Siboney (song)

"Siboney" (Canto Siboney) is a 1929 Cuban song by Ernesto Lecuona. The music is in cut time, originally written in C major.[1] The lyrics were reportedly written by Lecuona while away from Cuba and is about the homesickness he is experiencing (Siboney is also a town in Cuba, and can also refer to Cuba in general).[2]

Siboney became a hit in 1931 when performed by Alfredo Brito and His Siboney Orchestra[3][4]. Other artists followed suit, including Caterina Valente, Olga Guillot, Xiomara Alfaro, Dizzy Gillespie, René Touzet (1954), Nana Mouskouri and Percy Faith. It was recorded by Connie Francis in 1960, and later included in the film 2046.

English lyrics were written by Dolly Morse,[5] but they bear no resemblance to the original Spanish. The English version of the song was recorded by Bing Crosby on February 11, 1945 with Xavier Cugat conducting the Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra.[6] Later in the same decade (1949) it was recorded for Muzak by Alfredo Antonini and his orchestra in collaboration with Victoria Cordova and John Serry Sr..[7]

Film appearances

Grace Moore performed the song in the 1937 film When You're in Love.
In 1942, Gloria Jean sang the English version in the musical Get Hep to Love.

The song inspired the Mexican-Cuban film Siboney, directed by Juan Orol and starring María Antonieta Pons. The film was released in 1938 as a part of the so-called Rumberas film saga of the Mexican Cinema.

The song was used by Nino Rota in the score for Fellini's nostalgic memoir of the 1930s, Amarcord.[8]

References

  1. ↑ musicnotes.com "Musicnotes File: Siboney, Ernesto Lecuna Digital Sheet Music". Accessed 6 May 2011
  2. ↑ LiveJournal: Linguaphiles. "Spanish to English, Siboney". Accessed 6 May 2011
  3. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954. Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. p. 62. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
  4. ↑ "Discogs.com". Discogs.com. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
  5. ↑ http://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtdVPE.asp?ppn=MN0036556 musicnotes.com "Musicnotes File: Siboney, Ernesto Lecuona Digital Sheet Music" Accessed 6 May 2011
  6. ↑ "A Bing Crosby Discography". BING magazine. International Club Crosby. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
  7. ↑ https://catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/holdingsInfo?searchId=10034&recCount=25&recPointer=3&bibId=13658991 Victoria Cordova and Alfredo Antonini Orchestra performing "Siboney" on the Library of Congress Online Catalog at catalog.loc.gov]
  8. ↑ Space Age Pop Music. "The Lecuona Song". Accessed 6 May 2011
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