#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalMexico Week 2 2024
Mexico has a long classical music tradition, extending back to the late 1500s. Composers emigrated from Spain to supply the great Mexican cathedrals with music. Within a generation, native-born composers assumed those roles.
The Classics a Day team realizes that Cinco de Mayo is more of an American than a Mexican holiday. But it is an opportunity to celebrate Mexican culture. And so, the challenge for May is to post examples of Mexican classical music on your social media platforms.
Right from the beginning the traditional music of the native population influenced the classical composers. As a result, Mexican classical music has become a natural expression of the national character.
Here are my selections for the first week of #ClassicalMexico.
05/06/24 José Mariano Elízaga (1786–1842): Ultimas variaciones
Elizage is considered the most important Mexican composer of the early Romantic period. The bulk of his music was considered lost until a cache was discovered in 1994.
05/07/24 Cenobio Paniagua (1821-1882): String Quartet No. 1
Paniagua was a violinist as well as a composer. He was the second conductor of the Cathedral Orchestra in Mexico City. Paniagua wrote several operas as well as 70 masses.
05/08/24 Aniceto Ortega (1825–1875): Vals Jarabe
Ortega was a physician, as well as a pianist and composer. He founded Mexico’s first hospital for women and children in the 1840s. Ortega helped found the Sociedad Filarmónica Mexicana. And he wrote the first opera based on a native Mexican story –Guatimotzin.
05/09/24 Felipe Villanueva (1862–1893): Amar (Nocturno)
Villanueva was a gifted pianist and violinist, as well as a composer. Although he died at 31, he’s still considered one of the major figures of Mexican music during the Romantic Era.
05/10/24 Salvador Contreras (1910–1982): Corridos para Coro y Oquestra
Contreras was a composer and violinist. He studied with both Silvestre Revueltas and Carlos Chavez. His own style evolved from neo-romantic to serial composition.
