Listening in Detail: Cuban Music

Podcast

Play an AI-generated podcast conversation about this lesson

Download our mobile app to listen on the go

Get App

Questions and Answers

According to Alexandra T. Vazquez, what constitutes 'listening in detail'?

An approach mainly concerned with the market consumption of music.
Strictly a method of ethnographic examination for defining music.
A critical performance considering human and ecological experiences, sound quality including tone, pitch, and silence. (correct)
Primarily focusing on the technical aspects of sound such as tone and pitch.

Why was the nickname 'Bola de Nieve' (Snowball) given to Ignacia Villa?

It was a term of endearment due to his fair complexion and gentle nature.
Because he frequently performed in winter festivals.
Because he composed a famous song about snow.
It was a reference to his performances in cold and remote locations.
It was an ironic comment on his black skin and round face, given to him by Rita Montaner. (correct)

What made Bola de Nieve a magnetic and beloved Cuban musician?

His intimate salon style of performing and queer charisma. (correct)
His compositions that strictly adhered to traditional Cuban musical forms.
His grand opera performances and collaborations with international orchestras.
His proficiency in playing multiple instruments.

What does Vazquez suggest about Villa's introductions to his performances?

They provide an intimate collection of notes that signal the 'not-quite beginning' of the show, offering flexible entry points. (D) Signup and view all the answers

How does Vazquez use Villa's 'inaugural model' in her own work?

To provide a set of flexible and inviting coordinates that reveal the locations that have made the writing possible. (B) Signup and view all the answers

What does the 'diminutive imperative' in Cuban Spanish signify, according to Vazquez?

Objects of affection and things that deserve our highest respect. (A) Signup and view all the answers

Why is Villa not considered a foundational figure in performance studies scholarship?

Because he is among the details that disturb any attempt to make the field stable, challenging established canons. (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is 'Listening in Detail' in relation to Cuban music?

An interaction with Cuban music that moves away from how it has been packaged and circulated. (A) Signup and view all the answers

According to the content, what does 'Cuban music' often mirror?

How Cuba operates in the greater imaginary. (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is one of the functions that an introduction can provide, as revealed by Villa?

To be an intimate collection of notes that signal the anticipation of the show. (C) Signup and view all the answers

How does the author describe Bola de Nieve's voice?

High pitched and rubbed with gravel, with a feathery wheeze. (A) Signup and view all the answers

What effect does Armando Suarez Cobian's recording of Villa have on the author?

It initiates the author's exploration of flexible and inviting coordinates in scholarship. (C) Signup and view all the answers

According to the content, what is one potential negative aspect of the 'game of verbal deformation'?

It might have troublesome interpellative functions. (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is one quality that early works of performance studies emphasized?

Live, theatrical events. (D) Signup and view all the answers

According to the content, what have many scholars in performance studies done?

Opened up the field to critical experiments in sound, visuality, space, and text. (B) Signup and view all the answers

How is Cuban music described within the context of 'Listening in Detail'?

As a most difficult and elusive sign. (B) Signup and view all the answers

What does 'Listening in Detail' necessarily press against and move away from in relation to Cuban music?

How Cuban music has been packaged, circulated, and written about. (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is the significance of Bola de Nieve's performances being known for live, late-night shows and radio appearances?

It demonstrates his versatility and popularity across different media. (B) Signup and view all the answers

According to the content, what does Alexandra T. Vazquez's work offer?

An original and impassioned take on Cuban music as it circulates between different locations. (A) Signup and view all the answers

Why does Cuban music attempt to condense a dynamic spectrum of practices into a singular entity?

To simplify the complex range of Cuban cultural expression. (B) Signup and view all the answers

Flashcards

Listening in Detail

Listening as a critical performance considering human/ecological experience, sound equality, tone, pitch, lyric, reverberation, and silence.

Ignacio Villa (Bola de Nieve)

Cuban composer and musician, known for intimate salon performances and queer charisma.

Saludo

A greeting or welcome, exemplified by Bola de Nieve's radio program introductions.

Flexible Introduction

A way to signal the beginning of something without definitively mapping what will follow.

Signup and view all the flashcards

Diminutive Imperative

Tendency in Cuban Spanish to alter words, often as a form of affection or respect.

Signup and view all the flashcards

Expanding Performance Studies

Opening up the field of performance studies to experiments in sound, visuality, space, and text.

Signup and view all the flashcards

Listening in Detail's Approach

An interaction with Cuban music that challenges its packaged and circulated forms.

Signup and view all the flashcards

Study Notes

Alexandra T. Vazquez is an Assistant Professor of African American Studies and English at Princeton University.
Listening in Detail is Vazquez's original work which approaches Cuban music as it exists between the island, the United States, and other places.
The work is a critique of attempts to define "Cuban music" for ethnographic examination or market consumption.
Listening in detail is explained as critical performance involving human or ecological experience, sound equality, tone, pitch, lyric, reverberation, and silence.
The gentle pressing of piano keys begins a performance by Cuban composer and musician Ignacia Villa, also known as Bola de Nieve.
Bola de Nieve's nickname was given to him by Rita Montaner as an ironic comment on his black skin and round face.
Bola de Nieve's intimate salon style and queer charisma made him a beloved Cuban musician.
He was known for live, late-night shows and radio appearances throughout Latin America.
The notes played at the start of one of Bola de Nieve's radio programs in 1953 represent a saludo.
Bola de Nieve's voice is high pitched and gravelly.
Armando Suarez Cobian, the Cuban writer, introduced the recording in 2007.
Villa reveals that an introduction can be an intimate collection of notes that signal the not-quite beginning of a show.
The introduction offers flexible and inviting coordinates.
The preamble clearly exemplifies the diminutive imperative in Cuban Spanish.
Diminutives are shorthand objects of affection.
Villa is not a foundational figure in performance studies scholarship.
Villa is among the countless details that disturb any attempt to make the field stable.
Scholars have opened up the field to experiments in sound, visuality, space, and text.
Cuban music condenses a range of practices into a singular entity.
Listening in Detail interacts with Cuban music, pressing against how it has been packaged and circulated.
"Cuban music" often mirrors how Cuba operates in the greater imaginary.