He was born in El Mariel, Havana, in June 29th, 1919. He studied in the Municipal Conservatory of Havana. Since the 1950´s his music began to be heard.
In his early moments he worked within Nationalism, creating works such as: Tríptico coral, Cantata de la paz, Elegía, Quinteto para maderas y violoncello and Divertimento. He was the first Cuban on experimenting on concrete, electronic, aleatory and space music, with Música de danza, Ensemble V, Estudios para banda magnetofonica, Texturas, Episodio, Contrapunto espacial and Erotofonías. He has written music for movies, ballet, open-air shows. He was director of music of the National Council of Culture Consejo for several years.