“Son Cubano” proposed by Havana!

New Delhi, Dec 10 (EFE).-

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Wednesday added Cuban son music — proposed by Havana — to its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, granting it universal status and recognizing it as a “historic pillar” of Cuba’s traditional dance music, shaped by more than a century of artistic fusion.

“We celebrate with deep pride the Committee’s decision to inscribe the practice of Cuban son on the UNESCO representative list — a recognition that honors the creativity, collective memory and vitality of our communities at such a difficult moment for our country, amid the intensification of the United States blockade,” said Sonia Virgen Pérez, president of Cuba’s National Cultural Heritage Council, who attended the UNESCO meeting in India.

The decision was adopted during the body’s twentieth session in New Delhi, acknowledging son as a musical expression that has shaped the island’s cultural identity and that remains widely performed and enjoyed at celebrations and community gatherings across Cuba.

The genre’s essence — rooted in the 19th century and blending Spanish lyrical traditions with African percussion — is famously captured in the classic son “Chan Chan” by legendary musician Compay Segundo: “De Alto Cedro voy para Marcané. Llego a Cueto; voy para Mayarí.”

The iconic refrain, popularized globally by the Buena Vista Social Club, traces a geographic journey through four towns in eastern Cuba, specifically in the provinces of Holguín and Santiago de Cuba.

It was in that region, with its green landscapes and rolling hills, that son emerged in Black communities. In the early 20th century, it arrived in Havana and took firm root in the neighboring province of Mayabeque.

Cuba’s application highlighted son as a practice whose “variety and richness — with traditional rhythms of African and European origin — are the result of the nation’s memory and transculturation.”

Its rhythms, which incorporate African percussion instruments, are carried by the distinctive tres cubano, a guitar with three pairs of strings.

Today, son boasts globally recognized anthems that continue to bring Cuba to audiences around the world, including “Lágrimas negras,” “El cuarto de Tula,” “Son de la loma” and “Échale Salsita.” EFE

ga/lds