La Nueva Trova Cubana

Since the early 19th Century musical bards of social chronicle in Cuba called trovadores (troubadours) have played a major cultural role within families, communities and throughout the society. With the Revolution there emerged a grouping of young and often critical singer-songwriters who saw in themselves the continuation of this tradition under entirely new social circumstances. In the late 1960s with the backing of important Cuban leaders such as Haydée Santamaría, the Centro de la Canción Protesta (Political Song Center) of La Casa de Las Américas and Grupo de Experimentación Sonora del ICAIC (Experimental Sound Collective of the Cuban Film Institute) were born. These efforts gave rise to the Movimiento de la Nueva Trova (New Song Movement), which became a very important Cuban cultural institution. The Nueva Trova achieved international recognition in great part due to the contributions of and high level of exposure provided to Silvio Rodríguez and Pablo Milanés.