Coros de Clave

Coros de clave were popular choral groups that emerged at the end of the 19th century in Havana and other Cuban cities. Their style was influenced by the orfeones which grew popular in northern Spain in the mid-19th century, and their popularization in the island was linked to the emancipation of African slaves in 1886. The common instrumentation of the coros featured a viola (a string-less banjo used as a percussion instrument), claves, guitar, harp and jug bass.

During the 19th century, the Cuban government only allowed black people, slaves or free, to cultivate their cultural traditions within the boundaries of certain mutual aid societies, which were founded during the 16th century. According to David H. Brown, those societies, called cabildos, "provided in times of sickness and death, held masses for deceased members, collected funds to buy nation-brethren out of slavery, held regular dances and diversions on Sundays and feast days, and sponsored religious masses, processions and dancing carnival groups (now called comparsas) around the annual cycle of Catholic festival days."

At the cabildos in the town of Trinidad some choral groups existed since mid-19th century that performed the so called tonadas trinitarias. There are some references that by 1860, the tonadas trinitarias were interpreted during the local festivities by choirs from different neighborhoods, which used to gather together to compete while they paraded through the streets. Also within the cabildos of certain neighborhoods from Havana, Matanzas, Sancti Spíritus and Trinidad, some choral groups were founded during the 19th century that organized competitive activities, and in some occasions were visited by local authorities and neighbors that gave them money and presents. Those choral societies usually were named after their neighborhoods, and in some occasions they counted with one hundred or more members. Most probable of their chanting aimed to distract local authorities from investigating the real purpose of their gatherings, which was to celebrate ritual activities related to their original African religions.

The origin and development of the coros de clave is linked not only to the local cabildos, but also to the traditions imported by immigrants from northern Spain, in particular the similarly named coros de Clavé (after Catalan composer José Ansemlo Clavé). Starting in 1845, Clavé established orfeones (French-style choirs) made up of working-class people in Barcelona. Similar choral traditions spread throughout the north of Spain, including Galicia, where the movement was called coralismo. According to some authors, including Odilio Urfé and Ned Sublette, upon introduction in Cuba, the coros de Clavé lost their accent, becoming coros de clave.

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