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