El Decamerón Negro

Leo Brouwer's El Decamerón Negro (1981) is a three-movement suite for solo guitar inspired by Leo Frobenius's 1910 collection of African legends. The work synthesises Brouwer's Cuban heritage, Afro-Caribbean rhythms, and his mature language of what he termed "new simplicity" — stepping back from the radical avant-garde to recover lyricism and tonal reference. The three movements — "The Harp of the Warrior," "The Road of the Slaves," and "The Ballad of the Maiden in Love" — paint vivid narrative scenes. The suite has become one of the most frequently performed contemporary guitar works and a fixture at international guitar competitions.