the galician rumba

The Galician Rumba

To my grandparents Xosé and Florentina

Armando Rodríguez Ruidíaz

2 | The Galician Rumba

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Outside from the geographic limits of the Spanish territory, very few people have

heard about the Galician Rumba, and the general population doesn’t know how such a

renowned Cuban musical genre as the Rumba happened to earn a space within the heart

of the Galician nation. They adopted it as their own and have included it, from long time

ago, in their most popular traditions.

The Galician Rumba belongs to those songs and dances called “de ida y vuelta”

(of departure and return) as the Cuban Punto and Habanera, that travelled back from

Cuba to the motherland (Spain) to establish themselves there as musical genres cultivated

and cherished by the Spanish population. It is important to explain that when we mention

the Galician Rumba, we are not referring to Rumbas that were composed in Cuba and

brought to Galicia, but about original Rumbas born from the Galician popular inspiration.

Similar to the Rumba Flamenca, the Rumba Gallega (Galician Rumba) is

originated by a fusion of certain Cuban and Spanish stylistic elements. For example, in

the famous Rumba Flamenca “El Porompompero” we can perceive that the melody is

based on the “Frigian or Andalusian Cadence”, a harmonic pattern which gives it a strong

Spanish flavor, while the guitar strumming provides the characteristic Rumba rhythmic

support.

We can also notice in its melody the frequent utilization of a syncopated rhythmic

structure, which is typical of the Rumba and other popular musical genres such as the

“guaracha” and the “contradanza.”

In the Galician Rumba titled “Rumba de Palmira de Soutomaior,” we find a very

similar result. In this case, the melody has been also structured on the basis of the Spanish

Armando Rodíguez Ruidíaz | 3

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“Frigian Cadence”, while in the rhythmic background we can perceive elements from the

Cuban Rumba. We can also hear in this example the inclusion of same syncopated

rhythmic cell as in the previous example.

The Galician Rumbas generally utilize one or several of the following rhythms,

which are characteristic of some Cuban music genres such as the “guaracha” the “rumba”

and the “habanera.”


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The first example is the so called “tresillo cubano.” The second is the well known

“tango or habanera” rhythm. The third example corresponds to the rhythmic patterns that

appear in the bass line of “La Guabina”, the first Cuban “guaracha”, published in Havana

at the beginning of the 19th century. The last example reproduces the guitar strumming in

the first recordings of “rumbas” and “guarachas” at the beginning of the 20th century.

In regard to the appearance of the “Rumba” in Galicia, Luis Costa says (quoting

Miguel Pérez Lorenzo), that there are testimonies about the inclusion of the “Rumba” in

the Galician bagpipe’s (gaita) repertoire since the 19th century. He also says in reference

to the bagpiper from Ourense, Xoán Ferreiro: “He played, we imagine, those pieces that

he heard from his father, other bagpipers, and the band… Jerónimo (father of this

bagpiper, who passed away in 1940) emigrated to Cuba, where he lived until five years

before his death… those years in Cuba served him to include “rumbas and “boleros” in

his repertoire… which now Don Xoán plays. With the exception of the processional

pieces that Don Xoán used to play; sometime in the mass and other times walking behind

the “Saint” in the procession, the rest was mainly for the people to dance in the fests and

“romerías.” This is the reason why the “Cuban” pieces, as well as some Portuguese

pieces that he also plays, turned to be so assimilable; just because they were very much

appropriate for dancing.1

Luis Costa explains also that: “The assimilation of those “exotic” genres (such as

the “rumba”) was directly related to the fact that because of their formal traits, they could

be transferred, without much stridency, to the capabilities of the Galician popular

instrument par excellence, the bagpipe (gaita). Some of those genres (as in the case of the

“rumba”) could be considered fully assimilated by the mid-twentieth century.2

This high degree of assimilation that Costa mentions is evident in a rumba

collected at the Monzo Council, A Coruña; interpreted by the group of “pandeireteiras”

(tambourine players) “Veña que vai”.3 That tune called Rumba de Monzo, presents all the

1 Luis Costa. Las rumbas olvidadas: transculturalidad y etnicización en la música popular gallega Universidade de Vigo. Pag. 8. http://www.sibetrans.com/trans/trans8/costa.htm

2 Luis Costa. Las rumbas olvidadas: transculturalidad y etnicización en la música popular gallega Universidade de Vigo. Pag. 9. http://www.sibetrans.com/trans/trans8/costa.htm

3 Grupo Veña que Vai. Rumba de Monzo. Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srfwz_-EpnQ


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characteristics of a typical Galician song, including an “alalá” over the “Frigian Cadence

at the conclusion of each phrase.

Due to its popular origin the “Galician Rumbas” frequently come from unknown

authors; and similarly to the “muiñeiras” and other tradicional genres, they are named

after the town or region where they were collected, like: Rumba de Eo, Rumba de

Mallou, Rumba de Cerqueira, Rumba de Anxeriz or Rumba de Vergara. They are also

titled after the name of the author, if it happens to be known, or after the person to whom

they have been dedicated, as for example: Rumba de Juanito do Carballal, Rumba de

Pucho, or Rumba Sabeliña.

The introduction of the rumba in Galicia, as well as other genres that may be

considered “exotic” or “foreign” to the Galician musical tradition, such as the jota, the

polka, the pasodoble, the vals, the corrido and the fandango, is closely related to the

creation, during the first half of the 20th century, of musical groups called “charangas” o


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“murgas”. Those groups, differently from traditional Galician ensembles such as those

comprised by tambourines or by bagpipes and percussion, included other instruments like

the clarinet, the saxophone, the accordion, and the guitar, as well as an ample selection of

percussion instruments.4

A characteristic example of this type of musical ensemble is the “Charanga do

Cuco de Velle”, which enjoyed much notoriety until the death of its founder, Claudio

González Añel, known by the surname of “Cuco de Velle.” That group was comprised of

one or more bagpipes, clarinet, accordion, guitars, drum (tamboril), bass drum,

tambourines and “cuncha” (Vieira shells).

Charanga do Cuco de Velle

In the lyrics of their most famous song, a rumba titled “O paraguas do Xosé”, we

find great similarity with the typical lyrics of a Cuban guaracha. The text, written in a

popular Galician-Castilian jargon, is full of picaresque references and double meaning.

They also mention the “mulata” (young creole woman), typical character from the

national Cuban folklore. Following, we reproduce a fragment from this song:

O paraguas do Xosé The umbrella of Xosé

(coro: do Xosé, do Xosé) (choir: of Xosé, of Xosé)

e un paraguas moi malo is a very bad umbrella

que en cuanto caen cuatro gotas as soon as a few drops fall

ya se le humedece el palo its pole gets very humid

y por eso la mulata and that is why the mulata

4 Norberto Pablo Cirio Desaparición, permanencia y cambios en las prácticas musicales de la colectividad gallega de la Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Musicología “Carlos Vega”. Fundación Xeito Novo

de Cultura Gallega. Pag. 2. http://www.musicaclasicaargentina.com/3articulosgal.htm


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por muy mojada que esté as wet as she could be

no se pondría debajo will never get under

(¿debajo de qué macho?)… (under what, macho?...)

del paraguas de Xosé the umbrella of Xosé

In the following examples, taken from Cuban “guarachas” from the beginning of

the 19th century, we can notice the utilization of double meaning and mentions to the

“mulata”; 5 they are very similar to those found in the previously mentioned “Rumba

Gallega.”

La mulata Celestina the mulata Celestina

le ha cogido miedo al mar is growing scared of the sea

porque una vez fue a nadar because when she went to swim

y la mordió una guabina was bitten by a guabina

La mulata es como el pan The mulata is like the bread

se debe comer caliente you have to eat it while hot

que en dejándola enfriar because if it cools down

ni el diablo le mete el diente even the devil wouldn’t eat it

The development experimented by the Galician music after the 1960s favored the

foundation in Galicia of schools dedicated to the preservation and practice of the musical

traditions. They, in turn, made possible the formation of high level performers such as the

bagpiper Carlos Núñez, as well as the creation of new musical ensembles.

With the purpose of achieving a higher degree of universality in their works, those

new ensembles such as Milladoiro, Muxicas, Berrogüeto and many others, expanded the

structure of the tradicional Galician groups; they utilized a varied and modern

instrumentation that sometimes included the electronic instruments and drums of the

modern “rock” groups. Those ensembles also adopted with enthusiasm an ample

repertory of non-traditional pieces such as jotas, polkas, waltzes… and of course, the

“rumbas.”

During the last two decades of the 20th century, the social interaction between

Galicia and Cuba experienced an outstanding increment due to particular economic and

political circumstances. Those circumstances were taken advantage by the population of

both geographic regions, in order to satisfy a great desire of approachment and

communication that was frustrated since the beginning of the Cuban revolution in 1959.

During that time, Cubans began to play de bagpipe (gaita) again, to celebrate Galician

festivites, to create Galician music ensembles and also to include the “gaita” in modern

“rock” groups or in mixed experiments with “gaita” and Cuban percussion.

Also during that time, some recordings of “rumbas gallegas” (in which the Cuban

component is highlighted) were produced in Galicia. We can point out, among others, a

5 Alejo Carpentier. La música en Cuba. Editorial Letras Cubanas. 1979. Pag.108 y 185.


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version of the “Rumba dos cinco marinheiros” by the renowned Muxicas group6, where

we can perceive the well known “clave cubana” rhythm in the instrumental background.

It is worth also to mention a recording of the same piece by the bagpiper Carlos Núñez,

playing along with the legendary Irish group “The Chieftains.” That performance was

accompanied at that time by an autochthonous Cuban musical ensemble.7

We don’t want to conclude this essay without mentioning the “Rumba Asturiana”

(Asturian rumba), another interesting derivative from the Cuban rumba in Spain. As so

many other genres shared with Galicia, the “rumba” has come to occupy a space in the

Asturian popular music repertoire. In the melody of the “Rumba d’Ibias, from which we

reproduce a segment, it is possible to clearly notice the reiteration of the “habanera”

rhythmic pattern.

We hope this work will serve as informative material for those who may be

interested on this subject; and also as a modest homage to the “Galician Rumba”, a

musical genre born from the affinity between to nations united by strong ties of lineage

and tradition.

© 2013 por Armando Rodríguez. Todos los derechos reservados.

6 Muxicas. No colo do vento - CD. Clave Records 1996. Track 3.

7 The Chieftains. Santiago - CD. BMG Classics 1996. Track 12.

the galician rumba

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