Bach to Cuba

Johann Sebastian Bach Protected content [O.S. 21 March] Protected content 28 July Protected content a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the Brandenburg Concertos; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard works such as the Goldberg Variations and The Well-Tempered Clavier; organ works such as the Schubler Chorales and the Toccata and Fugue in D minor; and vocal music such as the St Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. Since the 19th-century Bach revival he has been generally regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music.

In "Bach to Cuba" Emilio Aragón conducts the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra (performing the classical part) together with three Cuban percussionists and Alain Pérez on the double bass. The challenge is to integrate Afro-Cuban rhythms into a classical context such as the Brandenburg concerts, for which Alain Pérez replaces the Bach basso continuo, typical of the Baroque, with the Cuban tumbao bassoon, giving adequate space for percussion, such as the guaguancó, conga, danzón, contradanza, son, bolero… and which could feel comfortable around violins.