Black montuno (Clarinet in B flat and Wind Ensemble)

PROGRAM NOTE

Around the time I graduated from Baylor University with my Master’s in Music Composition, I decided to write a work that would serve as my graduation gift for my professor Scott McAllister. I thought that it would be a good idea to write a piece for clarinet, my professor’s main instrument, and for Wind Ensemble, an instrumental format for which he had written several works. This is how “Black montuno” came about. 

The title of my piece has to do with McAllister’s “Black Dog,” a work written for Clarinet in Bb and Wind Ensemble, and with my Cuban roots. 

The word montuno, which translates as riff, refers to a musical entity characteristic of son and salsa. These are two genres of the Cuban popular music of the 20th century, which are still active in the current Cuban musical scene. While the montuno was born with and is still part of son, it became a hallmark of salsa, which is music for dancing, not for listening, as one would do with concert music. Traditionally, the piano, the Cuban tres, and the bass are the instruments that play the montuno. 

For the realization of this work, I composed a montuno and a tune derived from the montuno’s contour. Influenced by the songs of the Cuban Nueva trova movement, the tune developed into an instrumental song that can be heard in the last section of the piece. Harmonies influenced by Cuban popular music and jazz are also used in this composition.

Around the time I graduated from Baylor University with my Master’s in Music Composition, I decided to write a work that would serve as my graduation gift for my professor Scott McAllister. I thought that it would be a good idea to write a piece for clarinet, my professor’s main instrument, and for Wind Ensemble, an instrumental format for which he had written several works. This is how “Black montuno” came about. 

The title of my piece has to do with McAllister’s “Black Dog,” a work written for Clarinet in Bb and Wind Ensemble, and with my Cuban roots. 

The word montuno, which translates as riff, refers to a musical entity characteristic of son and salsa. These are two genres of the Cuban popular music of the 20th century, which are still active in the current Cuban musical scene. While the montuno was born with and is still part of son, it became a hallmark of salsa, which is music for dancing, not for listening, as one would do with concert music. Traditionally, the piano, the Cuban tres, and the bass are the instruments that play the montuno. 

For the realization of this work, I composed a montuno and a tune derived from the montuno’s contour. Influenced by the songs of the Cuban Nueva trova movement, the tune developed into an instrumental song that can be heard in the last section of the piece. Harmonies influenced by Cuban popular music and jazz are also used in this composition.

– Ivette Herryman Rodríguez

Black montuno, detailed rehearsal notes