Rafael Somavilla Morejón

Pianist, orchestrator and composer.

Born in Matanzas. He was a jazz enthusiast, participating in the creation and inauguration of the Club Cubano de Jazz, in the Bambú cabaret.

He began his studies at the Conservatorio Municipal de Matanzas with his father, Rafael Somavilla Pedroso and Teresa Angulo, and continued them at the Conservatorio Internacional with Ernesto Berumen. In La Habana he completed his training with Enrique Bellver, harmony, and Félix Guerrero Díaz, orchestration. In 1949 he graduated with a doctorate in Philosophy and Letters from the Universidad de La Habana.

In 1939 he offered his first concert, broadcast by the radio station CMGH, in which he performed "La danza de la hora," from the opera La Gioconda, by Italian composer Amilcare Ponchielli. He was a member of the Matanzas Jazz-Band orchestra, directed by Rafael Somavilla Pedroso.

In 1951 he moved permanently to the capital, and here he was part of Cheo Valladares' orchestra, which performed at the Bambú cabaret, and in 1952 he joined the radio station CMQ; with his orchestra, he performed in the program El café de la esquina, which was broadcast on Channel 6 of television, in which in addition to conducting the orchestra, he played piano, marimba and drums.

On the Phillips Album, also broadcast on television, he shared his performances with pianist, composer and orchestra director, Adolfo Guzmán. In 1958 he was appointed president of the Club de Jazz de Cuba, whose orchestra, under his direction, made its first television presentation.

That same year, with his orchestra, along with Rey Díaz Calvet's, he began working in the Casino show at the Hotel Capri. That same year he performed with pianists and composers Frank Domínguez and Ignacio Villa (Bola de Nieve) on the television program Jueves de Partagás.

In 1960, with his orchestra, he began working at the Hotel Habana Libre. In 1961, as a solo pianist, accompanied by the Orquesta de Cámara Nacional, he offered a concert at the Auditorium theater, and in 1962, he accompanied, on a tour through Camagüey, violist Lázaro Sternic.

In 1963 he directed the combo that, along with Ramón Veloz, the D'Aida quartet, Los Papines and choreographer Luis Trápaga, traveled to the GDR and the Soviet Union, with the show Ritmos de Cuba, under the production of Amaury Pérez, senior.

In 1963, along with others including Odilio Urfé and Isolina Carrillo, he was part of the jury that evaluated the works of the Varadero Festival; he accompanied on piano French singer France Verdier.

In 1967 he was one of the founding directors of the Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna, directed by Armando Romeu, with which he premiered, under his direction, Réquiem; "in this piece Somavilla, who despite being one of our best arrangers had until now maintained using conventional musical elements, incorporates new sonorities into Cuban popular music [...]."

The International Song Festival, 1967, held in Sopot, Poland, had him as a member of the Cuban delegation (also of the jury), which also included Omara Portuondo and Pilar Moraguez.

This year he traveled to Montreal, Canada, to participate in Expo'67. In 1968 he returned to the Sopot Festival, this time with Ela Calvo and Rosita Fornés; in 1969 he participated again in the Festival, along with Ela Calvo, Leonora Rega, Los Papines, Inocente Iznaga (El Jilguero de Cienfuegos) and Lourdes Gil, who obtained third place in the competition; in 1971 he presented himself in Poland to participate as an arranger, and orchestra director of the XII International Song Festival, in which Farah María and the duo Los Compadres participated.

This year he participated as an arranger, along with Leonora Rega, singer, and Roberto Valdés Arnau, orchestra director, in Melodías de Amigos del 71 through the Bratislava Festival, held in Czechoslovakia. In 1970 he was the musical director of the show Carnaval de Cuba, which was presented at the Villa de París theater, France.

In 1972 he participated in the International Song Festival Dresde'72, where he won an award for best arrangement; he was a judge, the same year, of the International Festival Agua Dulce, held in Lima, Peru, in which Omara Portuondo and the duo Los Compadres performed.

At the Amadeo Roldán theater, the Third Meeting of Cuban and Latin American Popular Music was held, for which he wrote a piece "This work is a collage made with tremendous skill, in which the valuable musician [...] seeks and finds a fruitful path: that of uniting the sonorities of our countries —in a very active manner— with a political message of great impact [...]."

He participated in the Soviet Culture Event held in Cuba, in which he performed at the head of the Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna: in 1973 he performed, at the head of the same orchestra, at the Cuban Culture Event in the Soviet Union.

He participated in Matanzas in the National Musical Creator Festival. At the International Orfeo de Oro Festival, Bulgaria, he obtained first place for the best arrangement of Bulgarian songs: Edith and Nuestro verano, performed by Nereida Naranjo, to which were awarded, respectively, Grand Prize and First Prize. Upon his return, he performed as a pianist performing works by Manuel Saumell, Ignacio Cervantes, Ernesto Lecuona and improvisations on songs by Juan Almeida.

The International Sopot Festival, 1975, had him again as a judge and director of the orchestra that accompanied Beatriz Márquez, Miriam Ramos and Vicente Rojas.

In 1976 he traveled to Bulgaria to participate in the International Orfeo de Oro Festival, along with Farah María and the group Irakere. This same year he participated in Carifesta'76, held in Jamaica. In 1979 he presided over the artistic delegation that participated in the International Prague Festival, Czechoslovakia.

He was part of the jury of the First Benny Moré Contemporary Music Competition, held at the Sauto theater in Matanzas, and later at the Danzón Festival, in the same city, for which he wrote a piece: "It is a symphonic poem based on Las Alturas de Simpson. The characteristics of the Danzón are that each part, each movement, corresponds to a part of the Alturas [...].

The first movement is based on the paseo or introduction of the danzón, the second is a trio of flutes and the third is one of violin. Until there it is faithful to Faílde's original. I added a fourth movement that recreates a memory of the danzón to our days, passing through Almendra, Tres lindas cubanas, Fefita, El bombín de Barreto to Yuya Martínez of Los Van Van and the Ponte lentes of Aragón. It ends with the introduction [...]."

Works
After the Moncada, it is always the 26th
In Memoriam, for band
Requiem
Suite in jazz.