Abstract
Héctor Angulo, one of the most versatile Cuban composers, had a musical style that combines Afro-Cuban music elements with 20th and 21st-century compositional techniques. His musical discourse includes elements from the African musical heritage. This paper proposes a conscious reconsideration of the approach to non-Western musical traditions which require different analytical techniques. An analytical study will reveal the musical content that defines both the Afro-Cuban and the contemporary styles. Some of the analytical techniques used in this study include musical ambiguities (polytonal, polyrhythmic, pitch ambiguity, bi-modal, Poly-meter, Dual texture, phenomenal and agogic accents) and music temporalities which are defined by non-directed linear dynamic, texture, timbre, density, range, progressions, and gestures. From a historical background, the research provides a complete description of Angulo’s innovative musical style, which comports with a Nationalist trend in Classical Guitar idiomatic writing. This study explores the approach of a non-guitarist composer who brings new sonorities to the guitar, transcending the range of musical options traditionally limited by standard performance modes. Héctor Angulo’s musical compositions display an outstanding balance between the premise of collective participation of the artist with his individual artistic distinctiveness. The educational goal of this research is to provide a detailed analysis of these works, offering alternative approaches to them and support for the performer's musical choices. In addition, the author is opening the path for further investigations into other Cuban guitarist and non-guitarist composers.