Charanga

Music of Cuba
General topics
Related articles
Genres
Batá and yuka Bolero Chachachá Changui Charanga Conga Contradanza Danzón Descarga Filín Guajira Guaracha Habanera Jazz Hip hop Mambo Nueva trova Rock Rumba Salsa cubana Son Son montuno Timba Trova
Media and performance
Music awards	Beny Moré Award
National anthem	La Bayamesa
Regional music
Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Aruba Bahamas Barbados Bermuda Bonaire Cayman Islands Curaçao Dominica Dominican Republic Grenada Guadeloupe Haiti Jamaica Louisiana Martinique Montserrat Puerto Rico St Kitts and Nevis St Lucia St Vincent and Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago Turks and Caicos Virgin Islands

This article is about the Cuban musical style. For the musical instrument, see charango.

Charanga is a term given to traditional ensembles of Cuban dance music. They made Cuban dance music popular in the 1940s and their music consisted of heavily son-influenced material, performed on European instruments such as violin and flute by a Charanga orchestra. (Aviva 2004, p.199). The style of music that is most associated with a Charanga is termed 'Danzon', and is an amalgam of both European classical music and African rhythms.

Origins

In Spanish, charanga is a generic name for a band that plays popular, festive music, often a marching band. In Cuba it has quite a different meaning.

The first charanga francesa in Cuba was formed at the turn of the twentieth century, possibly by the Antonio (Papaíto) Torroella (1856–1934), whose orchestra was active by 1894. These orchestras play lighter versions of the danzón without a brass section and emphasizing flutes, violins, and piano. The percussion was provided by pailes criollos, now known as timbales. The style continued into the 1940s with flautist Antonio Arcaño and Las Maravillas (Morales 2003 p13). Charangas are still widespread today, though the danzón is now a relic music.

Orquesta de Antonio María Romeu, founded in 1910 (photo is later). It was one of the first charanga francesas.

The Charanga francesa, developed from the Orquesta típica to play danzón, consists of piano, bass, timbales, and other percussion, two violins, and a flute (Manuel 1990 p27).

Sources

• Chomsky, Aviva (2004). The Cuba Reader: History, Culture, Politics. ISBN 0-8223-3197-7.
• Manuel, Peter (1990). Popular Musics of the Non-Western World: An Introductory Survey. ISBN 0-19-506334-1.
• Morales, Ed (2003). The Latin Beat: The Rhythms and Roots of Latin Music, from Bossa Nova to Salsa and Beyond. ISBN 0-306-81018-2.

Genre Representatives

• Orquesta Aragón
• Orquesta América
• Ritmo Oriental
• Charanga 76
• La Charanga Forever
• La Charanga Cubana (Los Angeles)

External links

• Sample Charanga Music
• Article on Charanga