#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalMexico Week 4, 2025
By Ralph Graves
Our neighbor to the south has a long, rich history of classical music. A much longer history than ours, in fact. For May, the Classics a Day team encourages folks to post videos of Mexican classical music.
There’s a lot to choose from. The first composers in New Spain were writing in the 1500s.
Here are my posts for the fourth and final week of #ClassicalMexico.
05/26/25 Carlos Chávez (1899–1978): Xochipilli
Chávez subtitled this work “An Imagined Aztec Music. The subject is the Aztec god Xochipilli-Macuilxóchitl. The ensemble mimics the sound of pre-Columbian instruments.
05/27/25 Silvestre Revueltas (1899–1940): 5 Canciones de Ninos & 2 Conciones Profanas para Voz y Piano
Reveultas first published this collection of songs in 1945 for voice and piano. In 1969, an arrangement for voice and orchestra was made available.
05/28/25 Eduardo Hernández Moncada (1899–1995): Sinfonia No. 1
Moncada was a member of the Nationalist Movement. As such, he was vitally interested in blending traditional Mexican musical forms with those of modern classical to create a true national style.
05/29/25 Alfonso de Elias (1902-1984): Intermezzo
de Elias was a virtuoso pianist. And while he wrote many piano works, he also produced other forms of music: symphonies, ballets, concertos, string quartets, and other chamber music.
05/30/25 Luis Sandi (1905–1996): Sinfonia No. 2
Sandi studied with Carlo Chavez (among others). He conducted Mexico’s top orchestras and was a member of the International Music Council of UNESCO.
Next Month:
