Title: "Que vuelva"
Performer: Alex Bueno
Culture: Dominican Republic
Orchestration: Male vocalists, guiro,
timbales, cow bell, cymbals, electric bass, electric guitar, bongos, congas,
synthesizer
This piece of music is a modern form of
the bachata which originated in the Dominican Republic but has
gained popularity in other Latin American cultures as well. This
song is meant to be danced to and is up-beat and is somewhat controversial,
particularly in its early days. The lyrics often express feelings of male
domination and excessive drinking. It was not always an acceptable type
of music, but has gained popularity. Its origins incorporate aspects of
the bolero and the merengue. Hispanic caribbean music is very much a
mixture of different cultures because of the history of the people of the area.
Moore (2010) speaks of how the slave trade and conquering influences of
Spain and France have directly influenced the music of the Caribbean.
Most people are of mixed African decent, creating creolization of the
area, more so than most other areas. This complexity makes for new
types of music that is directly influenced by already established musics of the
world. More so, Wade (2013) speaks of people being influenced by music that they can relate to, not necessarily what is represented by their ethnicity. This is especially important in the Caribbean where people may be of, for example, Haitian decent but have grown up in the Dominican Republic. While these countries lie on the same island, the cultures are drastically different and what a person is surrounded by will influence them in many ways. Musical forms can change drastically by ethnicity, but blending of musical styles is common in this creolized area.
This particular example of the bachata
is that of the modern version heard today. The harmonies are fairly
simple and the song is in a major key. The bass line is also simple and
consists mostly of a half note followed by two quarter notes which is very
much from the form of the bolero. The electric guitar has the melody and
often uses arpeggios which is influenced by Western music. This
bachata form has direct influence from Western music, the merengue, and the
bolero. Like most Latin-influenced forms of music, dance is a major part
of its performance. While this video doesn't particularly emphasize the
dance, the performers do incorporate some of the bachata steps but without a
partner.
The similarities to Cuban bolero are very obvious. It's interesting that, as you well point out, cultural differences can be significant (even on the same island), yet the blended influences on musics in the region are obvious. The brief clips of dancers in the audience didn't seem to indicate they were really engaged in the style. I don't know this from experience, but I did look up some other clips of bachata dancing. Since the bachata dance and music forms evolved concurrently,it would seem that dance and movement is an important contextual factor in the structure of the music.
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