Silence for the Guitar: Marta Valdés Passed Away

October 3, 2024

Today, at the age of 90, the renowned Cuban composer, performer, and music critic Marta Valdés passed away in Havana.

Born in Havana in 1934, she received her first guitar lessons at the age of 11. She subsequently studied Philosophy and Literature at the University of Havana and began her professional career in 1955 with the composition of the bolero Palabras.

She studied music theory and solfège with several Cuban professors and joined, in 1963, the courses of the Popular Music Seminar, directed by pianist and musicologist Odilio Urfé.

Among her compositions are boleros, sones, criollas, habaneras, and music for theater and television. She worked as a musical advisor for the Grupo Teatro Estudio and participated, in 1967, in the Encuentro de la Canción Protesta, sponsored by the Casa de las Américas.

She founded and maintained, between 2009 and 2013, the column Palabras in the digital publication Cubadebate, in which she included chronicles, testimonies, and critical assessments of musical events. She published several books, among which stand out Donde vive la música, Palabras, and La cuerda al aire.

Her exquisite artistic sensibility, her poetic voice, and her great musical talent made her an outstanding figure of the second generation of filin, a bridge between the founding masters of the genre and the singer-songwriters of the Movimiento de la Nueva Trova, who respected her and recognized her as an essential reference.

Unforgettable songs of her authorship such as Palabras, No es preciso, José Jacinto, En la imaginación, Canción simple, Deja que siga sola, and Tú no sospechas, among others, were popularized by first-rate performers such as Vicentico Valdés, Elena Burke, Bola de Nieve, Cheo Feliciano, Fernando Álvarez, Martirio, Omara Portuondo, Miriam Ramos, and Pablo Milanés.

She was awarded the National Music Prize in 2007 and also received the Pablo Prize from the Centro Pablo de la Torriente Brau, the Cubadisco Prize, and Maestro de Juventudes from the Asociación Hermanos Saíz.

A founding member of the UNEAC, she received the distinctions for National Culture and Félix Elmuza, the Raúl Gómez García Medal, and the orders Alejo Carpentier and Félix Varela of First Degree. She was also granted the Replica of the Machete of Máximo Gómez from the Ministry of Revolutionary Armed Forces.

Admired in Cuba and abroad, the death of Marta Valdés deprives us of one of the greatest composers in Cuban musical history.

By family decision, her body will be cremated. In the coming hours, information will be provided about the tribute that Cuban musicians and cultural institutions will pay to her.

On behalf of the Ministry of Culture of Cuba, our most sincere condolences to her family and friends.