[1] It has become a standard of the Latin music repertoire, with notable performances by artists such as Cuarteto Machín, Daniel Santos, Noro Morales and Ibrahim Ferrer.
Recorded by various artists in the world of Hispanic music, it came to wider prominence when it was included in the Oscar-nominated soundtrack of the 1999 documentary film Buena Vista Social Club, set in Cuba and directed by Wim Wenders.
[2] The song was sung by well-known singers Ibrahim Ferrer and Omara Portuondo, and conducted by Juan de Marcos González, featuring Ry Cooder on guitar.
At the height of his career (the late 1950s until his death in 1964), the Puerto Rican pianist and bandleader Noro Morales released a series of recordings of ballroom rumba pieces arranged for his sextet, without vocals and with (an innovation) the piano playing both melody and rhythm.
The 1969 Mexican film "El jibarito Rafael", set in Puerto Rico, has a scene where a tuxedo-clad singer (Felipe Pirela) sings the song as he wanders around the nightclub where the protagonist couple are sitting, to end up facing the girl directly as he begins the phrase "Silencio ..."[3] The Italian Singer Fabio Lepore made his version on the album "Pausa Caffe'" The first two lines of the song, "Duermen en mi jardín / Las blancas azucenas", translates as Sleeping in my garden / The white lilies.