MISA CUBANA

MISA CUBANA

" The Misa cubana, composed by José María Vitier, is dedicated to the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre, patron saint of Cuba. The mass was conceived from the universality of the Marian cult with the specificity of the Cuban culture. Worship and culture are intertwined in search of a musical synthesis that may represent us as a spiritual motherland.

The mass includes three songs in Spanish dedicated to the Virgen del Cobre as well as the strictly liturgical parts: Kyrie Eleison, Gloria, Sanctus and Agnus Dei. There are also a Hosanna and two fragments of true Martian tradition, Ave Maria and Salve Regina, all of which are in Latin. The format employed in the Misa cubana includes soloists, choir, string orchestra, organ, harpsichord, piano and percussion.

As for the conception of the music, Vitier takes as a starting point the European legacy of church music as well as the Cuban musical tradition, both the highbrow and the popular. In his stylistic intention stands out his use of the traditional song and particularly the aesthetic heritage of our first composer of church music, Esteban Salas.

This mass, whose first performance took place at the Havana Cathedral in 1996, has been the subject of almost a hundred performances in the most prestigious venues, both in Cuba and abroad. Among them, we could mention Mexico, US, Canada, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Portugal, Israel, France, UK, Denmark, Brazil, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Ecuador and many others.

The first recording of the mass won the Great Award at the Cubadisco in 1998 and afterwards each new release has been very favorably received by the public."

Introduction by Silvia Rodríguez Rivero.