By: Verónica E. Fernández Díaz

The legendary figure of El Mayor Ignacio Agramonte y Loynaz has been a source of inspiration for many Cuban musicians. An important part of these works is found among the funds of the Julio Antonio Mella Provincial Library, because, although it seems unheard of, the José Martí National Library lacks these texts.

Other pieces to El Mayor are found in personal funds or are part of public areas in Camagüey city. I am referring in particular to the song Al Mayor, by the troubadour Silvio Rodríguez, whose score engraved in stone, has been integrated into the San Juan de Dios Square – the place where the mortal remains of Agramonte were exhibited before having his eternal and final rest in the General Cemetery of the city.

The troubadours, with their performative self-assurance and their peculiar taste for singing about events and egregious events of the Revolution, have been the ones who have most emphatically referred to Agramonte in their work.

From the so-called traditional trova, the unique Sindo Garay, in his piece A Camagüey he refers to the Camagüeyan hero in a song that, although it was recorded, is not found in any of the country’s phonographic archives. Nor are its verses known, since it was not registered in copyright or any songbook, and no copies of the recording are preserved.

From the Nueva Trova the song by Silvio Rodríguez that has the title El Mayor has become very popular. The piece has been recorded on various supports (acetate, cassette, CD) and has a variety of versions such as the one made by the Moneda Dura group, or the Camagüey-born DJ Miler -in which the melody is led by the trumpet, a kind of symbol that immediately puts the listener in association with the bugle calls of the Liberation Army.

But without a doubt, it is the original by Silvio Rodríguez, an unbeatable text for its poetic charge and musical value. A work dedicated to Ignacio Agramonte that is of special interest was found in the personal archive of Pedro Pimentel, who was responsible for the music room of the Provincial Library for many years.

It is a poem by Nicolás Guillén entitled Agramonte – Camagüey, set to music by Carmen de la Torre, although she was not a troubadour, she has a creative corpus that includes some historical themes; in addition to the fact that she belonged to one of the most important families of musicians in Camagüey that lived between the end of the 19th century and a good part of the 20th.

This score, for voice and piano, was interpreted on numerous occasions by the teacher and composer from Camagüey, Caridad Fernández. In his text the poet expresses:

Camagüey, Camagüey

¡Oh, llanura materna! ¡Tierra mí¬a!

Ancho cuero de toro seco duro,

Ni un monte tienes de granito puro

Que interrumpa tu tensa geografí¬a.

Ni un monte de granito

¡Oh! Llanura materna, tierra mí¬a

Que interrumpa tu tensa geografí¬a

Ancho cuero de toro seco y duro.

Se alza Agramonte de granito puro

¡Oh!, llanura materna, tierra mí¬a

Ancho cuero de toro seco y duro

Alto sobre tu tensa geografía

Un monte se alza de granito puro

Que    es         un             ojo          sin          sueño      tierra    mí¬a,    tierra       mí¬a.

Another troubadour from Camagüey, Miguel Escalona, composes his song entitled Al 11 de mayo alluding to the fall in combat of El Mayor. In this song, the theme of death takes a symbolic poetic flight in the special conjunction between verse and music:

Esta muerte no es la tuya, Mayor,

No es muerte la del hombre que se queda,

No es muerte esa punzada ardiente,

Ni la bala persiguiendo la vida de tu cuerpo,

Ni tu cuerpo en la sabana

Ni la sabana herida con tu sangre…

No es muerte esa canción sin yugos

Ni la flor victoriosa que sembraste

Esta  muerte no es la tuya, Mayor.

Porque no hay muerte que cabalgue,

porque no hay pecho vivo que descienda,

porque no hay cuerpo que trascienda de la herida,

porque no hay muerte que nos deje con la vida.

Years later, Antonio Batista, also a troubadour, takes up the theme of the hero’s death in his song El mito, a defeated death, surrendered to the greatness of man, his exploits and his immortality.

This selection of trovas dedicated to El Mayor Ignacio Agramonte y Loynaz is not only a tribute to the hero on the anniversary of his birth; It is also an offering to the troubadours and to the 50th anniversary of the Nueva Trova movement, declared Cultural Heritage of the Nation. Works that are the pride of a town that has taken the qualification of agramontino.

Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García