Pablo Ruiz Castellanos

A musician and composer from Guantánamo, he was born in Monte Rus, a rural area of the current municipality of El Salvador, in the province of Guantánamo.

He was eleven years old when he moved to Santiago de Cuba with his family. There he began his musical studies with Cástulo Reyes, from whom he learned to play several instruments.

In 1924 he joined the music band of the Cuba Cruiser, playing trumpet and French horn, with which he conducted extensive tours outside the country. He later passed through the Band of the General Headquarters in Havana, and subsequently the Infantry band.

All the experience acquired in the different bands, as well as the opportunity he had to become familiar with the scores of the classics, allowed him to expand his musical knowledge. He became an orchestra conductor for theatrical companies, and continued his studies in harmony and national symphonism.

In 1934 he created his first work titled Oración Negra. From then on he created many works, mainly symphonic poems: Rumba en Rapsodia (1935), Monte Rus (1940), Río Cauto (1941), Ensoñación guajira (1945), Sinfonía No.1 and Sinfonía Heterodoxa (1949), El Gran changüí and Danza cubana (1950); the hymn Libertad (1953), commissioned by José A. Echevarría; Sinfonía a Patricio Lumumba (1971), Sinfonía No.3 (1971), Trova entre palmares (suite) in memory of Sindo Garay (1972), among others.
His works have been performed by famous national and foreign conductors such as Enrique González Manticci, Rodrigo Prats, Manuel Dúchense Cuzán, Félix Guerrero, Erick Kleiber, Amadeo Roldán and others.
He was a professor at the Guanabacoa Conservatory, and founded the Department of Musical Instruments at CMQ radio station, together with maestro González Manticci.

Two key figures of our national culture said the following about him:

"Pablo Ruiz Castellanos practices an uncompromising nationalism through the symphonic poem"
Harold Gramatges
"... the serenity and integrity of Pablo Ruiz Castellanos are worthy of the greatest respect. A clean and clear spirit guides his inspiration..."
Alejo Carpentier

On November 3, 1980, this composer from Guantánamo of peasant lineage, at the age of 78, passed away in Havana.