Antonio María Romeu Marrero (11 September 1876 – 18 January 1955) was a Cuban pianist, composer and bandleader. His orchestra was Cuba's leading charanga for over thirty years, specializing in the danzón.[1] Throughout his career he was popularly known as El Mago de las Teclas (The Keyboard Magician).[2][3]
Romeu studied music in 1884 with Joaquín Mariano Martínez, and practiced the piano at a local church by the beach in Jibacoa. At twelve he played at his first dance, and composed his first work. In 1899 he moved to Havana and played in cafés. He was invited to play in the Orquesta Cervantes, one of several charangas founded at the beginning of the 1900s. Charangas supplanted the típicas as the standard instrumental line-up for the danzón. Initially called charangas francesas (though they have nothing to do with France), they were 'invented' at the start of the 20th century. The basic idea was to pitch the tone of the orchestra higher and brighter than the típica, by removing the brass, replacing the clarinet with a flute and replacing the kettle drums with a new invention, the pailas criollas, now called timbales. Orquesta Cervantes is the earliest known charanga to have included a piano.
Romeu founded his own orchestra in 1910. The initial line-up for Orquesta Romeu featured Romeu on piano, Feliciano Facenda on violin, Alfredo Valdés on flute, Rafael Calazán on double bass, Remigio Valdés on timbales, and Juan de la Merced on güiro. By the 1920s the charanga had expanded considerably, featuring Francisco Delabart on flute, Augusto Valdés on clarinet, Juan Quevedo on violin, Aurelio Valdés and Félix Vásquez on güiro, Antonio María Romeu Jr. on violin, Pedro Hernández on violin, Dihigo on trumpet, Regueira on trombone, and José Antonio Díaz on flute. In the 1930s the orchestra added even more musicians, and became for a while a big band (known in Cuba as jazzband). During the Second World War, with a diminution of tourism, the band reduced its size.
Orquesta Romeu with Romeu (dark suit) and Fernando Collazo, late 1920s.
The danzón had been, since its beginning in the 1870s, an instrumental genre, but by 1927 bands began to include a singer. The Romeu orchestra had initially Fernando Collazo in the role, who was replaced by Barbarito Díez in 1935. From the beginning, and throughout his career, Romeu employed musicians of all racial types, as Cuban bands had done since at least 1800.[4]
After Romeu's death in January 1955, the orchestra was led for a while by his son, Antonio María Romeu Jr., then by Barbarito Díez. It still played the traditional danzón, but now was known as Orquesta de Barbarito Díez.[5]
Compositions
Romeu wrote and arranged over 500 danzones, many of which have been adapted for other Cuban rhythms; some were completely original, others were adaptations of existing works. His most famous work was "Tres lindas cubanas", which was an arrangement of the son of the same name, written by guitarist Guillermo Castillo and made famous by the Sexteto Habanero. Other famous danzones were "Siglo XX", "La danza do los milliones", "El servicio obligartorio", "Cinta azul", "El mago de las teclas", and "Jibacoa". He arranged many famous works of the trova, Cuba's singer/songwriter tradition, such as "Guarina" and "Perla marina" (Sindo Garay), "Mares y arenas" (Rosendo Ruiz), "Mercedes" (Manuel Corona), "Aquella boca" (Eusebio Delfín) and "La cleptomanía" (Manuel Luna). In addition, he adapted classical works such as "La flauta mágica" (from Mozart's The Magic Flute) and "El barbero de Sevilla" (from Rossini's The Barber of Seville).
References
^Giro, Radamés 2007. Diccionario encyclopédico de la música en Cuba. vol 4, La Havana. p. 84
^Ledón Sánchez, Armando (2003). La música popular en Cuba (in Spanish). Oakland, CA: Intelibooks. pp. 55–56. ISBN9780932367150.
^Shepherd, John; Horn, David, eds. (2014). "Danzón". Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, Volume 9. London, UK: Bloomsbury. p. 274. ISBN9781441132253.
^Carpentier, Alejo 2001 [1945]. Music in Cuba. Minneapolis, MN, p. 161.
^Orovio, Helio 1981. Diccionario de la música cubana. La Habana, Cuba. p. 283.
antonio, maría, romeu, marrero, september, 1876, january, 1955, cuban, pianist, composer, bandleader, orchestra, cuba, leading, charanga, over, thirty, years, specializing, danzón, throughout, career, popularly, known, mago, teclas, keyboard, magician, backgro. Antonio Maria Romeu Marrero 11 September 1876 18 January 1955 was a Cuban pianist composer and bandleader His orchestra was Cuba s leading charanga for over thirty years specializing in the danzon 1 Throughout his career he was popularly known as El Mago de las Teclas The Keyboard Magician 2 3 Antonio Maria RomeuBackground informationBirth nameAntonio Maria Romeu MarreroBorn 1876 09 11 September 11 1876Jibacoa CubaDiedJanuary 18 1955 1955 01 18 aged 78 Havana CubaGenresDanzonOccupation s Musician bandleader composer arrangerInstrument s PianoLabelsPanart Contents 1 Life and career 2 Compositions 3 References 4 External linksLife and career EditRomeu studied music in 1884 with Joaquin Mariano Martinez and practiced the piano at a local church by the beach in Jibacoa At twelve he played at his first dance and composed his first work In 1899 he moved to Havana and played in cafes He was invited to play in the Orquesta Cervantes one of several charangas founded at the beginning of the 1900s Charangas supplanted the tipicas as the standard instrumental line up for the danzon Initially called charangas francesas though they have nothing to do with France they were invented at the start of the 20th century The basic idea was to pitch the tone of the orchestra higher and brighter than the tipica by removing the brass replacing the clarinet with a flute and replacing the kettle drums with a new invention the pailas criollas now called timbales Orquesta Cervantes is the earliest known charanga to have included a piano Romeu founded his own orchestra in 1910 The initial line up for Orquesta Romeu featured Romeu on piano Feliciano Facenda on violin Alfredo Valdes on flute Rafael Calazan on double bass Remigio Valdes on timbales and Juan de la Merced on guiro By the 1920s the charanga had expanded considerably featuring Francisco Delabart on flute Augusto Valdes on clarinet Juan Quevedo on violin Aurelio Valdes and Felix Vasquez on guiro Antonio Maria Romeu Jr on violin Pedro Hernandez on violin Dihigo on trumpet Regueira on trombone and Jose Antonio Diaz on flute In the 1930s the orchestra added even more musicians and became for a while a big band known in Cuba as jazzband During the Second World War with a diminution of tourism the band reduced its size Orquesta Romeu with Romeu dark suit and Fernando Collazo late 1920s The danzon had been since its beginning in the 1870s an instrumental genre but by 1927 bands began to include a singer The Romeu orchestra had initially Fernando Collazo in the role who was replaced by Barbarito Diez in 1935 From the beginning and throughout his career Romeu employed musicians of all racial types as Cuban bands had done since at least 1800 4 After Romeu s death in January 1955 the orchestra was led for a while by his son Antonio Maria Romeu Jr then by Barbarito Diez It still played the traditional danzon but now was known as Orquesta de Barbarito Diez 5 Compositions EditRomeu wrote and arranged over 500 danzones many of which have been adapted for other Cuban rhythms some were completely original others were adaptations of existing works His most famous work was Tres lindas cubanas which was an arrangement of the son of the same name written by guitarist Guillermo Castillo and made famous by the Sexteto Habanero Other famous danzones were Siglo XX La danza do los milliones El servicio obligartorio Cinta azul El mago de las teclas and Jibacoa He arranged many famous works of the trova Cuba s singer songwriter tradition such as Guarina and Perla marina Sindo Garay Mares y arenas Rosendo Ruiz Mercedes Manuel Corona Aquella boca Eusebio Delfin and La cleptomania Manuel Luna In addition he adapted classical works such as La flauta magica from Mozart s The Magic Flute and El barbero de Sevilla from Rossini s The Barber of Seville References Edit Giro Radames 2007 Diccionario encyclopedico de la musica en Cuba vol 4 La Havana p 84 Ledon Sanchez Armando 2003 La musica popular en Cuba in Spanish Oakland CA Intelibooks pp 55 56 ISBN 9780932367150 Shepherd John Horn David eds 2014 Danzon Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World Volume 9 London UK Bloomsbury p 274 ISBN 9781441132253 Carpentier Alejo 2001 1945 Music in Cuba Minneapolis MN p 161 Orovio Helio 1981 Diccionario de la musica cubana La Habana Cuba p 283 External links EditAntonio Maria Romeu recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Antonio Maria Romeu amp oldid 1114755314, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
