April 24, 2021

Dear friend Aurelio:

First of all, I give you a very tight hug for the publication of two recent books on your work and on the rich trajectory of your life. I have not yet read Gayol's book, but I have read Santí's, which, as we could expect from him, turned out to be a brilliant book, with contributions that go beyond your person and cover a good part of twentieth-century Cuban culture. Among these contributions is the definition of the creators who represented different trends of musical renewal in our country, and the legitimate and "illegitimate" trends in which they were situated are perfectly argued. The arguments about one and the other are so clearly exposed, that they can be understood even by people outside the music.

The use of musical concepts that announce and characterize its content in the subtitles, such as "Overtura", "Andante", "Maestoso" ... contributes to enhance the aesthetic values ​​of this book.

Among the most brilliant and momentous chapters in this book is the one developed by the two of you under the lovely subtitle "Summer Conversation," so full of suggestions that it astonishes the reader to see them in such a well argued exposition. Here, in the most pleasant and clear way, your autobiography, Aurelio; the history of music and culture in Havana during an important portion of the 20th century, wrapped in aspects of the history of Cuba. This splendid ensemble that passes before the eyes of the reader overflowing with elements that nourish it, is presided over by a philosophy consistent with your life and your work, dear friend Aurelio, and they form a conceptual and stylistic unity without compromise. Your originality, depth and breadth in the thought that you project is admirable; what you expose does not escape at any time your courage and sincerity, ethical virtues that characterize you. Everything in this chapter reveals your very deep culture, your very high conceptual level, which found in Santí a counterpart full of intellectual dignity, highlighted in the exhibitions and excellent understanding of your life, your work and your attitudes.

It is admirable how you and Santí went beyond Cuban culture in the 20th century and entered the culture of the world. Thus, the parallelism between the lives and personalities of Wagner and Verdi is of a formidable depth, and so comprehensive that it shows not only the attitudes of each of them towards existence, but also their human limitations, their artistic greatness, the relief of his contributions, which enhanced the music of his time and paved paths for the future. The similarities and differences between the two are seen in this parallel, and it even covers the political panorama in which both lived, with the territorial and pre-state fragmentations, the cultural environment of each one, the nationalist sentiment11 that they had in common. each one in its respective geographical and historical region and that covered the desire for unification that would culminate in the nations of Germany and Italy. The differences between the two creators in their artistic perspectives and their ideology appear in this parallelism as a complement to the rich panorama evoked: that of Wagner, according to you, a revolutionary in his music; that of Verdi, a highly cultivated traditionalist, and you also showed the preferential accent that each of you gave to your creative profile: Wagner in German instrumental music, and Verdi in Italian vocal. Everything in this comparison overflows precision and greatness, to the point of achieving human and aesthetic definitions in the goals that each one set himself: Wagner, because he wanted to use music as a means to make the world more powerful, and Verdi, poured his genius into themes everyday, to the way Tchaikovsky declared to Leo Tolstoy when he played the piano for him, his preference for life-like arguments, as in "Eugene Onegin." I would like to add in support of this hello id of you, that Verdi did not choose for the literary libretto of "Rigoletto", "Hernani", by Víctor Hugo, who revolutionized French theater and divided its audience, but "El Rey se amuserte" , by Hugo himself, who followed the canons of the traditional romantic current. Wagner's sublimation mechanism is praised and in this parallel, for having turned the negative acts in his life, such as the sufferings he created for Cósima Listz, into musical greatness. A great difference is noted in the attitudes of each of these two creators towards the other: Wagner, who ignored the genius of Verdi; and Verdí who never hid his admiration for the other.

This book is enriching not only for music scholars, but for people whose musical knowledge is scarce, among whom I point myself. This magnificent book is a jewel within Cuban culture, and fully fulfills its mission of having given so much new knowledge to readers, all exposed with a clarity that we must thank them for.

Thank you, Aurelio, for this fabulous gift that you sent me, thank you also for having remembered me among the people who were going to receive this formidable gift of yours, and for the dedication so nuanced with affection.

spoke to Rosa Leonor Whitmarsh about this book, and she was delighted with the content that I was honored to convey to her. Before saying goodbye to you today, I remember Sarita, your first wife, always so kind, so fine, so giver, so privileged in the gift that she knew how to give to others by hand, and that was her brilliant emotional intelligence.

I beg you to congratulate Santí on my part, and tell Ana María how much I value the intervention that she had in this achievement of yours and. of Enrico, by listening to you and accompanying you in your realization from his conceptual height and his erudition in music.

For you another immense hug from that dinner at your house, where I met you twenty-six years ago, and for all the times that you generously accompanied me on each occasion that I went to Los Angeles, my beloved city, in which the silhouettes of my characters. You have been an important part of my life since then, and you will always be.

Josefina Leyva