Manuel Corona Raimundo

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Among the great figures of Cuban trovadoresque song, it is impossible not to mention the composer and guitarist.

He was born in Caibarién, a city of fishermen and merchants located on the north coast of central Cuba, and lived his early years there. He later moved to La Habana, and established himself as one of the greats of Cuban Traditional Trova, alongside Pepe Sánchez, Sindo Garay, Alberto Villalón, and Rosendo Ruiz.

In the capital, after the war ended, he spent his early youth working in the tobacco industry. It was the supervisor of the tobacco factory who taught him his first guitar chords. Well into the twentieth century, he dedicated himself to music, always living as a bohemian accompanied by his instrument.

In his early years as a musician, he was a guitarist and composer in a son music group from the neighborhoods of La Habana, and he participated in the founding of one of the first Havana sextets of son, factors that allowed him to acquire essential knowledge in his musical work.

Between 1900 and 1920, he carried out his most outstanding production in terms of quantity, quality, and variety of musical genres. From that period date: Mercedes, Aurora, Animada, Contrapunto, Mi pecho y mi alma, and those that made him most famous: Longina and Santa Cecilia.

His passion for music framed his bohemian life, and he began to perform in what was called the red-light district of Havana, frequented by prostitutes and other characters from the Havana underworld.

He enjoyed gathering in family tertulias and literary circles where he displayed his talents as a musician and composer. According to María Teresa Linares, Manuel used to interact with other composers sometimes through "contestaciones," which were nothing more than songs written as responses to other songs. Such is the case of the song Animada, which was written as a response to Timidez.

He achieved popularity with Mercedes; then would come other and more contributions to the national patrimony: Longina, Santa Cecilia, Aurora, Doble inconsciencia, and also guarachas that were inspired by current themes: El Servicio Obligatorio, Acelera Ñico, acelera, and others.

Corona was, among the greats of Cuban Traditional Trova, the one who succeeded in recording the most compositions on phonograph records. He also cultivated other musical genres representative of Cuban identity such as the guaracha and its variant the guaracha-son, habaneras, criollas, and even composed some tangos and blues.

Odilio Urfé, Cuban musicologist, evaluated the transcendence of Manuel Corona with this phrase: "It is not difficult to proclaim Corona as the author who reaffirmed the modern profiles of the guaracha when between 1915 and 1920 he wrote, performed, and recorded for the phonograph his anthology works: El Servicio obligatorio; La Choricera; Acelera, Ñico, acelera.

These three guarachas written in 2/4 time (until that moment they were still written mostly in 6/8) inspired their corresponding danzones.

A very notable peculiarity of Manuel Corona's work is the quantity of songs that were inspired by women. He also specialized in "contestaciones," a modality that consists of creating musical works that respond to those of other composers; in Corona's case, he even responded to himself.

Despite enjoying popular preference and fame, Manuel Corona died poor and isolated, of hunger and cold, in the most extreme poverty, in the back room of the Jaruquito bar in Marianao, La Habana.

Given his poverty, the bus drivers of route 32 in the Cuban capital made a collection to hold a vigil for his remains at the San José funeral home. Later, the Society of Troubadours moved him to their headquarters, and on January 10, 1950, in the afternoon, his funeral took place. The funeral farewell was led by the notable musician Gonzalo Roig.

His remains stayed in the Havana cemetery until 1968, when they were moved to the Caibarién cemetery at the request of a group of his fellow townspeople led by Armando Rosado, an important promoter of local culture.

On September 14, 1968, his remains were held in vigil again in the capital. On the 15th, they received honors from the people and troubadours from throughout the country at the Music Academy of Caibarién, where anthological pieces of traditional trova were sung throughout the entire night.

In the morning of the 16th, his remains were taken to the cemetery in a procession where songs and floral offerings continued. In a small ossuary, on the lap of a beautiful young woman chosen for her name, Longina, like the song that immortalized him, Manuel Corona arrived at the oldest vault in the Caibarién cemetery, where they still rest today and receive numerous offerings from lovers of music and admirers of his work.

In Caibarién, he is also remembered through a Song Festival that bears his name, which began in the nineties and is held every two years, where composition and performance are awarded. Additionally, the fundamental cultural institution in the territory, La Casa de Cultura, where enthusiasts are trained in different artistic manifestations and the appreciation for them is fostered, is named "Manuel Corona."