José Pablo Moncayo
Encyclopedia
José Pablo Moncayo García (June 29, 1912–June 16, 1958) was a Mexican
pianist, percussionist, music teacher, composer
and conductor
. "As composer, José Pablo Moncayo represents one of the most important legacies of the Mexican nationalism in art music, after Silvestre Revueltas
and Carlos Chávez
." He produced some of the masterworks that best symbolize the essence of the national aspirations and contradictions of Mexico
in the 20th century.
, José Pablo Moncayo was introduced to music by his elder brother Francisco. Eduardo Hernández Moncada
is reported as the first teacher of José Pablo Moncayo in 1926, when the teenager was fourteen years old. According to Aurelio Tello, Hernández Moncada suggested his pupil Moncayo study at the National Conservatory. Tello reports that Moncayo was admitted to the conservatory in 1929; meanwhile, in order to finance his studies, he worked as a jazz pianist. According to the research of Torres-Chibrás, different sources point out the fact that Moncayo took composition lessons with Candelario Huízar, and it is known that he continued his piano instruction with Hernández Moncada. It is not certain in which courses Moncayo registered at the conservatory and who his other teachers were, but thanks to the biographies of his contemporaries Salvador Contreras, Blas Galindo
and Daniel Ayala we may assume that Moncayo followed a similar path during his instruction at the National Conservatory. It is known that Huízar taught courses such as harmony, counterpoint and analysis (also called musical forms). Solfège or sight reading was taught by the eminent professors Vicente T. Mendoza
and Gerónimo Baqueiro Foster. Music history was taught by Ernesto Enríquez. Luis Sandi
was the conductor of the conservatory chorale and Eduardo Hernández Moncada, the associate conductor. In different periods Hernández Moncada taught, in addition to his piano lessons, harmony, sight reading, and later, opera ensembles. José Rolón, who had studied under Nadia Boulanger
and Paul Dukas
in Paris (and also met Arnold Schoenberg
), taught harmony, counterpoint and fugue. Chávez was highly concerned with the general education and culture of the conservatory students and established literature courses taught by the contemporary poets Salvador Novo
and Carlos Pellicer
, world history by Jesús C. Romero, and history of Mexican culture by Agustín Loera and Chávez himself.
According to Salvador Contreras, Carlos Chávez
created a composition course at the National Conservatory. Although Roberto García Morillo
points out the year 1930, most sources agreed that this course started in 1931. According to Robert L. Parker, this new composition class was originally called Class of Musical Creation and later, Composition Workshop; Chávez had some colleagues as pupils, such as Vicente T. Mendoza, Candelario Huízar and Revueltas, and “there were four students under twenty years of age: Daniel Ayala and Blas Galindo (both pure blooded Indians), Salvador Contreras and José Pablo Moncayo.” Jesús C. Romero suggests that Chávez conducted a selection process among young students of the conservatory before admitting anyone and relates that Daniel Ayala was chosen thanks to his “incipient renown as composer, Salvador Contreras, for his violin skills, and José Pablo Moncayo, on account of his ability to do sight reading at the piano.” Furthermore, Romero reports that Blas Galindo was admitted the following year together with five other students. It seems that the new composition course attracted many students, their number increasing year after year, but only four of them attended the final examination. These four diligent students were Moncayo, Contreras, Galindo and Ayala. An article written by Galindo confirms his admittance to the course in 1932, together with seven other students. The article offers a detailed account of the training received at Chávez’s workshop.
At the first performance of the Renovation Musical Society (Sociedad Musical "Renovación")on August 22, 1931, Moncayo presents a couple of his own compositions, Impressions in a Forest, and Impression, both for solo piano. An opportunity of professional advancement for Moncayo in 1932 was his admission to the Symphony Orchestra of Mexico (OSM). The first program of the season of the Symphony Orchestra of Mexico dated 28 October 1932, lists the name of José Pablo Moncayo for the first time as a member of the orchestra in the percussion section.
During the fall of 1932, Chávez organized a festival of chamber music at the National Conservatory and invited his friend Aaron Copland
to participate in it. The friendship between Chávez and Copland was extended to Revueltas as well, as described by Eduardo Contreras Soto, revealing that Revueltas also exchanged correspondence with the American composer. Moncayo and Galindo, both incipient proteges of Chávez, also started a long and fruitful relationship with Copland. Next year, Moncayo gets a part-time job as music teacher in a school (16 May 1933).
Mexican newspapers reported that on 1 December 1934, the new president of Mexico, General Lázaro Cárdenas
, took the oath of office. There was a change in executive positions in the federal government, and Ignacio García Téllez, former dean of the National University, was now appointed Secretary of Education. García Téllez appointed José Muñoz Cota as chief of the Department of Fine Arts; as a result Chávez was removed from the head of the National Conservatory and was replaced by his enemy Estanislao Mejía. According to Blas Galindo, with the arrival of this new administration the composition workshop was terminated. Consequently, the composition training of Moncayo and his young friends was interrupted. According to Torres-Chibrás, "life was not easy at the conservatory for the four “orphans” of Maestro Chávez. Despite all the pressure exerted against them, they overcame all the difficulties, joined forces and emerged as an avant-garde group." Blas Galindo reports that they were branded as “Chavistas” and blacklisted by the new administration of the Conservatory, to the point of setting obstacles for their registration. They decided to give a first concert with their compositions demonstrating with it the truthfulness of the class of Music Creation that had been suppressed from the study plan of the Conservatory. The four friends agreed to arrange the program with compositions made by them after Chávez’s departure from the conservatory. On 25 November 1935, at 8:30 P.M., the first concert of these young composers took place at the Teatro de Orientación
. Moncayo premièred his Sonatina for solo piano, performed by himself, and premiered as well Amatzinac, for flute and string quartet. His friends collaborated as performers in the following order: Salvador Contreras and Daniel Ayala, violins; Miguel Bautista, viola; Juan Manuel Téllez Oropeza, violoncello; and Miguel Preciado, as flute soloist. A review from José Barros Serra calls the students “The Group of Four,” with the aim to promote the nationalistic spirit of Mexican music. The second time these four young composers joined as a group was in a concert that took place on 26 March 1936, at 8:30 P.M. at the Teatro de Orientación. They adopted the epithet given to them the previous year in a newspaper review by José Barros Serra, the “Group of Four,” and this was the first public appearance where they intentionally used it. The Group of Four experienced increasing awareness among Mexican audiences and even some internationalization.
In the collection of programs of the year 1936 at library of the National Arts Center, in Mexico City
, José Pablo Moncayo is listed as a member of the percussion section of the controversial National Symphony Orchestra
created in 1935 at the National Conservatory by Estanislao Mejía and conducted by Silvestre Revueltas
from 1936 on. The OSM programs preserved at the Library of the National Center of the Arts have the program of 5 September 1936, where Moncayo’s La Adelita was premiered by the Orquesta Sinfónica de México, within the children’s concert series, under Carlos Chávez’s baton. One week later, on 11 September, Moncayo made his debut as orchestra conductor with the OSM, at the age of 24. During the seventh program of the season, Chávez gave Moncayo the opportunity to conduct the opening work of the evening, the Prelude of Richard Wagner
's Lohengrin
. Chávez conducted the rest of the program that included La damoiselle élue by Debussy, and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. The same month, in another program of the children’s concert series, the one of 26 September 1936, another arrangement by Moncayo, La Valentina, was premiered by the OSM, conducted by Carlos Chávez
.
In 1941 Chávez organized a concert of Mexican music with the OSM that included some of the works presented previous year in New York and requested Moncayo and Contreras to write compositions for such program. José Antonio Alcaraz says that, “It was Chávez himself who asked Moncayo to write a piece based on popular music of the (Mexican) southeast coast for a concert that he called ‘Traditional Mexican Music.' "
According to the notes prepared by Herbert Weinstock for the concerts arranged by Chávez in New York (1940), the program then included a work called Huapangos by Gerónimo Baqueiro Foster. This piece was in reality an orchestral arrangement of several popular dances from the eastern state of Veracruz. In the 1941 program Chávez replaced Baqueiro’s Huapangos with a new work called Huapango, written by Moncayo. The difference is that Moncayo’s Huapango is not just an arrangement but a legitimate work inspired by the popular music of Veracruz
("El Siquisiri", "El Balajú" and "El Gavilancito"). Chávez sent Moncayo and Galindo to Veracruz
for a field exploration about the popular music of the region. Quoted by Moncayo's faithful pupil, José Antonio Alcaraz, Moncayo reports his experience:
by the Symphony Orchestra of Mexico under Chávez’s baton. Programs of the 1942 season list Eduardo Hernández Moncada
as assistant conductor and José Pablo Moncayo at the piano as well as in the percussion section. Moncayo began to work on an ambitious project, a symphony. That summer, and probably thanks to the recommendations of Chávez and Copland, Moncayo and Galindo were granted scholarships from the Rockefeller Foundation
to study at the Berkshire Music Institute, known today as the Tanglewood Music Center
. According to Dr. Jesús C. Romero, Moncayo was invited to attend there by Aaron Copland
and Serge Koussevitzky
. The Symphony was scheduled to be premiered by the Orquesta Sinfónica de México on 21 August 1942, but the performance was postponed. The première would take place a couple of years later. The program notes of 1 September 1944, written by Francisco Agea, explain that the two last movements were written in Berkshire:
Moncayo worked in Berkshire not only on his symphony but also completed another work, probably in Copland’s composition course, Llano Grande for chamber orchestra, which was premiered by the orchestra during the Berkshire Festival precisely on 21 August. Arroyos by Blas Galindo, Moncayo's alter ego in this trip, was premiered in Berkshire a few days before, on 17 August. The two Mexicans also had the opportunity to meet two other fellow composers and conductors who attended the courses at Berkshire that summer, Lukas Foss
and twenty-four-year-old Leonard Bernstein
. Galindo reports his experiences about Berkshire:
The programs of 1945 reveal that Moncayo was appointed assistant conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of Mexico in that year and that his activities as conductor increased. The year 1946, the rising conducting career of Moncayo brought him to his next position. Chávez appointed the thirty-four-year-old conductor as artistic director of the Symphony Orchestra of Mexico, while Chávez remained its musical director.
However, the Symphony Orchestra of Mexico season program of 1948 (13 February to 25 April) no longer lists Moncayo as a member of the orchestra. In 1948 Eduardo Hernández Moncada
was the conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra (Mexico)
(OSN)—created in 1947 under the aegis of the National Institute of Fine Arts
—and within the programs Moncayo’s name appears on the list of musicians as the orchestra pianist.
Chávez, as general director of the Fine Arts Institute, appointed Moncayo as music director/conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra (Mexico)
on 1 January 1949.
The last program found with Moncayo’s name as conductor of the OSN dates from Wednesday 17 February 1954. It was a memorial concert held at the Palace of Fine Arts to honor a distinguished music professor, Don Luis Moctezuma, recently deceased. The program consisted of some words of appraisal by Andrés Iduarte
, General Director of the INBA, Three Pieces for Orchestra by Moncayo, the Concerto for Three Pianos and Orchestra by J. S. Bach, an address by professor Manuel Bermejo Chibrás, followed by Piano Concerto No. 2
by Rachmaninoff. This was the last time in his life Moncayo conducted the National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico. His name never again appeared on a program of the OSN.
On 16 June 1958, Moncayo died in his home, at 295 Amsterdam Avenue, Mexico City, only a few days before his forty-sixth birthday.
, a bright, short symphonic piece that is sometimes included in pop concerts by American orchestras. Scholarly research about this composer in the United States is today still scarce. Despite being highly regarded in his own country, Moncayo has been the subject of scant academic research, restricted to some program notes; magazine, newspaper and journal articles; and short paragraphs in music dictionaries and encyclopedias. Although the major contribution of Moncayo to Mexican music has been in the field of composition, he also played a relevant role in the national stage of culture during the ten years of his short conducting career (1944–1954). As orchestra conductor, his promising career was hampered by a difficult cultural environment, political situations and premature death. According to Torres-Chibrás, José Pablo Moncayo’s career as an orchestra conductor is a subject that has not been exhausted by Mexican or foreign scholars. José Antonio Alcaraz, musicologist and leading music critic of Mexico, assesses that:
Mexican nationalism vigorously encompasses a period whose chronological limits may be fixed for study purposes with some precision in 1928: the year of the founding of the Symphony Orchestra of Mexico and ending three decades later, in 1958 with the death of José Pablo Moncayo, a composer born in 1912.
Moncayo’s death coincides with the decline of the Nationalist movement resulting from the demise of the ideals of the Mexican Revolution. Yolanda Moreno Rivas
concludes:
The death of Moncayo in 1958 tangibly marked the end of the Mexican nationalist composition school. In the same way that his work without followers surpassed and abolished the innocent use of the Mexicanism theme, his death closed the predominance of a composition style whose imprint marked musical creation in Mexico during more than three decades; although only at the beginning of the sixties would it be possible to talk about the definitive abandonment of the great Mexican fresco, the oblivion of the epic tone, and the search for new structural factors in composition.
Moncayo's best-known work continues to be his colorful orchestral fantasy Huapango
(1941), but his production also includes many other pieces of a high quality, notwithstanding their lesser fame. Among these are works like Amatzinac for flute
and string quartet
(1935); his Symphony (1944); Sinfonietta (1945); Homenaje a Cervantes
for two oboe
s and string orchestra
(1947); his opera
La Mulata de Córdoba (1948); Tierra de Temporal (1949); Muros Verdes for piano
solo (1951); Bosques (1954); and the ballet
Tierra (1958).
Mexican people
Mexican people refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity....
pianist, percussionist, music teacher, composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
. "As composer, José Pablo Moncayo represents one of the most important legacies of the Mexican nationalism in art music, after Silvestre Revueltas
Silvestre Revueltas
Silvestre Revueltas Sánchez was a Mexican composer of classical music, a violinist and a conductor.-Life:...
and Carlos Chávez
Carlos Chávez
Carlos Antonio de Padua Chávez y Ramírez was a Mexican composer, conductor, music theorist, educator, journalist, and founder and director of the Mexican Symphonic Orchestra. He was influenced by native Mexican cultures. Of his six Symphonies, his Symphony No...
." He produced some of the masterworks that best symbolize the essence of the national aspirations and contradictions of Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
in the 20th century.
Biography
Born in Guadalajara, JaliscoGuadalajara, Jalisco
Guadalajara is the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco, and the seat of the municipality of Guadalajara. The city is located in the central region of Jalisco in the western-pacific area of Mexico. With a population of 1,564,514 it is Mexico's second most populous municipality...
, José Pablo Moncayo was introduced to music by his elder brother Francisco. Eduardo Hernández Moncada
Eduardo Hernandez Moncada
Eduardo Hernández Moncada was a Mexican composer, pianist, and conductor. He is one of the essential musicians representative of the Nationalist Movement of the Post Revolutonary years in Mexico....
is reported as the first teacher of José Pablo Moncayo in 1926, when the teenager was fourteen years old. According to Aurelio Tello, Hernández Moncada suggested his pupil Moncayo study at the National Conservatory. Tello reports that Moncayo was admitted to the conservatory in 1929; meanwhile, in order to finance his studies, he worked as a jazz pianist. According to the research of Torres-Chibrás, different sources point out the fact that Moncayo took composition lessons with Candelario Huízar, and it is known that he continued his piano instruction with Hernández Moncada. It is not certain in which courses Moncayo registered at the conservatory and who his other teachers were, but thanks to the biographies of his contemporaries Salvador Contreras, Blas Galindo
Blas Galindo
-Biography:Born in San Gabriel, Jalisco, Galindo studied intermittently from 1931 to 1944 at the National Conservatory in Mexico City, under Carlos Chávez, Candelario Huizar, José Rolón, and Manuel Rodríguez Vizcarra...
and Daniel Ayala we may assume that Moncayo followed a similar path during his instruction at the National Conservatory. It is known that Huízar taught courses such as harmony, counterpoint and analysis (also called musical forms). Solfège or sight reading was taught by the eminent professors Vicente T. Mendoza
Vicente T. Mendoza
Vicente Teódulo Mendoza Gutiérrez was a Mexican musicologist, composer and drawer.In 1907 when Vicente T. Mendoza was 13 years old, he went to Mexico City where he studied piano and composition at the National Conservatory. At the same time he studied drawing. Between 1912 and 1930 he worked as a...
and Gerónimo Baqueiro Foster. Music history was taught by Ernesto Enríquez. Luis Sandi
Luis Sandi
Luis Sandi Meneses , was a musician, teacher and composer.-Biography:The complete name is Luis Sandi Meneses. Born February 22, 1905 in Mexico City, the only child of Genaro Sandi and María Meneses. Sandi did not attend public primary school, but was privately tutored by his mother's sister,...
was the conductor of the conservatory chorale and Eduardo Hernández Moncada, the associate conductor. In different periods Hernández Moncada taught, in addition to his piano lessons, harmony, sight reading, and later, opera ensembles. José Rolón, who had studied under Nadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger was a French composer, conductor and teacher who taught many composers and performers of the 20th century.From a musical family, she achieved early honours as a student at the Paris Conservatoire, but believing that her talent as a composer was inferior to that of her younger...
and Paul Dukas
Paul Dukas
Paul Abraham Dukas was a French composer, critic, scholar and teacher. A studious man, of retiring personality, he was intensely self-critical, and he abandoned and destroyed many of his compositions...
in Paris (and also met Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
), taught harmony, counterpoint and fugue. Chávez was highly concerned with the general education and culture of the conservatory students and established literature courses taught by the contemporary poets Salvador Novo
Salvador Novo
Salvador Novo López was a Mexican writer, poet, playwright, translator, television presenter, entrepreneur, and the official chronicler of Mexico City, his birthplace and home. As a noted intellectual, he influenced popular perceptions of politics, media, the arts, and Mexican society in general...
and Carlos Pellicer
Carlos Pellicer
Carlos Pellicer Cámara , born in Villahermosa, Tabasco, was part of the first wave of modernist Mexican poets and was heavily active in the promotion of Mexican art and literature...
, world history by Jesús C. Romero, and history of Mexican culture by Agustín Loera and Chávez himself.
According to Salvador Contreras, Carlos Chávez
Carlos Chávez
Carlos Antonio de Padua Chávez y Ramírez was a Mexican composer, conductor, music theorist, educator, journalist, and founder and director of the Mexican Symphonic Orchestra. He was influenced by native Mexican cultures. Of his six Symphonies, his Symphony No...
created a composition course at the National Conservatory. Although Roberto García Morillo
Roberto Garcia Morillo
Roberto García Morillo was an Argentine composer, musicologist, music professor and music critic.-Biography:Morillo was born in Buenos Aires...
points out the year 1930, most sources agreed that this course started in 1931. According to Robert L. Parker, this new composition class was originally called Class of Musical Creation and later, Composition Workshop; Chávez had some colleagues as pupils, such as Vicente T. Mendoza, Candelario Huízar and Revueltas, and “there were four students under twenty years of age: Daniel Ayala and Blas Galindo (both pure blooded Indians), Salvador Contreras and José Pablo Moncayo.” Jesús C. Romero suggests that Chávez conducted a selection process among young students of the conservatory before admitting anyone and relates that Daniel Ayala was chosen thanks to his “incipient renown as composer, Salvador Contreras, for his violin skills, and José Pablo Moncayo, on account of his ability to do sight reading at the piano.” Furthermore, Romero reports that Blas Galindo was admitted the following year together with five other students. It seems that the new composition course attracted many students, their number increasing year after year, but only four of them attended the final examination. These four diligent students were Moncayo, Contreras, Galindo and Ayala. An article written by Galindo confirms his admittance to the course in 1932, together with seven other students. The article offers a detailed account of the training received at Chávez’s workshop.
At the first performance of the Renovation Musical Society (Sociedad Musical "Renovación")on August 22, 1931, Moncayo presents a couple of his own compositions, Impressions in a Forest, and Impression, both for solo piano. An opportunity of professional advancement for Moncayo in 1932 was his admission to the Symphony Orchestra of Mexico (OSM). The first program of the season of the Symphony Orchestra of Mexico dated 28 October 1932, lists the name of José Pablo Moncayo for the first time as a member of the orchestra in the percussion section.
During the fall of 1932, Chávez organized a festival of chamber music at the National Conservatory and invited his friend Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
to participate in it. The friendship between Chávez and Copland was extended to Revueltas as well, as described by Eduardo Contreras Soto, revealing that Revueltas also exchanged correspondence with the American composer. Moncayo and Galindo, both incipient proteges of Chávez, also started a long and fruitful relationship with Copland. Next year, Moncayo gets a part-time job as music teacher in a school (16 May 1933).
Mexican newspapers reported that on 1 December 1934, the new president of Mexico, General Lázaro Cárdenas
Lázaro Cárdenas
Lázaro Cárdenas del Río was President of Mexico from 1934 to 1940.-Early life:Lázaro Cárdenas was born on May 21, 1895 in a lower-middle class family in the village of Jiquilpan, Michoacán. He supported his family from age 16 after the death of his father...
, took the oath of office. There was a change in executive positions in the federal government, and Ignacio García Téllez, former dean of the National University, was now appointed Secretary of Education. García Téllez appointed José Muñoz Cota as chief of the Department of Fine Arts; as a result Chávez was removed from the head of the National Conservatory and was replaced by his enemy Estanislao Mejía. According to Blas Galindo, with the arrival of this new administration the composition workshop was terminated. Consequently, the composition training of Moncayo and his young friends was interrupted. According to Torres-Chibrás, "life was not easy at the conservatory for the four “orphans” of Maestro Chávez. Despite all the pressure exerted against them, they overcame all the difficulties, joined forces and emerged as an avant-garde group." Blas Galindo reports that they were branded as “Chavistas” and blacklisted by the new administration of the Conservatory, to the point of setting obstacles for their registration. They decided to give a first concert with their compositions demonstrating with it the truthfulness of the class of Music Creation that had been suppressed from the study plan of the Conservatory. The four friends agreed to arrange the program with compositions made by them after Chávez’s departure from the conservatory. On 25 November 1935, at 8:30 P.M., the first concert of these young composers took place at the Teatro de Orientación
Teatro de Orientación
The Teatro de Orientación was a modern theater in Mexico City, that was established in 1932, and existed until 1938.Most of the theater group members, which was directed by Celestino Gorostiza, were members of the Los Contemporáneos group, and were members of the former Teatro Ulises before. In...
. Moncayo premièred his Sonatina for solo piano, performed by himself, and premiered as well Amatzinac, for flute and string quartet. His friends collaborated as performers in the following order: Salvador Contreras and Daniel Ayala, violins; Miguel Bautista, viola; Juan Manuel Téllez Oropeza, violoncello; and Miguel Preciado, as flute soloist. A review from José Barros Serra calls the students “The Group of Four,” with the aim to promote the nationalistic spirit of Mexican music. The second time these four young composers joined as a group was in a concert that took place on 26 March 1936, at 8:30 P.M. at the Teatro de Orientación. They adopted the epithet given to them the previous year in a newspaper review by José Barros Serra, the “Group of Four,” and this was the first public appearance where they intentionally used it. The Group of Four experienced increasing awareness among Mexican audiences and even some internationalization.
In the collection of programs of the year 1936 at library of the National Arts Center, in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, José Pablo Moncayo is listed as a member of the percussion section of the controversial National Symphony Orchestra
National Symphony Orchestra (Mexico)
The National Symphony Orchestra is the most important classical music and symphonic ensemble in Mexico. With its origins traced back as 1881, it is the second oldest symphony orchestra in the American continent along with the Boston Symphony Orchestra...
created in 1935 at the National Conservatory by Estanislao Mejía and conducted by Silvestre Revueltas
Silvestre Revueltas
Silvestre Revueltas Sánchez was a Mexican composer of classical music, a violinist and a conductor.-Life:...
from 1936 on. The OSM programs preserved at the Library of the National Center of the Arts have the program of 5 September 1936, where Moncayo’s La Adelita was premiered by the Orquesta Sinfónica de México, within the children’s concert series, under Carlos Chávez’s baton. One week later, on 11 September, Moncayo made his debut as orchestra conductor with the OSM, at the age of 24. During the seventh program of the season, Chávez gave Moncayo the opportunity to conduct the opening work of the evening, the Prelude of Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
's Lohengrin
Lohengrin (opera)
Lohengrin is a romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach and its sequel, Lohengrin, written by a different author, itself...
. Chávez conducted the rest of the program that included La damoiselle élue by Debussy, and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. The same month, in another program of the children’s concert series, the one of 26 September 1936, another arrangement by Moncayo, La Valentina, was premiered by the OSM, conducted by Carlos Chávez
Carlos Chávez
Carlos Antonio de Padua Chávez y Ramírez was a Mexican composer, conductor, music theorist, educator, journalist, and founder and director of the Mexican Symphonic Orchestra. He was influenced by native Mexican cultures. Of his six Symphonies, his Symphony No...
.
In 1941 Chávez organized a concert of Mexican music with the OSM that included some of the works presented previous year in New York and requested Moncayo and Contreras to write compositions for such program. José Antonio Alcaraz says that, “It was Chávez himself who asked Moncayo to write a piece based on popular music of the (Mexican) southeast coast for a concert that he called ‘Traditional Mexican Music.' "
According to the notes prepared by Herbert Weinstock for the concerts arranged by Chávez in New York (1940), the program then included a work called Huapangos by Gerónimo Baqueiro Foster. This piece was in reality an orchestral arrangement of several popular dances from the eastern state of Veracruz. In the 1941 program Chávez replaced Baqueiro’s Huapangos with a new work called Huapango, written by Moncayo. The difference is that Moncayo’s Huapango is not just an arrangement but a legitimate work inspired by the popular music of Veracruz
Veracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...
("El Siquisiri", "El Balajú" and "El Gavilancito"). Chávez sent Moncayo and Galindo to Veracruz
Veracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...
for a field exploration about the popular music of the region. Quoted by Moncayo's faithful pupil, José Antonio Alcaraz, Moncayo reports his experience:
Moncayo’s Huapango was premièred on 15 August 1941, at the Palace of Fine Arts
Blas GalindoBlas Galindo-Biography:Born in San Gabriel, Jalisco, Galindo studied intermittently from 1931 to 1944 at the National Conservatory in Mexico City, under Carlos Chávez, Candelario Huizar, José Rolón, and Manuel Rodríguez Vizcarra...
and I went to AlvaradoAlvarado, VeracruzAlvarado is a city in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The city also serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name. It is located 64 km from the city of Veracruz, Veracruz, on Federal Highways 180 and 125...
, one of the places where folkloric music is preserved in its most pure form; we were collecting melodies, rhythms and instrumentations during several days. The transcription of it was very difficult because the huapangueros (musicians) never sang the same melody twice in the same way. When I came back to MexicoMexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, I showed the collected material to Candelario Huízar; Huízar gave me a piece of advice that I will always be grateful for: “Expose the material first in the same way you heard it and develop it later according to your own thought.” And I did it, and the result is almost satisfactory for me.
Palace of Fine Arts
The Palace of Fine Arts in the Marina District of San Francisco, California, is a monumental structure originally constructed for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in order to exhibit works of art presented there. One of only a few surviving structures from the Exposition, it is the only one still...
by the Symphony Orchestra of Mexico under Chávez’s baton. Programs of the 1942 season list Eduardo Hernández Moncada
Eduardo Hernandez Moncada
Eduardo Hernández Moncada was a Mexican composer, pianist, and conductor. He is one of the essential musicians representative of the Nationalist Movement of the Post Revolutonary years in Mexico....
as assistant conductor and José Pablo Moncayo at the piano as well as in the percussion section. Moncayo began to work on an ambitious project, a symphony. That summer, and probably thanks to the recommendations of Chávez and Copland, Moncayo and Galindo were granted scholarships from the Rockefeller Foundation
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
to study at the Berkshire Music Institute, known today as the Tanglewood Music Center
Tanglewood Music Center
The Tanglewood Music Center is an annual summer music academy in Lenox, Massachusetts, United States, in which emerging professional musicians participate in performances, master classes and workshops designed to provide an intense training and networking experience...
. According to Dr. Jesús C. Romero, Moncayo was invited to attend there by Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
and Serge Koussevitzky
Serge Koussevitzky
Serge Koussevitzky , was a Russian-born Jewish conductor, composer and double-bassist, known for his long tenure as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1924 to 1949.-Early career:...
. The Symphony was scheduled to be premiered by the Orquesta Sinfónica de México on 21 August 1942, but the performance was postponed. The première would take place a couple of years later. The program notes of 1 September 1944, written by Francisco Agea, explain that the two last movements were written in Berkshire:
Both movements were written in the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, when Moncayo, invited by the director Serge KoussevitzkySerge KoussevitzkySerge Koussevitzky , was a Russian-born Jewish conductor, composer and double-bassist, known for his long tenure as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1924 to 1949.-Early career:...
, attended the Berkshire Festival and the special courses taught to the new generations of composers. It is evident that the author, finding himself abroad and longing for his fatherland, felt the need to express himself in a Mexican language.
Moncayo worked in Berkshire not only on his symphony but also completed another work, probably in Copland’s composition course, Llano Grande for chamber orchestra, which was premiered by the orchestra during the Berkshire Festival precisely on 21 August. Arroyos by Blas Galindo, Moncayo's alter ego in this trip, was premiered in Berkshire a few days before, on 17 August. The two Mexicans also had the opportunity to meet two other fellow composers and conductors who attended the courses at Berkshire that summer, Lukas Foss
Lukas Foss
Lukas Foss was a German-born American composer, conductor, and pianist.-Music career:He was born Lukas Fuchs in Berlin, Germany in 1922. His father was the philosopher and scholar Martin Fuchs...
and twenty-four-year-old Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
. Galindo reports his experiences about Berkshire:
There I meet Bernstein, who was kilometers ahead of me, Lukas Foss . . . I remember Hindemith who was very serious. I also met Latin-American composers like Ginastera . . . [about VarèseVareseVarese is a town and comune in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 55 km north of Milan.It is the capital of the Province of Varese. The hinterland or urban part of the city is called Varesotto.- Geography :...
] I have photos and autographed scores of his. I liked to go visit his studio in New York [City]; his compositions amazed me. He was building his techniques out of noises. I admire him because he dared to break with traditions, he was a pioneer. He knew that I cared about him.
The programs of 1945 reveal that Moncayo was appointed assistant conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of Mexico in that year and that his activities as conductor increased. The year 1946, the rising conducting career of Moncayo brought him to his next position. Chávez appointed the thirty-four-year-old conductor as artistic director of the Symphony Orchestra of Mexico, while Chávez remained its musical director.
Since it was not my intention to interrupt my achievement (the OSM), but that it continue under the responsibility of the Board of the Symphony and the competent and able technicians that they would recruit, I had no other choice but to remain as director of the orchestra, with the greatest and best desire that the new artistic director that we selected to formally work beside me, José Pablo Moncayo, would arrive to take full responsibility of the situation.
However, the Symphony Orchestra of Mexico season program of 1948 (13 February to 25 April) no longer lists Moncayo as a member of the orchestra. In 1948 Eduardo Hernández Moncada
Eduardo Hernandez Moncada
Eduardo Hernández Moncada was a Mexican composer, pianist, and conductor. He is one of the essential musicians representative of the Nationalist Movement of the Post Revolutonary years in Mexico....
was the conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra (Mexico)
National Symphony Orchestra (Mexico)
The National Symphony Orchestra is the most important classical music and symphonic ensemble in Mexico. With its origins traced back as 1881, it is the second oldest symphony orchestra in the American continent along with the Boston Symphony Orchestra...
(OSN)—created in 1947 under the aegis of the National Institute of Fine Arts
Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura
The Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura , located in the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, is the national Mexican institute of fine arts and literature, founded on December 31, 1946...
—and within the programs Moncayo’s name appears on the list of musicians as the orchestra pianist.
Chávez, as general director of the Fine Arts Institute, appointed Moncayo as music director/conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra (Mexico)
National Symphony Orchestra (Mexico)
The National Symphony Orchestra is the most important classical music and symphonic ensemble in Mexico. With its origins traced back as 1881, it is the second oldest symphony orchestra in the American continent along with the Boston Symphony Orchestra...
on 1 January 1949.
The last program found with Moncayo’s name as conductor of the OSN dates from Wednesday 17 February 1954. It was a memorial concert held at the Palace of Fine Arts to honor a distinguished music professor, Don Luis Moctezuma, recently deceased. The program consisted of some words of appraisal by Andrés Iduarte
Andrés Iduarte
Andrés Iduarte Foucher was a distinguished Mexican essayist and member of the Mexican Academy of Language.-Biography:...
, General Director of the INBA, Three Pieces for Orchestra by Moncayo, the Concerto for Three Pianos and Orchestra by J. S. Bach, an address by professor Manuel Bermejo Chibrás, followed by Piano Concerto No. 2
Piano Concerto No. 2
Piano Concerto No. 2 refers to the second piano concerto written by one of a number of composers:*Piano Concerto No. 2 *Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major*Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major...
by Rachmaninoff. This was the last time in his life Moncayo conducted the National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico. His name never again appeared on a program of the OSN.
On 16 June 1958, Moncayo died in his home, at 295 Amsterdam Avenue, Mexico City, only a few days before his forty-sixth birthday.
Musical legacy
José Pablo Moncayo is best known as the author of HuapangoHuapango
Huapango is a corruption of the Nahuatl word huapanco that textually means on top of the wood platform according to the dictionary of the Real Academia Española . Today huapango refers to a musical style that originated in and is played throughout the La Huasteca region in Mexico...
, a bright, short symphonic piece that is sometimes included in pop concerts by American orchestras. Scholarly research about this composer in the United States is today still scarce. Despite being highly regarded in his own country, Moncayo has been the subject of scant academic research, restricted to some program notes; magazine, newspaper and journal articles; and short paragraphs in music dictionaries and encyclopedias. Although the major contribution of Moncayo to Mexican music has been in the field of composition, he also played a relevant role in the national stage of culture during the ten years of his short conducting career (1944–1954). As orchestra conductor, his promising career was hampered by a difficult cultural environment, political situations and premature death. According to Torres-Chibrás, José Pablo Moncayo’s career as an orchestra conductor is a subject that has not been exhausted by Mexican or foreign scholars. José Antonio Alcaraz, musicologist and leading music critic of Mexico, assesses that:
Mexican nationalism vigorously encompasses a period whose chronological limits may be fixed for study purposes with some precision in 1928: the year of the founding of the Symphony Orchestra of Mexico and ending three decades later, in 1958 with the death of José Pablo Moncayo, a composer born in 1912.
Moncayo’s death coincides with the decline of the Nationalist movement resulting from the demise of the ideals of the Mexican Revolution. Yolanda Moreno Rivas
Yolanda Moreno Rivas
Yolanda Moreno Rivas was a Mexican pianist, teacher and musicologist.-Life:She began her musical education with her mother who taught her piano. She then studied with Angélica Morales in Mexico and later in Germany. In 1957 the Polish government gave her the Chopin prize for Mexican pianists...
concludes:
The death of Moncayo in 1958 tangibly marked the end of the Mexican nationalist composition school. In the same way that his work without followers surpassed and abolished the innocent use of the Mexicanism theme, his death closed the predominance of a composition style whose imprint marked musical creation in Mexico during more than three decades; although only at the beginning of the sixties would it be possible to talk about the definitive abandonment of the great Mexican fresco, the oblivion of the epic tone, and the search for new structural factors in composition.
Moncayo's best-known work continues to be his colorful orchestral fantasy Huapango
Huapango
Huapango is a corruption of the Nahuatl word huapanco that textually means on top of the wood platform according to the dictionary of the Real Academia Española . Today huapango refers to a musical style that originated in and is played throughout the La Huasteca region in Mexico...
(1941), but his production also includes many other pieces of a high quality, notwithstanding their lesser fame. Among these are works like Amatzinac for flute
Western concert flute
The Western concert flute is a transverse woodwind instrument made of metal or wood. It is the most common variant of the flute. A musician who plays the flute is called a flautist, flutist, or flute player....
and string quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
(1935); his Symphony (1944); Sinfonietta (1945); Homenaje a Cervantes
Cervantes
-People:*Alfonso J. Cervantes , mayor of St. Louis, Missouri*Francisco Cervantes de Salazar, 16th-century man of letters*Ignacio Cervantes, Cuban composer*Jorge Cervantes, a world-renowned expert on indoor, outdoor, and greenhouse cannabis cultivation...
for two oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
s and string orchestra
String orchestra
A string orchestra is an orchestra composed solely or primarily of instruments from the string family. These instruments are the violin, the viola, the cello, the double bass , the piano, the harp, and sometimes percussion...
(1947); his opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
La Mulata de Córdoba (1948); Tierra de Temporal (1949); Muros Verdes for piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
solo (1951); Bosques (1954); and the ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
Tierra (1958).
Chronological catalog of compositions
| Undated | Fantasía intocable for solo piano Romanza de las flores de calabaza for solo piano Canción india for orchestra Ofrenda for orchestra Sobre las olas que van for voice and piano Memento musical for chorus |
|
| 1931 | . Impresión for solo piano. |
Première, August 22, Conciertos Renovación. Private concert at Professor Gerónimo Baqueiro Foster’s home at Moneda 10, downtown Mexico City. |
| Diálogo para dos pianos y una vaca for two pianos. | ||
| 1933 | Sonata for violoncello and piano | |
| 1934 | Sonata for violin and violoncello | |
| Sonata for viola and piano. | Mexico City: Ediciones Mexicanas de Música, 1991. | |
| 1935 | Sonatina for solo piano. | Première, November 25, Teatro de Orientación. First concert of the Group of Four. |
| Amatzinac for flute and string quartet. | Première, November 25, Teatro de Orientación. Salvador Contreras and Daniel Ayala, violins; Miguel Bautista, viola; Juan Manuel Téllez Oropeza, violoncello; Manuel Preciado, flute soloist. First Concert of the Group of Four. Mexico City: Ediciones Mexicanas de Música, 1987. | |
| 1936 | Pequeño nocturno for string quartet and piano | |
| La Adelita arranged for orchestra. | Première, September 5, Orquesta Sinfónica de México, children’s concert series, Carlos Chávez, conductor. | |
| La Valentina arranged for orchestra. | Première, September 26, Orquesta Sinfónica de México, children’s concert series, Carlos Chávez, conductor. | |
| Romanza for violin, violoncello and piano. | Première, October 15, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Sala de Conferencias. | |
| Sonata for violin and piano. | Première, October 15, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Sala de Conferencias. Mexico City: Ediciones Mexicanas de Música, 1990. | |
| 1937 | Tenabari arranged for orchestra. | Première, September 10, Orquesta Sinfónica de México, children’s concert series, third concert, Carlos Chávez, conductor. |
| 1938 | Trío for flute, violin and piano. | Première, August 23, Palace of Fine Arts, Sala de Conferencias. |
| Llano alegre for orchestra | ||
| Hueyapan for orchestra. | Première, 21 November 1940, Orquesta Sinfónica de Repertorio, Palacio de Bellas Artes, José Pablo Moncayo, conductor. Last concert of the Group of Four. | |
| 1941 | Huapango for orchestra. | Première, 15 August Orquesta Sinfónica de México, Carlos Chávez, conductor. Mexico City: Ediciones Mexicanas de Música, 1950. |
| 1942 | Symphony, for orchestra. | Completed in Berkshire. Programmed to be premiered by the Orquesta Sinfónica de México on August 21, but postponed. |
| Llano grande for chamber orchestra. | Premiere, 17 August, Berkshire Music Center, Boston Symphony. | |
| 1944 | Symphony, for orchestra. | Premiere, 1 September, Orquesta Sinfónica de México, Carlos Chávez, conductor. |
| 1945 | Sinfonietta for orchestra. | Completed, 3 July. Premiere, 13 July, Orquesta Sinfónica de México, José Pablo Moncayo, conductor. Mexico City: Ediciones Mexicanas de Música, 1993. |
| 1947 | Tres piezas para orquesta: Feria, Canción y Danza. | Completed, 9 July. Premiere, 18 July, Orquesta Sinfónica de México, José Pablo Moncayo, conductor. |
| Homenaje a Cervantes, for two oboes and string orchestra. | Completed, 18 October. Premiere, 27 October, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Orquesta Sinfónica del Conservatorio Nacional de Música, Luis Sandi, conductor. Mexico City: Ediciones Mexicanas de Música, 1989. | |
| Canción del mar, for a capella chorus (SATB). | Première, 14 June, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Sala de Conferencias, Coro de Madrigalistas, Luis Sandi, conductor. Mexico City: Ediciones Mexicanas de Música, 1983. | |
| 1948 | Homenaje a Carlos Chávez, for solo piano. Completed, 18 June. | |
| Conde Olinos, for chorus and piano. | Composed as part of Moncayo's commission as member of the repertory committee for school music of the INBA. | |
| Tres piezas, for piano. | Première, 14 December, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Sala Ponce, Alicia Urrueta, soloist. Mexico City: Ediciones Mexicanas de Música, 1948. | |
| La mulata de Córdoba, opera in one act. | Completed, 29 September. Première, 23 October, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa, José Pablo Moncayo, conductor. Mexico City: Ediciones Mexicanas de Música, 1979. Reduction for five solo voices, chorus and piano. | |
| 1949 | Pieza, for solo piano | |
| Tierra de temporal, for orchestra. | Completed, September 1949. Première, June 1950, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional, José Pablo Moncayo, conductor. Private performance at the National Conservatory. Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 1984. | |
| 1951 | Muros verdes, for solo piano. | Mexico City: Ediciones Mexicanas de Música, 1964. |
| 1940–1953 | Cumbres, for orchestra. | Started in 1940. Completed, 20 November 1953. Commissioned by the Louisville Symphony. Première, 1954, Louisville Symphony, Robert Whitney, conductor. Mexico City: Ediciones Mexicanas de Música, 1993. |
| 1954 | Bosques, for orchestra. | Completed June 1954. Première 1957, Orquesta Sinfónica de Guadalajara, Blas Galindo, conductor. Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 1988. |
| La potranca, music for an episode of the film Raíces. | Produced by Manuel Barbachano and directed by Benito Alazraki Benito Alazraki Benito Alazraki was a Mexican film director and screenwriter. He directed 40 films between 1955 and 1995.-Selected filmography:* Roots * Muñecos infernales * Santo Contra los Zombis... . |
|
| 1956 | Tierra, ballet. | Completed 12 November 1956. Premiere September 1958, Orquesta del Teatro de Bellas Artes. |
| 1957 | Simiente, for solo piano | |
| 1958 | Pequeño nocturno, for solo piano | |
Selected Sources Consulted
- Agea, Francisco (ed). 1949. 21 Años de la Orquesta Sinfónica de México (Twenty One Years of the Mexican Symphony Orchestra). Mexico City: La Imprenta del Nuevo Mundo.
- Agea, Francisco. 1941. "Huapango". Notes to the Season Program. Mexico City: Orquesta Sinfónica de México.
- Agea, Francisco. 1943. "Huapango". Notes to the Season Program. Mexico City: Orquesta Sinfónica de México.
- Agea, Francisco. 1944. El Concurso de composiciones mexicanas (The Mexican Compositions Contest). Notes to the Season Program. México City: Orquesta Sinfónica de México, 1944.
- Agea, Francisco. 1945. "Sinfonietta". Notes to the Season Program. México City: Orquesta Sinfónica de México, 1945.
- Agea, Francisco. 1947. "Tres piezas para orquesta" (Three Pieces for Orchestra). Notes to the Performance Program No. 5. Mexico City: Orquesta Sinfónica de México.
- Alcaraz, José Antonio. 1975. La obra de José Pablo Moncayo. Cuadernos de música, nueva serie 2. México: UNAM/Difusión Cultural, Departamento de Música.
- Alcaraz, José Antonio. 1980. Tierra de Temporal/Moncayo. Notes to the cover record. Peerless/Forlane MS7010-3 (1980). 33 1/3 record.
- Alcaraz, José Antonio. 1991. Reflexiones sobre el nacionalismo musical mexicano (Thoughts about the Mexican Musical Nationalism). Mexico City: Editorial Patria.
- Alcaraz, José Antonio. 1998a. En la más honda música de selva(In the Deepest Music of Jungle). Mexico City: Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, 1998.
- Alcaraz, José Antonio. 1998b. Interview by Armando Torres Chibrás, 24 July, Mexico. Videocassette 8mm NTSC. Armando Torres Chibrás's dissertation archives, Mexico City.
- Alcaraz, José Antonio. 1998c. "Moncayo: Un libro del FIC para niños" (Moncayo: A Festival Internacional Cervantino's book for Children). Proceso, 13 September, 62.
- Alvarez Coral, Juan. 1993. Compositores mexicanos (Mexican Composers). Mexico City: Edamex, 1993.
- Anonymous. 1935. "Concierto de un grupo de cuatro jóvenes compositores" (Concert of a group of Four Young Composers). Performance Program. Teatro de Orientación, Mexico City (25 November).
- Anonymous. 1936a. "Concierto del Grupo de los Cuatro" (Performance of the Group of Four). Performance Program. Sala de Conferencias de Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City (31 March).
- Anonymous. 1936b. "Concierto del Grupo de los Cuatro dedicado a las escuelas de arte para los trabajadores" (Performance of the Group of Four dedicated to the Arts Schools for the Workers). Performance Program. Mexico City (17 June).
- Anonymous. 1936c. "Concierto del Grupo de los Cuatro" (Performance of the Group of Four). Performance Program. Sala de Conferencias de Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City (15 October).
- Anonymous. 1936d. "Conciertos de la Sociedad Musical Renovación" (Concerts of the Renovation Musical Society). Performance program, Mexico City (22 August).
- Anonymous. 1947a. "Conciertos de los lunes: Programa a cargo de J.P. Moncayo"(Monday Concerts: Programa in Charge of J.P. Moncayo). Nuestra Música 8 (Año 2, October): 210.
- Anonymous. 1947b. "La Orquesta Sinfónica de México: Vigésima temporada" (The Symphony Orchestra of Mexico: Twentieth Season). Nuestra Música 7 (Año 2, July): 164-168.
- Anonymous. 1947c. "La Orquesta Sinfónica de México en su XX temporada" (The Symphony Orchestra of Mexico in its Twentieth Season). Nuestra Música 8 (Año 2, October): 220-223.
- Aretz, Isabel (ed.) 1984. América Latina en su música (Latin-America in its music). 4th ed. Mexico City: Siglo Veintiuno Editores/UNESCO.
- Barce, Ramón. 1992. "José Pablo Moncayo." Ritmo, no. 631 (April): 44–45.
- Bal y Gay, JesúsJesús Bal y GayJesús Bal y Gay was a Spanish composer, music critic, and musicologist. He was a member of Generation of '27 and the Group of Eight, the latter of which also included composers Julián Bautista, Ernesto Halffter and his brother Rodolfo, Juan José Mantecón, Fernando Remacha, Rosa García Ascot,...
, Carlos Chávez, Blas Galindo, Rodolfo Halfter, José Pablo Moncayo, Adolfo Salazar and Luis Sandi. 1946. "Actividades del grupo: Conciertos de los lunes" (Activities of the Group: Monday Concerts). Nuestra Música 1 (Año 1): 37-38. - Baqueiro Foster, Gerónimo. 1961. "Biografías de músicos mexicanos: José Pablo Moncayo" (Biographies of Mexican Musicians: José Pablo Moncayo). Carnet Musical 14-197:328-30.
- Baqueiro Foster, Gerónimo. 1964. Historia de la música en México (History of Music in Mexico). Mexico City: Departamento de Música/INBA/SEP.
- Barros Serra, José. 1935. "Grupo de los Cuatro: Crítica musical" (Group of Four: Music Review). El Universal (27 November).
- Behague, Gerard. 1979. Music in Latin America: An Introduction. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1979.
- Carmona, Gloria. 1989. Epistolario selecto de Carlos Chávez (Selected Epistolary of Carlos Chávez). Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Económica.
- Carredano, Consuelo. 1994. Ediciones Mexicanas de Música: Historia y catálogo (Mexican editions of Music: History and Catalogue). Mexico City: Centro Nacional de Investigación, Documentación e Información Musical "Carlos Chávez".
- Contreras Soto, Eduardo. 1988. "Alrededor del huapango: Notas sueltas sobre una obra conocida" (Around the Huapango: Loose Notes About a Known Work). Heterofonía 20, no.98–99:16–27.
- Contreras Soto, Eduardo. 1993. Eduardo Hernández Moncada: Ensayo biográfico, catálogo de obras y antología de textos (Eduardo Hérnandez Moncada: Biographical Essay, Works Catalog and Text Antology). Mexico City: Centro Nacional de Investigación, Documentación e Información Musical "Carlos Chávez."
- Contreras Soto, Eduardo. 2000. Silvestre Revueltas: Baile, duelo y son. [México]: Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, Dirección General de Publicaciones, Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes. ISBN 9701837622
- Copland, Aaron. 1968. "Composers from Mexico." In Copland, The New Music: 1900–1960, revised and enlarged edition, New York: W. W. Norton..
- Dahlhaus, Carl (ed.). 1975. Riemann Musik Lexikon: Ergänzungsband, Personenteil L–Z (Riemann's Music Lexicon: Supplement, People L–Z). Mainz and New York: B. Schott's Söhne.
- Daniels, David. 1996. Orchestral Music: A Handbook, second edition. Lanham, Md. & London: The Scarecrow Press.
- Domingo, Placido. 1985. Mis primeros cuarenta años (My First Forty Years). México City: Editorial Planeta.
- Eisenberg, Abel. 1990. Entre violas y violines: Crónica crítica de un músico mexicano (Among Violas and Violines: Critical Chronicle by a Mexican Musician). Mexico City: Edamex.
- Galindo Dimas, Blas. 1948. "Compositores de mi generación"(Composers from my Generation). Nuestra música 3, no. 10 (April):73-81. Reprinted in Pauta: Cuadernos de teoría y crítica musical 9, no. 35 (July–September 1990): 52-57.
- Ficher, Miguel, Martha Furman Schleifer, and John M. Furman. 1996. Latin American Classical Composers: A Biographical Dictionary. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0810831858
- García Morillo, Roberto. 1960. Carlos Chávez: Vida y obra (Carlos Chávez: Life and Work). Mexico City and Buenos Aires: Fondo de Cultura Económica.
- Herrera de la Fuente, Luis. 1998. La música no viaja sola (Music does not travel alone). Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Económica.
- Kahan, Salomón. 1935. "Una hora experimental: Crónica del primer concierto del Grupo de los Cuatro" (An Experimental Hour: Review of the First Performance of the Group of Four). El Universal Gráfico (29 November).
- Miranda-Pérez, Ricardo. 1990. "Muros Verdes and the Creation of a New Musical Space." Latin American Music Review / Revista de Música Latinoamericana 11, No. 2 (Autumn): 281–85.
- Malström, Dan. 1974. "Introduction to Twentieth Century Mexican Music". Dissertation, Uppsala: Uppsala University, the Institute of Musicology. ISBN 9172220503. Spanish translation by Juan Jose Utrilla, as Introducción a la música mexicana del siglo XX. Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1977.
- Martinez, José Luis. Los caciques culturales (The Cultural Chieftains).Letras Libres 7 (July 1999): 28-29.
- Mayer-Serra, Otto. 1947. Música y músicos de Latinoamérica (Music and Musicians from Latin-America). Mexico City: Editorial Atlante.
- Mayer-Serra, Otto. 1941. Panorama de la música mexicana (Panorama of Mexican Music). Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Económica/ El Colegio de México.
- Michaca, Pedro. 1931. El nacionalismo musical mexicano (The Mexican Nationalism in Music). Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
- Moncada García, Francisco. 1966. Pequeñas biografías de grandes músicos mexicanos (Small Biographies of Great Mexican Musicians). Mexico City: Ediciones Framong.
- Moreno Rivas, Yolanda. 1989. Rostros del nacionalismo en la música mexicana: Un Ensayo de Interpretación (Faces of the Mexican Nationalism: An Essay of Interpretation). Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Económica.
- Moreno Rivas, Yolanda. La composición en México en el siglo XX (Composition in Mexico in the 20th century). Mexico City: Consejo Nacional Para la Cultura y Las Artes/ Cultura Contemporánea, 1994.
- Parker, Robert. 1983. Carlos Chávez, Mexico’s Modern-day Orpheus. Boston, Mass.: Twayne Publishers. ISBN 0805794557
- Parker, Robert L. 1987. "Copland and Chávez: Brothers-in-Arms". American Music 5, no. 4 (Winter): 433–44.
- Pulido, Esperanza. 1978a. "Los nuevos directores de orquesta: 1948" (The new orchestra conductors). Heterofonía 11, no. 5 (September–October): 4.
- Pulido, Esperanza. 1978b. "Las orquestas sinfónicas de México: 1948" (The Mexican Symphony Orchestras: 1948). Heterofonía 11, no. 5 (September–October): 5.
- Pulido, Esperanza. 1978c. "La Sinfónica Nacional: México en la cultura (18 de Mayo de 1958)" (The National Symphony: Mexico in the Culture [May 18, 1958]). Heterofonía 11, no. 5 (September–October): 8.
- Pulido, Esperanza. 1978d. "Veinte años después" (Twenty Years After). Heterofonía 11, no. 5 (September–October): 9.
- Ruiz Ortiz, Xochiquetzal.1994. Blas Galindo: Biografía, antología de textos y catálogo (Blas Galindo: Biography, Texts Antology and Catalog). Mexico City: CENIDIM.
- Ruiz Ortiz, Xochiquetzal, and Roberto García Bonilla. 1992. "Rastros de un rostro o historias sin historias: Entrevista con Blas Galindo". Pauta: Cuadernos de teoría y crítica musical 11, no. 41 (January–March): 51-68.
- Slonimsky, Nicolas. 1945. Music of Latin America. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company.
- Stevenson, Robert. 1980. José Pablo Moncayo. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 6th ed. Stanley Sadie, ed. New York: Macmillan.
- Stevenson, Robert. 1952. Music in Mexico: A Historical Survey. New York: Crowell.
- Tapia Colman, Simón. 1991. Música y músicos en México (Music and Musicians in México). México City: Panorama Editorial.
- Tello, Aurelio. 1987. Salvador Contreras: Vida y obra. Colección de estudios musicológicos 1. México, D.F.: Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, Centro Nacional de Investigación, Documentación e Información Musical Carlos Chávez. ISBN 9682907187
- Torres-Chibrás, Armando. 1996. Sinfonietta. Notes for the Performance Program of the University of Missouri-Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, Kansas City, 26 November.
- Torres-Chibrás, Armando Ramón. 2002. "José Pablo Moncayo, Mexican Composer and Conductor: A Survey of His Life with a Historical Perspective of His Time." DMADMADMA can refer to:* DMA , a defunct dance music magazine* Dallas Museum of Art, an art museum in Texas, USA* Danish Music Awards, an award show held in Denmark since 1989...
diss., University of MissouriUniversity of MissouriThe University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...
, Kansas CityKansas City, MissouriKansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms InternationalUniversity Microfilms InternationalUniversity Microfilms International or UMI, was founded in the 1930s by Eugene Power in Ann Arbor. By June 1938, Power worked in two rented rooms from a downtown Ann Arbor funeral parlor, specializing in microphotography to preserve library collections...
. ISBN 0-493-66937-X - Torres-Chibrás, Armando Ramón. 2009. José Pablo Moncayo: Mexico's Musical Crest. Cologne: LAP Lambert Academic Publishing. ISBN 978-3-8383-2079-3
- Weinstock, Herbert 1940. Mexican Art. Notes for concerts arranged by Carlos Chávez as part of the exhibition Twenty Centuries of Mexican Art (May). New York: The Museum of Modern Art.
- Zepeda Moreno, José Kamuel. 2005. Vida y obra de José Pablo Moncayo. Guadalajara, Jalisco, México: Gobierno de Jalisco, Secretaría de Cultura.
External links
- Peermusic Classical: Jose Pablo Moncayo Composer's Publisher and Bio