Héctor Angulo

Héctor Angulo began to compose during the mid-forties decade of the 20th Century, and his first pieces were premiered during the fifties decade. Upon his return to Cuba after studying in the United States, Angulo became immersed in the activity of the musical avant-garde of the sixties, and his Works "Trío" for flute, violin and piano from 1965, and his "Sonata for eleven instruments" from 1967 represented a contribution to the Cuban modern music at that time, due to the utilization of "series" and "aleatoric" techniques. In his work it is possible to notice a constant search for a "Cuban style" and an important influence of the works of Roldán and Caturla; about which he himself commented: " I am a follower of the aesthetics of Alejandro García Caturla considering the fact that his work is based on the presence of Cuban elements in the aspects of timbre, rhythm, melody and form […]" We can find a sign of his prominent interest for the Cuban folklore, and especially the Afr-Cuban folklore in his "Tríptico de Cantos Afrocubanos", based on the transcription of 250 melodies by the folklorist Rogelio Martínez Furé; as well as in other compositions, such as his "CInco poemas africanos, and his "Cantos Yorubá de Cuba", for solo guitar. In this same fashion we can mention the chamber opera Ibeyi Añá, based on the story called "Se cierran y se abren los caminos de Cuba", gathered by Lydia Cabrera in her "Cuban black stories". Héctor Angulo also worked as adviser at the Cuban "National Puppet Theater".

Héctor Angulo (Santa Clara, Cuba, 1932 – 2018) was a Cuban composer who combined in his works the result of deep studies about Afro-Cuban folklore and the most modern techniques of musical composition.

Héctor Angulo began his musical studies in Santa Clara and concluded in Havana, where he was instructed by professors Zenaida Romeu, Serafín Pró and Julián Orbón. Angulo studied Architecture during four years at the University of Havana. In 1959 he attended a summer course in Tanglewood, United States, and at a later time, during that same year, he received a grant to study at the Manhattan School of Music in New York, where he stayed for the next three years. Angulo returned to Cuba in 1964, where he continued his music composition studies with Leo Brouwer. While studying in the United States, Hector Angulo informed the famous American folk-singer Pete Seeger about a famous Cuban song called Guajira Guantanamera; referring to a version composed by his previous professor Julián Orbón, which utilized the poem of José Martí as its lyrics. That way, Angulo played an important role in the worldwide diffusion of that popular song. About this subject the Cuban double-bassist and musicographer Antonio Gómez Sotolongo says: "In 1961, the improvised verses ("décimas") on the "Guajira Guantanamera" were not still in fashion; but the young Cuban musician Héctor Angulo (Santa Clara, September 3, 1932), who was studying in the United States and was a music professor, used to sing the poems of José Martí as he had heard from his professor Julián Orbón. According to the American folklorist Pete Seeger, he knew about that song from the students that were also Angulo's disciples, and was from Héctor himself that he learned to sing it."