‘Música Guajira’

There are two main forms of guajira. The first, in both 6/8 and 3/4 meter (in alternation), is related to the punto cubano, a form of música campesina (country music) that was adapted and performed in the theater in both Spain and Cuba in the early decades of the twentieth century; the second form, in 4/4 time, was known initially as guajira de salón and later as guajira-son. The latter son-influenced guajira form became well known in Cuba through radio shows in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, popularised by artists such as Guillermo Portabales, Celina González and Joseíto Fernández. The meaning of the word guajira can lead to some confusion when it comes to labelling música campesina or 'country music' styles. The term is used to refer to the guajiro or Cuban peasant farmer or to the country woman (guajira), as well as to many forms of music referring to the countryside and rural living. Not all songs with ‘guajira’ in the lyrics, for example, are musically related to the guajira-son style. However, the idealization of rural life and the portrayal of Cuban national identity through the image of the Hispanic farmer is prevalent in most guajira forms, from the composed pieces in Cuban musical theater works (in zarzuela and teatro bufo) of the early twentieth century to the guajira songs of the son and charanga dance bands from the 1930s and 1940s onwards.