Manuel Saumell

Manuel Saumell Robredo (19 April 1818 – 14 August 1870), was a Cuban composer known for his invention and development of genuinely creolized forms of music. For this reason he gets the credit for being the first to cultivate Cuban musical nationalism, and is of similar standing to Glinka who initiated Russian musical nationalism with A Life for the Tsar at about the same time.

Life Saumell, from a destitute family, "destined to die young, after leading a miserable, peripatetic, sorrowful existence" was born in Havana. He studied piano with Juan Federico Edelmann, and harmony, arranging, counterpoint and fugue with Maurice Pyke, the director of an Italian opera company which visited Havana. Saumell played the organ in church and interpreted Beethoven for trios, organized musical meetings, made orchestrations and arrangements, and taught classes. "Saumell was a truly hard worker, sensitive, generous with others, demanding of himself; he was eager to achieve great things [and] inspired to great projects."

Works Leaving aside numbers written in haste for dances, Saumell wrote over fifty contradanzas (in or time) which merit attention. His rhythmic and melodic inventiveness is astonishing. No two pages are alike, according to Carpentier, he never repeats himself. Contradanzas were composed in two parts, a prima of eight bars followed by the segunda of sixteen bars, or else 16 followed by 16. Saumell used to write a prima in classical style, followed by a segunda in creolized Cuban folkloric style.

"Saumell is absolutely prophetic in fixing certain rhythms which would be mined in the future under different names... Saumell is the father not only of the contradanza... but also the habanera (the prima of La Amistad), danzón (La Tedezco), the guajira (segunda of La Matilde), the criolla (the segunda of La Nené), the clavé (La Celestina)... Everything done after him would amplify or distinguish elements plainly exposed in his works."

"After Saumell's visionary work, all that was left to do was to develop his innovations, all of which profoundly influenced the history of Cuban nationalist musical movements." Helio Orovio

"The most important [Cuban] musician of the [19th] century was Manuel Saumell Robredo"

The scores of Saumell's Contradanzas for piano are available at Cuatro 40 Ediciones in printed form or downloadable PDF.