María Cervantes Sánchez

Pianist and singer.

Daughter of Ignacio Cervantes, —considered by many to be the most outstanding Cuban musician of the nineteenth century—, it is not difficult to understand that, under his guidance, María's passion for music took root from childhood.

Being already a renowned pianist, singer, and composer, she confessed that she was always a very spirited child and that she began playing piano from a very young age, so much so that she could barely reach the keyboard, but when she heard something that caught her attention, she would go as fast as her legs would allow her, and play it.

She inherited her father's pianistic style and, like few others, knew how to interpret his danzas, which —according to Alejo Carpentier— "occupy in the music of the island the place that Grieg's Norwegian Dances occupy, or Dvorak's Slavic Dances in the music of their respective countries."

Born in Havana, María Cervantes began her piano studies with her father, who by the way, called her Chanchín because she had small ears.

The great Ignacio Cervantes joyfully commented that with his children —thirteen boys and one girl— he would form an entire orchestra.

From a very young age María felt like an artist. Dance thrilled her. Her father would start with a danza, move on to a mazurka, and continue with a danzón, while she marked the rhythm like a true professional, and this when she was barely three years old.

Upon her father's death in 1905, she sinks into a profound sadness that separates her from music, but when she plays the piano on the first day, she completes a wordless romance that he had dedicated to her, and being already ill, he had not been able to finish.

Later, the Matanzas poet Juan B. Ubago gave it the title "Fusion of Souls." With this piece the artist would open her recitals.

Her professional debut took place at the Campoamor theater in 1929, the same year she also recorded her first records in the U.S.A. for the Columbia label.

She also performs on RCH Cadena Azul, at the Cuban Telephone Company, at Radio Salas, and at the Hotel Sevilla, where she performs alongside pianist Felo Bergaza.

At La Mil Diez she works with composers and orchestra directors Adolfo Guzmán and Enrique González Mántici.

Success accompanies her. She travels again to the U.S.A., where she records for Columbia and performs in the cabaret of the famous Argentine actor and singer José Bohr.

Upon returning to Havana her name appears on the marquees of the most important venues, alongside figures of the caliber of Rita Montaner and Bola de Nieve.

For years, her personal charm, her authentic Cubanness, and that special charisma for interpreting her songs, earned her the admiration and affection of the public.

Her interpretation of "A los frijoles, caballeros" is always an eagerly awaited success.

Upon the death of her husband, she abandons the stage, but in 1960 —persuaded by musicologist Odilio Urfé— she reappears in a concert packed with people at the National Museum of Fine Arts.

From that day forward, and until shortly before her death, María Cervantes maintains a constant presence on our stages, loved and respected by her people, who recognize her high artistic standing in the mastery of our music.

On one occasion she said: "I would have wanted to retire from radio, from the theater, and to be remembered as I was, without glasses, without gray hair, without old age, but there was a second great debut that I do not regret, because if I had truly retired, I would have died already. Music is my life."

She performed at the Roof Garden Hotel Sevilla Biltmore alongside pianist Felo Bergaza. She worked with Rita Montaner and Bola de Nieve. She toured throughout Cuba until she decided to retire from the arts in the 1940s.

On April 22, 1965, she reappeared in a concert in the theater-hall of the National Museum of Fine Arts. The audience that filled the room rewarded each of her performances with an ovation, especially the nineteenth-century guaracha "A los frijoles, caballeros," by a composer known as Ramitos, a piece that María Cervantes –who recorded it for the first time in 1929– made one of her greatest hits.

After her reappearance on stage, she declared to a journalist that she would have wanted to retire from radio and theater in full youth, so that the public would remember her that way, without glasses and without gray hair. However, she said, she did not regret her second great debut, as music had kept her alive and had always made her feel young. From then on her presence in theaters, radio, and television was frequent. On the day she turned ninety years old, she recorded a one-hour program for Radio Habana Cuba in which she sang, played piano, and was interviewed.

Although María Cervantes did not study singing academically, she sang with spontaneity while accompanying herself on piano. On occasions she would speak the song conversationally and thus achieved rapid communication with the audience.

In an interview she expressed: "I have always stayed true to myself. I interpret my songs according to my temperament."

She had several students, among them Alberto Joya, to whom she transmitted her knowledge of Ignacio Cervantes's work and her own.

In 1968, the documentary María Cervantes was filmed by Roberto Fandiño. In it the legendary interpreter narrates anecdotes related to her artistic life and recounts how her return to the art world occurred after having been retired for a long time. The testimony serves as a connecting thread for the parallel editing of a recital composed of the musical works "Fusion of Souls," "Camagüeyana," "At Daddy's Sugar Mill," "How I Love You," and "A los frijoles."

María Cervantes died at the age of 96, in Havana, on February 8, 1981. A year before she had told writer Hamilé Rozada: "I hope that when death surprises me, I am seated at the piano. If I cannot play again, life will escape from me with such speed that it will be impossible for me to stop it."

Works
Danzas
Danza No. 1
Danza No. 2
Danza No. 3
Danza No. 4
Fusion of Souls
Criollita
Ignacio
Josefina
The Beauty Marks
Do Not Touch Me
Tomasa
Your White Hands
Inspiration
Piano Pieces
How I Love You
Criollita
Gratitude
Ignacio
Illusion
Youth That Left Me
The Violet
Far From You
The Beauty Marks
My Flag
Tomasa
Your White Hands
Voice and Piano
Talisman
Tessie (1928)
Your Gaze
I Already Knew You; text: Lola Rodríguez de Tió

Waltzes
Compensation
I Knew You Dancing
Punto Guajiro
My Flag