Thursday 8 July 2010
Tune of the Day: La Bayamesa
National anthem of Cuba
“La Bayamesa” (“The Hymn of Bayamo”) was first performed during the Battle of Bayamo in 1868. Perucho Figueredo, who took part in the battle, composed the melody in 1867. On October 20, 1868, when the Cuban forces obtained the capitulation of the Spaniard authorities in Bayamo, the jubilant people surrounded Figueredo and asked him to write an anthem with the melody they were humming. It is said that Figueredo wrote the lyrics of the anthem right on the saddle of his horse.
As time went by, different harmonizations and introductions to Figueredo's melody started to appear. The most successful one, which is still played today, was composed by Antonio Rodríguez Ferrer.