Music of Mexico
The music of Mexico is diverse and features a wide range of different musical styles influenced by a variety of cultures, most notably Amerindian and European. Many traditional Mexican songs are well-known worldwide, although their origin in Mexico is not clear to the non-Mexican listener; "Bésame Mucho", "Granada", "Cielito Lindo", "El Rey", La Bamba, "Maria Bonita" and many more are part of the Mexican culture.
Folk music
Traditional music can be classified by
- type of ensemble (mariachi, banda, conjunto calentano, conjunto jarocho, etc.)
- type of musical form (canción ranchera, son huasteco, son jarocho, polka, etc.)
Type of ensemble
- Mariachi
- Marimba
- Conjunto jarocho
- Conjunto huasteco
- Banda tradicional
- Conjunto norteño
- Conjunto calentano
Type of musical form
Musical forms include: canción ranchera, corrido, son huasteco, son jarocho,polka, redova, son calentano, son istmeño, son planeco, bolero ranchero, danzón, marcha, canción cardenche
Ranchera
Ranchera is a musical form that is interpreted by mariachi bands, banda, conjunto norteño and duets. Examples include the work of Cuco Sanchez, Chavela Vargas, and Fanny Fernández.
Mexican Sones
Mexican son first appeared in the 17th century and is a fusion of indigenous, Spanish and African traditions, much like Cuban son. But in Mexico, the music exhibited lots of variation from region to region, both in rhythm and instrumentation. Some of these regional sones include son jarocho from the area around Vera Cruz, son jaliscenses from Jalisco, son huasteco, son calentano, son michoacano, etc. Cite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page).
Mexican fiddling
Mexican fiddling is often used in these types of music styles:
- Son Huasteco music, from the Huasteca territory, this music is played in the states of Hidalgo, Veracruz, San Luis Potosi and Zacatecas and the fiddle is accompanied with jarana huasteca and huapanguera.
- Calentano music from Tierra caliente.
- Arpa grande music from Michoacán.
- Mariachi music.
Popular music
Pop
The Mexican music market serves as a launching pad to stardom for artists who are interested extending the market-range of their music. Such was the case with Julio Iglesias, Thalia, Paulina Rubio, Ricky Martin and Shakira, the last of whom arrived in Mexico in 1994, released a second album there and started a successful career in the United States after that. According to the America Top 100, Mexico had over 90 hits in Latin America during 2006, almost a third more than its closest competitor, the United States.
Rock and metal
In the 60s and 70s, during the PRI government, most rock bands were obligated to appear underground, that was the time after Avándaro (a Woodstock-style Mexican festival) in which groups like El Tri, Enigma, The Dugs Dugs, Javier Batiz and many others arose. During that time Carlos Santana became famous after performing at Woodstock. During the 80s and 90s many Mexican bands went to the surface and popular rock bands like Molotov, Control Machete, Café Tacuba, Los Caifanes, Maná and Maldita Vecindad got many followers. The latter are "grandfathers" to the Latin ska movement. Mexico City has also a considerable movement of bands playing surf rock inspired in their outfits by local show-sport lucha libre, with Lost Acapulco initiating and leading the movement. Mexico recently has had a "rebirth" of rock music with bands like Jumbo, Zoé, Porter, etc., which have made this genre popular again.
The Mexican rock movement began in the late 1950s and early 1960s, rapidly becoming popular, and peaking in the 80's and 90's with real authentic sounds and styles. Mexican Rock combined the traditional instruments and stories of Mexico in its songs. Mexican along with Latin American Rock remain very popular in Mexico, surpassing other cultural interpretations of Rock and Roll.
Latin alternative
An electric range of influences is at the heart of Latin alternative, a music created by young players who have been raised not only on their parents' music but also on rock, hip-hop and electronica. It represents a sonic shift away from regionalism and points to a new global Latin identity.
The name "Latin alternative" was coined in the late 1990s by record company executives as a way to sell music that was --literally-- all over the map. It was marketed as an alternative to the slick, highly produced Latin pop that dominated commercial Spanish-language radio, such as Ricky Martin or Paulina Rubio.
Artists within the genre, such as Kinky and Café Tacuba, have set out to defy traditional expectations of Latin music. Now, in an age of Internet connections, downloading and sampling, Latin alternative has become not just a reaction to outside influences but its own genre.
Ska
Latin Ska first started in South America from Caribbean influence. After hearing this type of music they started to invent their own Ska in Spanish.
Popular music of folk roots
Banda
Banda music was created with the imitation of military bands that were imported during the reign of emperor Maximillian in the 1800s. Banda sounds very similar to polka music. Polish immigrants established themselves in the state of Sinaloa. It was further popularized during the Mexican Revolution when local authorities and states formed their own bands to play in the town squares. Revolutionary leaders such as Pancho Villa, also took wind bands with them wherever they went. Banda has to this day remained popular throughout the central and northern states. It has, however, diversified into different styles due to regions, instruments and modernization. Today people associate banda with Sinaloense. This originated in the 1940s when the media distributed Banda el Recodo repertoire as exclusively from Sinaloa when it was actually regional music from all over Mexico.
Although banda music is played by many bands from different parts of Mexico, its original roots are in Sinaloa and Zacatecas, which are hugely famous for bands such as Banda el Recodo from Sinaloa and Banda Jerez from Zacatecas.
Banda Sinaloense experienced international popularity in the 1990s. The most prominent band was Banda el Recodo which is renowned as "the mother of all bands". Unlike tamborazo Zacatecano, Sinaloense's essential instrument is the tuba. Sometimes an accordion is also included. (Sound sample) Well known artists include:
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Tamborazo Zacatecano originated in the state of Zacatecas and translates to drum-beat from Zacatecas. This banda style is traditionally composed of 2 trumpets, 2 clarinets, a saxophone, a trombone and the essential bass drum. La Marcha de Zacatecas is a perfect example of this type of music.
Norteño
Another important music style is musica Norteña, or northern style tunes, which has been the basis for such sub-genres as musica de banda. Musica Norteña like musica Tejana, arose in the 1830s and 40's in the Rio Grande region, in the southern Texas. Influenced by both Bohemian music and immigrant miners, its rhythm was derived from European polkas, which were popular during the 1800s.
Duranguense
Duranguense is not really a music genre, since it has failed to come up with any original creations. Its success is due mainly to an ambitious marketing strategy aimed at attracting the provincial and Mexican immigrant working class of the United States.
Gruperas
Gruperas are the mixed sound of rumba and ranchera music mostly heard in the mid south of Mexico. This music contains both rumba rhythms and ranchera rhythms which these are mostly heard at parties, clubs and Mexican radio. Muzzaac.
Cumbia
The 1980s saw Colombian cumbia become even more popular in Mexico than in its native land, and it was by far the dominant genre throughout the decade, before banda overtook it in the 1990s. In the early 1970s and 1980s Mexican bands like Rigo Tovar y su Costa Azul topped the charts, and helped, by the end of the decade, El Gran Silencio and Los Kumbia Kings. Top artists include:
- Rigo Tovar y su Costa Azul
- Selena
- Los Sonors
- Sabor Kolombia
- Los Chicos del Barrio
- Los Super Reyes
- Los Reyes Del Sabor
- Kumbia Kings
- Kumbia All Starz
- Nando y Solja Kingz
- Tropicalísimo Lobo
- Tropicalísimo Apache
- Tropicalísimo Flamante
- Mi Barrio Colombiano
Influencia cubana
Rumba came from the black Mexican slaves in Veracruz, Mexico city, and Yucatán. The style began in Cuba and later became famous in the black community of Mexico. These songs are popular in the south of Mexico.Cha cha cha, danzon, mambo and bolero grew importantly in Mexico, especially in Veracruz and Mexico City. Important song writers that influenced this were Perez Prado, Benny More and Agustin Lara.
Danzon
The European influence on Cuba's later musical development is most influentially represented by danzón, which is an elegant dance that became established in Cuba before being exported to popular acclaim throughout Latin America, especially Mexico. Its roots lay in European social dances like the English country dance, French contredanse and Spanish contradanza. Danzon developed in the 1870s in the region of Matanzas, where African culture remained strong. It had developed in full by 1879 and later was brought to Mexico.
Classical music
Mexico has a long tradition of classical music, as far back as the 16th century, when it was a Spanish colony. Music of New Spain, especially that of Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla and Hernando Franco, is increasingly recognized as a significant contribution to New World culture.
Puebla was a significant center of music composition in the 17th century, as the city had considerable wealth and for a time was presided over by Bishop Juan de Palafox y Mendoza, who was an enthusiastic patron of music. Composers during this period included Bernardo de Peralta Escudero (mostly active around 1640), and also Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla, who was the most famous composer of the 17th century in Mexico. The construction of the cathedral in Puebla made the composition and performance of polychoral music possible, especially compositions in the Venetian polychoral style. Late in the century, Miguel Matheo de Dallo y Lana set the verse of poet Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz.
In the 18th century, Manuel de Sumaya, maestro de capilla at the cathedral in Mexico City, wrote many cantadas and villancicos, and he was the first Mexican to compose an opera, La Partenope (1711). After him, Ignacio Jerusalem, an Italian-born composer, brought some of the latest operatic styles as well as early classical (galant) styles to Mexico. His best-known composition is probably the Matins for the Virgin of Guadalupe (1764). Jerusalem was maestro de capilla at the cathedral in Mexico City after Sumaya, from 1749 until his death in 1769.
In the 19th century the waltzes of Juventino Rosas achieved world recognition. In the 20th century, Carlos Chavez, is a notable composer who wrote symphonies, ballets, and a wide catalogue of chamber music, within variated esthetical orientations. Another recognized composer is Silvestre Revueltas who wrote such pieces as "The night of the mayas", "Homenaje a García Lorca", "Sensemayá" based on a poem by Nicolas Guillen, "Janitzio" and "Redes". Manuel M. Ponce is recognized as an important composer for the Spanish classical guitar, responsible for widening the repertorium for this instrument. Jose Pablo Moncayo with compositions such as "Huapango", and Blas Galindo with "Sones de Mariachi", are also recognized as adapters of Mexican sons into symphonic music.
In 1922 Julian Carrillo (violinist, composer, conductor, theoretician and inventor), created the first microtonal system in the history of classical music. During subsequent years, he also developed and constructed harps and pianos able to play music in fragments of tone, like fourths, sixths, eighths and sixteenths. His pianos are still manufactured in Germany and are used to play Carrillo's music, mainly in Europe and Mexico.
Another contemporary Mexican composer was Conlon Nancarrow (of American birth), who created a system to play pianola music, using and developing theories of politempo and polimetrics.
Some avant-garde composers leading Mexican music during the second half of the 20th century were Alicia Urreta, Manuel Enríquez, Mario Lavista and Julio Estrada. Some of them also contributed to the academic development of music teaching in American universities. Among them, Daniel Catan, Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez, Carlos Sandoval, Ignacio Baca-Lobera, Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon and Samuel Zyman. In the other side of the Athlantic the composers of a new generation, Hilda Paredes, Vicente Uvalle Castillo, Javier Torres Maldonado, Gabriel Pareyon and Georgina Derbez also have contributed to the academic and artistic life.
See also
Notes
References
- Musica Mexicana Blog
- Mexican Radio Regional Mex.
- Norteño music AllMusic Guide
- History and description of Duranguense
- The Saxophone in Norteño music
- Texan-Mexican conjunto music