IN MY TELENOVELA CLASS: Conversations with Leonardo Padrón and Roque Valero

The last class of this semester, in which we lectured and discussed as many aspects of telenovelas as possible, finally arrived. Following the course's tradition, I taught the last class at my house with dinner and a Tres Leches for dessert:

That evening we had our two last "Telenovela Conversations" with writer Leonardo Padrón and actor/singer/musician Roque Valero. Both were generous as they shared with us their experiences in the world of telenovelas. My students learned a lot, enjoyed immensely the opportunity to talk to our guests, and were truly delighted when Roque sang for us a fragment of Las Lágrimas Aprenden a Reír.

Following are the two videos of the conversations, where you will find valuable angles and points of view regarding writing, acting and musical composition.





As I finish this semester of "Telenovelas, Culture and Society", I must thank everyone who has talked to me and allowed me to observe her/him as they write, perform, produce or consume telenovelas. Thanks to them, I continue on my research path about this television genre, whose apparent simplicity hides its fascinating complexity. I also thank my 24 students for everything they taught me and for their interesting reflections in our class blog. Finally, thanks to our guests who shared with us their knowledge and talent. They are the indispensable teachers for my class: Marisa Román, Ruxandra Ciobanu, Alberto Gómez, Leonardo Padrón and Roque Valero.

A Telenovela's Soundtrack-Part IV: The Main Musical Theme

Even in telenovelas that showcase a variety of songs, the most important theme is the telenovela's. It used to be the case that a telenovela's main theme would be chosen because of the artist who performed it. Either because the person was already famous or because the network wanted to promote her/him. In contrast, these days, it's an increasingly common occurrence that the main musical theme be specifically composed for the particular telenovela.


For example, the theme for telenovela Cosita Rica was composed and performed by Voz Veis, after meeting with writer Leonardo Padrón.

The main musical theme is key to build a telenovela's identity. It projects its personality and suggests its general mood. Therefore the main theme is a fundamental ingredient of all promotional materials. It is now common to create a videoclip using images from the telenovela.

Below, the videoclip of Mi Prima Ciela, a telenovela that premiered last night on RCTV. Both the lyrics and the images give us important clues about this telenovela's synopsis: Three cousins, thre parallel love stories, and one of them is doomed because she has a terminal illness:

A Telenovela's Soundtrack-Part III: Stories' Musical Themes

(Note: Since blogging is new for me, please forgive the clumsiness of my links to music. They will open in a new window and may take a bit to load. With some browsers, the link might not work the first time you click on it. Try again, please)

Just like the most important characters may have their own musical theme, the main storylines also do. Some of these aren't written specifically for a particular plot or telenovela, but work well, nevertheless.

For example, Roque Valero's Ando de Puntillas became the theme of Patria Mía and Vicente in Cosita Rica.




There are themes, though, that are composed with a specific plot in mind. Below, two examples:

In Cosita Rica, Frank Quintero wrote Ella Dos Veces, for the story of Cacique, Verónica and María Suspiro.



In Ciudad Bendita, Roque Valero composed Cuando te Miro, for the love story of Juan and Bendita, the protagonists.

A Telenovela's Soundtrack-Part II: Characters' Musical Themes

It's become increasingly common to associate a musical theme to each of the most important characters in a telenovela. In this case, music contributes to the construction of the character by emphasizing its defining traits, and adding one more identifier to that character.

In this video, we see actor Carlos Montilla recording El Darwin. This song was composed by brothers Victor and Pablo Escalona specifically for womanizer Darwin, Montilla's character in the telenovela Ciudad Bendita.

I should note that in Ciudad Bendita there were two actors who both composed and sang themselves their characters' musical themes:



- Yanis Chimaras' El Chaca Chaca for character Puro Mercado
(Note: Since blogging is new for me, please forgive the clumsiness of my links to music. They will open in a new window and may take a bit to load. With some browsers, the link might not work the first time you click on it. Try again, please)



- Henry Soto's Otra Mentira Más for character Kike Palacios

A Telenovela's Soundtrack-Part I: Incidental Music

Music plays a huge role in telenovelas. Plots and characters are defined by the music that accompanies them. However, it's the incidental music the one that underscores every scene establishing its mood: romance, humor, suspense, etc. The incidental music also signals the transitions between scenes.

In this video Victor Escalona explains how incidental music works in a telenovela. He uses examples from Cosita Rica.

The video is in Spanish, but I think it isn't difficult to figure out what Mr. Escalona is saying.