Date of composition: [1980s]
Date of recording: 2002. Guateque. Havana: EGREM CD.
Composer/Lyricist: improvised décimas by Adolfo Alfonso and Justo Vega
Performer/Instruments: Alfonso, Vega, and the Orquesta Palmas y Cañas
Form: varied strophic
Tempo: brisk 6/8 time punctuated by pauses

What to Listen for:

  • Music serves a supporting role to the poetry, giving singers time to think of their next line.
  • The music features stock phrases and melodies that repeat in variation.
  • Singers must be witty, follow a pre-established rhyme scheme, and ridicule their opponent in a good-natured way to “win” the musical duel.
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