Carlos Chavez and his eclectic Mexican musical sound.

The music of Carlos Chavez has an exciting meaning in all its content. This meaning is born from the mixtures that are implicit in his works. The use of different cultural expressions of Mexico is heard in all of his works. Within these expressions are the use of musical scales from the Mexican indigenous tradition. Carlos Chavez and his family often spent a lot of time in regions with significant indigenous cultural influence such as Tlaxcala, Oaxaca, or Guanajuato. This approach to indigenous culture was vital in the nationalist stage in his compositions. Later, he used European composition techniques to create the characteristic Mexican sound, not only for the scales used but also for the inclusion of Mexican instruments of popular tradition. Some of these instruments were the chirimía (a wooden flute), vihuela, guitarron, marimba, teponaztlis (percussion instrument), and various indigenous instruments. A third mixture was using avant-garde sounds from composers that Carlos Chavez admired, such as Maurice Ravel, and from teachers and friends with whom he shared, such as Paul Dukas, Edgar Varese, and Aaron Copland. In the catalog of works by Carlos Chavez, an exciting mixture can be seen only by knowing his works’ titles. For example, Symphonies, Nocturns, Preludes. Etc, and on the other hand, names like Toxiumolpia: El Fuego nuevo, Aztec ballet, inspired by the tradition of the great Aztec culture in Mexico Jarabe for solo piano, inspired by the Mexican rhythm of the same name and descendant of the Spanish fandango.

The mixture is then the result of the Mexican sound of Carlos Chavez. He, in turn, encouraged his students like Jose Pablo Moncayo to investigate the traditions of Mexico to compose new works later. Huapango de Moncayo is a work by the student of maestro Carlos Chavez, Jose Pablo Moncayo, which is currently widely performed by many orchestras worldwide. Huapango is a rhythm of popular Mexican tradition, and its origins originate in Veracruz. He uses rhythms like “El Siquisiri”, “El Balajú” and “El Gavilancito”. This work became one of Jose Pablo Moncayo’s masterpieces, which was also premiered in 1941 at the Palacio de Bellas Artes under Carlos Chavez’s direction. In this little article, two videos are attached. The first video with the work Paisajes Mexicanos by Carlos Chavez represents a sound representation of the Mexican sound of Carlos Chavez’s music. The second video is the work Huapango de Moncayo under the great Mexican conductor Alondra de la Parra with the Paris Orchestra.