# Ulises Hernández: our music first

**Date:** 09/29/2018

On the occasion of the celebration of Harold Gramatges' centennial, at the Lyceum Mozartiano in Havana, we spoke with its director, Ulises Hernández Morgadanes, a renowned pianist, professor, composer and researcher, record producer and winner of countless piano awards, both national and international.

You have performed on numerous stages inside and outside Cuba, even at the birthplace of W. A. Mozart in a tribute for the 250th Anniversary of the great Austrian master. What emotional experiences did that moment represent for you?

If there is something one does not expect, for it to seem impossible in life, it is to be seated at the piano that belonged to any great musician in the world, and when it happened to me in 2008, I could hardly believe it, especially considering it was W.A. Mozart's pianoforte. I am not one to take photos, I really hardly ever do, but that day I did not hesitate to do so. What also accompanied this great emotion was contact with the demanding Austrian public, which served to measure the acceptance of my interpretation of works by Mozart and Cervantes.

What significance does this tribute concert to the master Harold Gramatges have for you, considered one of the most important representatives of Cuban musical creation in the twentieth century?

The first thing that draws me to this tribute is that it is a centennial, which provides an answer to something that only time defines, which is the importance or lack thereof of a composer's work, and in this case we are talking about someone who at one hundred years old is increasingly defined as a bastion of Cuban music, and I say Cuban music in the full extent that the term can encompass, since in Harold's case there is combined a commendable pedagogical effort in favor of music in this country, a composer who was a fundamental part of the Cuban avant-garde of the twentieth century and an intellectual who defended and defined our music throughout his life.

Having had professors of the caliber of the master Frank Fernández, how do you assess his pedagogical work at the Superior Institute of Art?

I can only tell you that I am a tireless fighter for defending the piano school here, and that I invest a great deal of my time in improving myself as a pedagogue and passing on to all my fellow professors the knowledge and information I have accumulated. I try to put myself in the shoes of each of my students to know what they really need, because it is a very difficult career and very connected to spiritual values, sensitivity, culture and the need to communicate something to others; it is not enough to move your fingers well. Now I think this question should be answered by my students or my colleagues; I'm not sure if I can give an accurate judgment of my pedagogical work.

You have performed on Cuban and international stages. What do you feel before so many people when performing our music and always giving it that Cuban touch?

That is what is expected of Cuban pianists (in this case, speaking of myself), it makes no sense that with all the good music we have, we go out to play Mozart or Chopin—it is very well that we do so with excellence—but for me, the first thing is to show the world the music we have.

You have composed music for film by commission. Do you have to be enthusiastic about the project or does motivation arise as you go along?

So far, these have been projects that have excited me, and that has worked very well. I know that sometimes one composes by mere commission and the motivation comes later, but that has not been my case.

What innovation do you consider that the DVD Mozart in Havana has brought to music?

This DVD was the first in the world to capture all the sonatas and fantasias in images, meaning you see the pianist playing. There were already some DVDs with two or three sonatas performed by a pianist that you could see, but all 19 and the 3 fantasias is the first, and that set a precedent in my career, because from that experience came the Lyceum Mozartiano in Havana.

At this moment when Latin music is booming internationally, and new generations are turning to reggaeton, what future do you see for concert music in our country, and do you believe that cultural institutions are doing everything necessary for classical music to transcend among younger sectors?

This is a very important question. The fact that music in this country is increasingly veering toward only one direction is entirely the fault of the institutions that need to ensure that does not happen. Cuba is an inexhaustible source of music, and that is being greatly neglected. For example, this year we are celebrating three important centenials of masters within the scope of Cuban music: Argeliers León, Harold Gramatges, and Alfredo Diez Nieto, the latter still alive, and only the Uneac (Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba), the Lyceum Mozartiano, and the Ojalá office of Silvio Rodríguez have taken care of this celebration. I could enumerate everything that these composers and masters mean to Cuba's musical culture, but I would not finish this interview today. Master Diez Nieto has been trying for a long time to have the National Symphony premiere his "Symphony No. 3" and it has not been possible, something we hoped for his centennial. How are we going to expect new generations to respect or at least know the patrimonial values of our music if the response is what we are experiencing?

What new projects are you working on?

There are always new projects and several, but I will refer to the album that through Producciones Colibrí I am producing with the chamber music of master Alfredo Diez Nieto, something I set out to do precisely to celebrate his centennial.

Source: Cadena Habana