Latin Rhythms in Daniel Rojas

Apertura Dura Hervida

(Hard-Boiled Overture)

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Contents
1. About Rojas
2. What is Clave?
3. The 3-2 Son Clave
4. The 2-3 Son Clave
5. The 3-2 Rumba Clave
6. The 2-3 Rumba Clave
7. Revision
8. How has Rojas Used the Clave?
9. Explicit Use of Son Clave
10.Explicit Use of Rumba Clave
11.Implied Clave in Irregular Metre
12.Influence on Rhythmic Structure
13.Summary
14.Composition Task

About Rojas
Daniel Rojas was born in Chile, and was taught
piano and singing by his mother, who was a
Peruvian folk singer
His composition style is heavily influenced by
Latin-American music, popular, folk and
indigenous traditions
Often rearranges Latin-American music and
concepts for the concert stage.
A major aspect of this is the Latin-American
Clave
rhythm
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What is

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Clave?

What is a Clave?
The clave is a rhythmic cell which creates the
rhythmic foundation of the piece. It creates the basis
of other rhythms, which will be superimposed over it.
The Spanish word clave translates to key,
meaning rhythm key.
Absolutely essential to any Latin-American music.
There are 2 common permutations: the son and the
rumba.
These permutations only differ by one note.
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3-2 Son
Clave

Son Clave
The Son Clave is named so because of its use in Cuban Son music.
The 3-2 clave consists of 2 bars; one containing 3 events and the
next containing 2.

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2-3 Son
Clave

Son Clave
The 2-3 Son Clave is simply a reversed permutation of
the 3-2 Clave.

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3-2 Rumba
Clave

Rumba Clave
The Rumba clave is very similar to the Son, in that it only
differs by one note, with the third event in the first bar
displaced by a quaver.
This changes the interaction of tension and release within
the music.

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2-3 Rumba
Clave

Rumba Clave
As with the Son Clave, the 2-3 permutation of the
Rumba Clave simply has the bars swapped around.

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Revision

Revision

Read the following questions, and choose the

answer which you think is correct.
1. In Latin-American music, what is a clave?
a) An instrument
b) A rhythmic cell
c) A set of pitches
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Revision
2. Which of the following is a 3-2 Son Clave?
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Listen
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Sorry, that wasnt correct! Go

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Revision

3. Which of the following is a 3-2 Rumba

Clave?

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Listen
!

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How Has Rojas Used the

Clave?
Throughout Hard-Boiled Overture, Rojas
uses both the Son and Rumba claves
explicitly and implicitly.
Where the clave is used implicitly, although
it is not heard, it can still be felt in the
rhythm, as it has an influence on the
rhythmic structure of the piece.
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Explicit UseSon

Explicit Use of the Son Clave

The first explicit use of the clave in the work
is in bar 106, with a direct quote of the 3-2
Son clave, although it has been hinted
implicitly prior to this.

This excerpt is also heard at the octave in

violin, cello and double bass parts.
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Bar 106

Bar 106
In addition to this explicit use of the Son Clave in the flute and strings
parts, Rojas also implies the rhythm in the clarinet and bassoon parts as
follows:

Although the bassoon is not playing the Clave rhythm, it is implied

through the placement of the accents. You can see in this excerpt that
the accents have been placed on the same quaver beats as the clave
rhythm in the flute. As a result of this, Rojas is able to incorporate the
Back to Clave, while also filling the
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Rumba
texture, and maintaining interest.
Explicit UseContents

Rumba

Explicit Use of the Rumba

Clave
Throughout the composition, it is clear that Rojas was
considering the Rumba Clave, however, the first clear
annunciation of this is not until bar 269, at letter J, in
the double bass:

In this instance, the 2-3 permutation of the Rumba

Clave is used, and provides the rhythmic basis for the
Use in
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parts
Irregular

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Irregular
Metre

Implied Clave in Irregular

Metre
Throughout the composition, the use of irregular
metre is fairly common, and in order for the clave
to be used in these metres, it must be adapted.
In this example, in bar 280, Rojas is implying an
adapted form of the 3-2 rumba in a 7/8 time
signature.

We can see that, in this bar, there are four musical

events, as opposed to the usual three. This is
because Rojas has placed a crotchet on the fifth Use in
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Irregular
quaver beat, instead of aListen
crotchet rest.
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Metre

Implied Clave in Irregular

Metre

In order for the clave to fit into a shorter bar,

Rojas was required to remove one quaver
from the pattern.
By comparing the original rumba clave, and
the figure in bar 280, it is clear that the
rest before the final event in the Influence:
Backquaver
to
Rhythmic
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original clave was removed.
Structure

Influence on Rhythmic Structure

In various parts of the work, although the

clave is not at all present, it is clear that it
has influenced the rhythmic structure of the
piece. This is evident in the following
excerpt, taken from bars 86-89.

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Influence:
Rhythmic
Structure

Influence on Rhythmic
Structure

As you would have heard, and as can be seen in

the score, many of the groupings of notes in the
oboe part are based on those in the clave,
creating a clave feel, without explicitly stating it.
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Summary
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Summary
In his composition, Rojas has made use of
both the Son and Rumba claves.
This use can either be explicit (direct quote),
or implicit (not present, but still felt).
When used implicitly, the clave has a
significant effect on the rhythmic structure
and feel of the music.
Some ways in which the clave can be
is through the use of accents,
ties or
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to
Compositio
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n Task
note groupings.

Composition Task
Using variations of the Latin-American clave
rhythms shown, compose a 16 bar theme for
a single instrument, which can later be
extended to include other techniques used
by Rojas, such as canon, syncopation and
rhythmic unison.

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