Folk Music of Puerto Rico, Influences and Style
Plena and Bomba Styles as Bright Examples of Puerto Rican Folk Music
Feb 13, 2009
This article explores folk music as an attribute of the identity of nations or people. Through the centuries folk music has been carrying the cultural heritage of the nation, its political, personal and social views, supported people in the hardest times, and amused in celebrations.
For Puerto Rico, music has been one of the most significant symbols of national identity.
Foreign Influence on the Folk Music of Puerto Rico
The American invasion of 1898 lead to a rapid economic development, and appearance of innovative trends in culture development: imposition of English, and mixing of the original culture with American one. Under such circumstances folk music of Puerto Rico became a contested ground of significance. As a result, cultural nationalism was becoming more and more visible, reflecting itself in music.
Though many Puerto Ricans were influenced by American music, an indigenous style was developing and opposing the foreign art at the same time. Especially bright, popular, and important for the nation were compositions that expressed the current state of affairs in the country, and either openly or indirectly criticized the hypocritical ruling social classes as opposed and compared to low and middle ones.
Plena and Bomba Styles as Bright Examples of Puerto Rican Folk Music
The plena and bomba styles occupy a visible place in the county’s musical culture.
- Plena, being a creation of slaves of the Spanish colonial period, was performed by lower-class people.
- Bomba showed to be popular in proletarian circles where it is popular till now.
These styles were extremely popular among the working people because their lyrics, combined with pleasant music, were spreading among the population the most recent news and reactions to them.
Not all the lyrics of Puerto Rican songs deal with political or social issues. In many cases people sing about some personal or humorous cases in order to brighten their difficult lives with joy. People often use satire to deride egoistic politicians or ambitious rich men.
Rafael Cortijo and Ismael Rivera
In the 1950s, plena and bomba genres appeared in the music of Rafael Cortijo and Ismael Rivera, who preserved the ‘earthy rawness’ of the proletarian roots of the style. The melodies like "Huy que pote" of the duet, are based on traditional plenas, while the texts reflect everyday life of simple low- and middle-class people.
Cortijo’s music is considered to be a way for Puerto Ricans to realize and become closer to their African heritage. The music is played all over the country, especially on special occasions, and represents a musical civil protest, expresses people’s feeling regarding the current events, is used as a vehicle for social commentary, ‘a singing newspaper’ for low-class citizens to learn the latest news.
The band has not only modernized the national music, but also enhanced and popularized its working class roots. They often recited recent events, that had taken place, and sometimes satirized them, in such a way showing the simple people’s opinion, becoming closed to the majority of the nation.
 |
