Nueva Trova

My experience with nueva trova began with Sr. Pablo Milanés at the Teatro Mella alongside Geovanis, the building guy. We got there late and stood up since the theater was packed with Pablo’s fans. Although nueva trova is nowhere near as popular as it was back in the 1960’s when it started as a protest song, it’s popularity and familiarity is felt when the entire crowd sings along to all the words to every song he sings. He sang powerful words about politics, love, Cuba, and life accompanied by nice music. I decided that night that I liked this genre of Cuban music. Little did I know that eventually I would take a class that would slowly make me despise this genre, at least from the technical point of view. In terms of listening, I think I will always like this genre and understand why it is so popular in Cuba. The words speak to the people who can relate to the issues and situations the singers sing about. This music has documented and been a huge part of Cuban history. At another trova concert that we attended in Santiago de Cuba, we experienced other types of nueva trova that included many female artists which was interesting. Here again everyone sang along to the lyrics they knew and people stopped outside on the street to listen in to the music. Although the popularity has declined over the years, the importance of nueva trova is still obvious today and I enjoyed my experience with it.