Jorge González Allué

Pianist, composer and orchestra conductor, he was born in Camagüey. His work exceeds 300 compositions, distributed among different genres that address both popular music and concert music, musical theater and ballet music.

He was the creator of countless songs, sones, guarachas, boleros, a lyric comedy and even a sketch, but his "Amorosa Guajira" earned him a place of privilege in Cuban culture. La Amorosa… is probably the most recorded Cuban song in the world, and the one with the most versions.

Pianist, composer and orchestra conductor, Jorge González Allué was also a man of letters, as he was also interested in the study of the musical folklore of Cuba and America, and wrote short stories and poems that he used to recite to his friends.

At the age of 15 he graduated from the National Conservatory, specializing in piano, solfège and theory, subsequently exercising the profession of music teacher.

Still an adolescent, he composed his first musical piece, a waltz titled Corazón mudo, participating in private parties and dances. He gave his first public recital in 1931, premiering two poems musicalized by him from his friend and fellow countryman Nicolás Guillén: Mulata and Negro bembón.

In 1938, he performed together with eleven pianists the piece La Malagueña, by Ernesto Lecuona, at the Auditórium theater in Havana, while accompanying Esther Borja in Serenata, along with other outstanding musicians.

In 1939 he created his own orchestra, a jazz band type, which he named Yemayá, with which he debuted at the Teatro Principal in his native Camagüey.

On a trip to South America he performed as a pianist in Florián Maya's orchestra in Colombia, also performing on the Lima Chain, in Peru, with Don Vidal's orchestra. He shared stages inside and outside Cuba with other famous artists of the caliber of Bola de Nieves, Esther Borja, Ernesto Lecuona and Rita Montaner.

"Scarce, rather nonexistent –says researcher Verónica Fernández–, have been the musicological writings dedicated to the Camagüeyan Jorge González Allué, despite the fact that his work exceeds 300 compositions, distributed among different genres that address both popular music and concert music, musical theater and ballet music." However, his Amorosa guajira has been widely disseminated, earning him a place of privilege in Cuban culture.

About this beautiful page, Allué himself recounted: "I wrote it in July of 1937 and it was performed shortly after by singer Luis Raga, member of Eduardo Saborit's Trio, and shortly after at a dance in the city of Camagüey."

The inspiration, he said, came to him in Pinar del Río. He had gone to visit a friend of his at a vueltabajera farm and there he was surprised by a sunset that captivated him to sing to the Cuban countryside.

"Originally –said Allué– I titled it Guajira Sentimental, but commercially, when it was recorded for the first time, it appeared with the name that made it famous: Amorosa Guajira."

This essential Cuban musician, illustrious son of Camagüey, who died on November 13, 2001, earned the Alejo Carpentier medal, the Distinction for National Culture and the Félix Varela Order of first degree.

Work
His work exceeds 300 compositions, distributed among different genres that address both popular music and concert music and musical theater. Within these pieces we have many songs, boleros, a lyric comedy and even a sketch. Among these are the following:

Afro
Mulata and Negro bembón, (1931) (Texts by Nicolás Guillén);
Hay que tené voluntá and Mi chiquita, (1933) (Texts by Nicolás Guillén);

Boleros
Corazón mudo and La lágrima y el beso, (1927);
Si volviera a besarte, (1930);
Crucifixión, (1931);
Sabor de adiós sentí, (1933);
Siempre me fuiste fiel corazón mío and Tu tampoco, (1937);
Llega muy tarde amor and Poco a poco;

Bolero Mambo
Amor para qué,
Dímelo así que tu sabes,

Song-bolero
Algo queda de amor,
Cartas marcadas,
Diferencia,
Me he quedado sin fe,
Mis horas sin sueño,
Por donde digas tú,
Quiero seguir soñando,
Sin amor y sin fe,
Tristeza por tu ausencia,
Una mentira más,
Una triste sombra solamente.

Musical Comedy
La leyenda del agua de tinajón (Libretto in verse).

Sketch
Los 15 de Florita, (1950), sketch popularized by Luis Carbonell.

Guajira
Amorosa guajira (Guajira sentimental), (1937)

Awards and Recognition
National Music Prize,
Distinction for National Culture,
Alejo Carpentier Medal (2000),
Espejo de Paciencia Recognition,
Félix Varela Order of First Degree, granted by the State Council of the Republic of Cuba (2001)

Tributes
The presentation of the book "The Last of the Greats," about the life of the outstanding pianist and composer from Camagüey Jorge González Allué, author of the worldwide known theme "Amorosa Guajira," took place in the courtyard of the National Union of Artists and Writers of Cuba (UNEAC), in the city of Camagüey, in commemoration of 100 years of the musician, now physically gone.

Its writer, Camagüeyan Oscar Viñas Ortiz, leads the reader to the most unknown facets of the creator, who left Cuban songwriting around 300 musical pieces, many of which have been performed on innumerable international stages.

The book is the result of research conducted by the author since 1993; when he began to interview this great master of masters of Cuban music.

In its pages, in the manner of an open dialogue, through the very unrestrained and peculiar language of Allué himself, the writer manages to capture details of his life, many times unpublished or perhaps dimmed by the relentless passage of time.

Source: Radio Cadena Habana