United States Academic Decathlon 2008-09
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE MUSIC OF LATIN AMERICA
Aztec Music-Making (16th-cent. drawing)
Some Aztec Instruments
Atecocoli (conch-shelltrumpet)
Tlapitzalli (flute)
Teponaztli (drum, shown at front of drawing)
Huéhuetl (drum, shown at rear)
Aztec teponaztli
Andean antaras (panpipes)
Aymara panpipe performance: face to face
Music Example: “Los Jilacatas,” panpipes & bass drum
Christopher Columbus (1451-1506)
Lands in Caribbean, 1492
Francisco Pizarro (ca. 1475-1541)Begins overthrowing Incas, 1531
Hernán Cortéz (1485-1547)Begins overthrowing Aztecs, 1519
Early European Musical Notation (9th Century)
Kyrie from the Mass forChristmas Day (10th cent)
Kyrie eleison.Christe eleison.Kyrie eleison.
(Lord have mercy.Christ have mercy.Lord have mercy.)
Important Chants of the Mass Ordinary
Kyrie
Gloria
Credo
Sanctus
Agnus DeiMonophonic texture: a single, unaccompanied melodic line
The Renaissance in European Music: 15th & 16th cents.
Polyphonic texture: multiple interwoven melodic lines
Music Example: Victoria, Kyrie from Missa O magnum mysterium (ca. 1580s) Tomás Luis de Victoria
(1548-1611)
Mexico City Cathedral (established 1528)Other important early cathedrals:
Guatemala Cathedral (1534) Lima Cathedral (1535)
chapel: choir, the central musical ensemble
maestro di capilla: “chapel master,” the choir directorand principal composer
a cappella: vocal music without any instrumental accompaniment
Baroque Period in European Music: 1600-1750
Ignacio Jerusalem (1707-69): maestro di capilla atMexico City Cathedral starting in 1750
Music Example: Jerusalem, Kyrie from the Mass in D Major
Villancico: vocal genre with sacred or secularSpanish poetry; features a prominent
refrain, or estribillo; component ofLatin American church services,
especially during Christmas season
Character villancico: poetry includes stereotypedrepresentations of indigenous peoples,
African slaves, and others
Pedro de Gante (1480-1572)
Simón Bolívar (1783-1830) José de San Martín (1778-1850)
Corrido: Mexican popular song genre with ballad text; gained prominence during Mexican Revolution (1910-17)
Gregorio Cortez (1875-1916) (seated, center), finally caught
vihuela (right): five-stringed guitar-like instrument guitarrón (center): six-stringed acoustic bass guitar
Mariachi Sol Huasteco (Oxnard, California)
Rumba: orig. Afro-Cuban recreational event involving dancing and music with Spanish lyrics and Afro-Cuban drumming
Some associated percussion:
Congas (top)
Bongos (middle, left)
Cajon (middle, right)
Claves (bottom)
The “King of Rumba”: Xavier Cugat (1900-90) and friend
Music Example: Cugat, “Brand New Cha Cha”
Samba: a percussive Afro-Brazilian dance with singing
Early 20th century: urban samba traditions centeredin Rio de Janeiro, with important contributions
by Afro-Brazilian migrants from Bahia
samba-canção: ballroom-dance version of samba,became popular in 1930s
syncopation: rhythmic emphasis on a weak beat or off the beat entirely
Carmen Miranda (1909-55)
The Real Carmen Miranda
Music Example: “O que é que a Bahiana tem?” (“What is it that the Bahian girl has?”) from Brazilian film Banana da terra (1938)
Modest Musorgsky (1839-81) Peter Tchaikovsky (1840-93)
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
José Clemente Orozco, The Departure of Quetzalcoatl (1932-34)
Carlos Chávez (1899-1978)
• studied piano with nationalist composer Manuel Ponce (1882-1948)
• director of Mexico’s first professional symphony orchestra
• director of Mexico’s national music conservatory
El fuego nuevo (The New Fire), ballet, 1921
Music Example: Sinfonía india (Indian Symphony), 1935-36
Some features of Sinfonía india:
• strong emphasis on rhythm, including syncopation
&asymmetrical meters
such as 5/8 (3+2 or 2+3)
• repetition of short melodic & rhythmic fragments
• layered musical texture
• emphasis on orchestral color (esp. winds & percussion)
Igor Stravinsky, The Rite of Spring (1913) (Joffrey Ballet)
Music Example: “Dance of the Adolescent Girls”
Silvestre Revueltas (1899-1940)
Music Example: Sensemayá (1938), program music
SensemayáCanto para matar una culebra¡Mayombe bombe mayombé!¡Mayombe bombe mayombé!¡Mayombe bombe mayombé!
(SensemayáChant to kill a snakeMayombe bombe mayombé!Mayombe bombe mayombé!Mayombe bombe mayombé!)
Sensemayá, poem by Nicolás Guillén (1902-89)
Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) in Rio, 1941
Compositions:
14 Chôros (1920-29)
9 Bachianas brasileiras (1930-45)
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Music Example: “Air” from Orchestral Suite No. 3 (ca. 1731)
Music Example: Villa-Lobos, “Aria” from Bachianas brasileiras No. 5 (1938-45)
Alberto Ginastera (1916-83)
Scherzo from Sonata, Op. 47 (1976; rev. 1981)
Some features:
• abrupt musical contrasts
• atonality (absence of a tonal center, or key)
• unconventional techniques (glissando, pizzacti)
Astor Piazzolla (1921-92) with bandoneón
Tango
• developed in slums of Buenos Aires, late 19th cent.• emotional intensity, minor mode, abrupt musical shifts
Historical/stylistic periods:• la guardia vieja (1890s-1910s)• la guardia nueva (1920s-50s)• la guardia tercera (late 1950s onward)
Music Example: Piazzolla, “Verano Porteño” (1965),1st movement from Las Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas