin corazon, sin sentido de orgullo o deber a su patria. Hoy te lloro Cuba mia, y espero tu liberacion, que marcara mi retorno a tus fertiles tierras, en busqueda de construir junto con mis hermanos un nuveo futuro.

[Oswaldo Diaz Rangel]

extraordinaria melodía que nos hace recordar yquerer mas a ese hermano pais

[Rob Chalfen]

with weird unrelated interpolation @ 4:20, later '20s electric recording, vocal & piano, not Edison, then reprise of the piece @ 5:10

[Rob Chalfen]

it's a test pressing, not an 'experimental recording', except maybe in a bad translation.

[arnerog]

Cuba,La reyna de los mares.Para aquellos que nacimos en ella es nuestro mas preciado tesoro,para los extranjeros que la visiten sera una experiencia unica y quedaran marcados para el resto de sus vidas deseando regresar una y otra vez!VIVA CUBA LIBRE! SIN LOS CASTROS!!

[Ligia Archila Serrano]

ASÍ COMO LA EXHUBERANCIA DE ESTA ISLA, ASÍ COMO SU ENCANTO, ASÍ Y ES NUESTRO AMOR.

[Ligia Archila Serrano]

TU NOMBRE, TU SANGRE, TUS BESOS, QUEDAN MARCADOS EN MI CUERPO Y ALMA. TU CUBA, MI CUBA...........MI GUATEMALA, TU GUATEMALA.

[Ligia Archila Serrano]

HOMBRE TOMA MI MANO Y TE SIGO.

[Ligia Archila Serrano]

A ESA TIERRA DE ENSUEÑO QUE ME DIO EL AMOR MÁS SENTIDO Y QUERIDO, EL GENUINO Y VERDADERO AMOR DE UN HOMBRE QUE ME ESTREMECIÓ DEL CUERPO Y EL ALMA. A ESA TIERRA QUE SE ABANICA CON PALMERAS EN EL MALECÓN, TIERRA ROJA DE CIEGO DE ÁVILA COMO LA SANGRE DEL HOMBRE QUE ME HIZO SENTIRME MUJER. A ESE HOMBRE: ARTURO FRANCISCO MATAS ORIA, VA MI VIDA HASTA EL ÚLTIMO SUSPIRO PARA JUNTARNOS AL INFINITO A LA MÚSICA CELESTE DE DIOS.

NUNCA ESTARÉ NI PUEDO LLEGAR ALLÍ........PERO LA ISLA ME PARTE EL ALMA.

[Tenebrius1963]

Very nice, how can we get this in MP3 or a CD?

[Elpidio ISMAEL Lopez]

Cuando muera deseo que mis restos descasen en esa mi querida tierra o sino en Valladolid; pero nunca será como ser enterrado entre palmera entre la guaracha y el Son; lamento el no estar allí; y sentir la nostalgia cada noche de sentir el cañonazo de las nueve; si muero fuera de esa tierra por favor llevarme allí

[insolentlolita]

"La Bella Cubana" is a beautiful song but the "most popular Cuban song" title may not be exactly accurate as there are several others vying for the title with "La Guantanamera" being a a favorite contender. Cuba music has been so prolific that is basically impossible to choose.

Thanks for uploading this gem of a video.