Deux Airs populaires cubains (Dos aires populares cubanos) and Deux Thèmes populaires cubains (Dos temas populares cubanos) were written in the 1960s and published by Éditions Max Eschig in 1972 and 1978. These two pieces belong to the genre of arrangements of popular songs for solo instruments that was a widespread presence in the plucked-string repertoire from the sixteenth century on. In these two cycles, Leo Brouwer reworks Cuban popular music with his usual instrumental originality. In the first cycle, Brouwer did not alter any of the melodic or structural elements of the original songs, only embellishing these with introductions, harmony, and some structure. In the second cycle however, the original dance was composed by Brouwer himself, imitating Cuban popular music characterised by both Spanish and African influences. Rather than being based on actual folk repertoire, it draws its inspiration from it and attempts to recreate its sonic ambiance. Zigante interventions, made on the scores published during the 1970s, consist of the correction of a few errors and restoring some of the original repeat signs as conceived by Brouwer. Any fingering indications were added by Leo Brouwer himself.
