As such, the “heavy striking of the tambourine on the beat in binary meter” would become an integral stylistic feature of plena music during its development in the 1920s (Drouet 2000, 586). Accordingly, early performances were characteristically percussive. Early instrumentation of this genre included the tambourine, the guiro (a hollowed gourd idiophone), the guitar, and the concertina (an accordion-like instrument) all accompanying the leading voice (Drouet 2000, 585). The first performances of plena music came from English-speaking Afro-Caribbean immigrants from the Virgin Islands and from St. Vega Drouet states that the earliest documented origins of plena music came from the first decade of the 20th century, although the “style of plena current in Puerto Rico” was present for “half a century before” (Drouet 2000, 585). The cultural background of plena has origins from at least the 20th century and possibly the late 19th century (Bailyn 2016). Plena is a musical genre that not only reminds Puerto Ricans of their culture and heritage, but also serves as a medium for catalyzing progressive social change. It is a mixture of the musical and cultural lineages of the native Puerto Rican people and those of Africa (Drouet 2000). The tradition of plena music, which is rooted historically in both the Puerto Rican and African music-cultures, encapsulates the struggles of the commoner in Puerto Rican society amid rapid, drastic sociopolitical changes, ultimately uniting the working-class against injustices and oppression. According to Izza Tahir and Susan Anderson (2014), Puerto Rico is designated as a commonwealth of the United States it is home to over three million people and has a deeply rooted history with both Spain and the United States that has heavily influenced its current cultural landscape. Such a culture can be traced to several events in Puerto Rican history involving the struggles of many people for equality and freedom. The island of Puerto Rico is home to a vast range of peoples who celebrate a culture of diversity, pride, and progress. The genre still remains relevant in addressing modern issues that relate to cultural self-perception, such as the definition of Puerto Rican identity, as well as sociopolitical ones, namely the status of Puerto Rico as a commonwealth. This investigation of plena music reveals that plena music is multicultural furthermore, it has a deep-rooted history in pursuing social equality amid prevailing conditions of social and racial marginalization and oppression. The article ends by providing historical and modern examples of plena music in action, discussing the rise of well-known pleneros Rafael Cortijo and Ismael Rivera in the mid-20th century as well as the experiences of modern plena performers in the Las Fiestas de la Calle de San Sebastián music festival.
The structure of plena music is also analyzed through an analysis of a typical plena song, “Don Pacheco” by Alma Moyó. These include scholarly and non-scholarly articles that provide descriptions of plena from its beginnings in the late 19th century to the 20th century, as well as descriptions of its function as a ‘music of the people’. This is achieved through a review of relevant sources, written and audiovisual, that discuss the genre’s origins, musical structure, and modern social relevance. This article investigates the history, structure, and function of plena music as it relates to Puerto Rican culture and society. Plena is a Puerto Rican musical genre with Afro-Puerto Rican origins through participatory, energetic songs, performers can criticize relevant social concerns of Puerto Rican society from the stance of the commoner. Plena: A Music of the Puerto Rican Peopleīy Kaito Nagashima, Matthew Bellury, and Trevon Johnson
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