Music & The Socio-Cultural Enviroment of Mexico • 2

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Music & The Socio-Cultural Environment of
Post-Revolutionary Mexico

Peter Kun Frary, Professor of Music, University of Hawaii

Post-Revolutionary Music and Government

In 1921, for the first time in history, the Mexican government allocated a large budget for the fine arts, and placed José Vasconcelos, the Secretary of Education, in charge of the various cultural programs. The ten years of bloodshed during the Revolution had destroyed most of the traditional channels of patronage; consequently, the government remained as the only major financial support for the arts. Thus, the governmental role in the development of the arts was crucial--especially since nationalism was officially sanctioned by the government. In general, artists who created works which reinforced revolutionary social nationalism received government funding and positions; artists who did not do this, failed to receive funding or positions. The new government-supported nationalism, according to Latin American historian John J. Johnson, produced nationalistic propaganda "no longer confined to the abstractions of a few intellectuals; it was brought down to the masses in its dynamic and politically charged form."¹¹

The government's support of nationalistic art began with the muralist school of Rivera, Orozco and Siqueiros. In 1922 these three men organized an artist's union and began to systematically exploit government funds earmarked for the arts. Significantly, the muralist school set a precedent for other artists in terms of nationalism and economic survival.

Although Weinstock writes that "Ponce's example probably helped orient Chávez towards his strong interest in the hitherto neglected music of the Indians,"¹² the youthful Chávez soon overtook Ponce, his former piano teacher, as the leading nationalistic composer in México. Unlike Ponce, Chávez quickly entered into the inner circle of cultural politics while still in his early twenties. Following his début as a composer, Chávez was approached by Vasconcelos and asked to write a ballet on an Aztec subject, the result being El fuego nuevo (The New Fire, 1921). Thereafter, Chávez received many more commissions, the conductorship of the Orquestra Sinfonica México (OSM) and important administrative posts.¹³ Because of Chávez's position as a government official, educator, composer and conductor he became, without question, the most powerful and influential member of México's musical community from the 1920s to the 1950s. Chávez's nationalistic style--an austere blending of Indianism, neoclassism, primitivism and modernistic elements--set an important precedent for up-and-coming composers. A new generation of nationalistic composers--Silvestre Revueltas, Pablo Moncayo, Blas Galindo, Daniel Ayala, Salvador Contreras, et al.--were fostered by Chávez: first as their mentor and second as their patron.

Chávez as the patron is reflected in the more than eighty works by contemporary Mexican composers performed by the OSM during his stay as conductor (1928-1948). Young nationalistic Mexican composers received top priority in the OSM's programming. Malmström comments that "for the growth of Mexican national music, the existence of the OSM has without doubt been essential, especially so with Chávez and Revueltas as conductor and assistant conductor." ¹⁴

Besides the use of avant-garde technique and Indianism, Chávez established a precedent in the scoring of indigenous Indian instruments with Western instruments and the percussive treatment of non-percussion instruments. Manuel Ponce and Silvestre Revueltas experimented briefly with Indianism, but found it unsatisfactory for the expression of their nationalistic temperaments. Revueltas' sarcastic comments concerning the use of Indian instruments in his orchestral sketch Cuanahuac seems to indicate some insincerity and dissatisfaction with Indianism:

This is music without tourism. In the orchestra, the huehuetl (Indian drum) is used as a means of nationalist propaganda. Other instruments in the score are even more nationalist, but no attention should be paid to them; it is all just anticapitalist agitation. ¹⁵

It is possible that Revueltas' sarcasm was related to his resentment of bureaucracy and its policies, such as state sanctioned pre-conquest nationalism.¹⁶ Revueltas, like Ponce, believed that the popular and folk music of the mestizo, not reconstructed Aztec music, served the purposes of Mexican nationalism best. Nevertheless, Revueltas was active politically, serving as secretary to the League of Revolutionary Artists and Writers (LEAR),¹⁷ and created a number of important nationalistic works based on the music of the mestizo.

Although Revueltas did not favor Chávez's speculative reconstruction of Aztec music as a basis of nationalism, he was profoundly influenced by the then avant-garde technique of Chávez. Otto Mayer-Serra, a Mexican musicologist, explains:

Folk melody, twisted and disfigured by constant alterations, the hard implacable hammering of the accompaniment--in a word, all the rather harsh conceptions of musical Mexicanism that are peculiar to Chávez's scores--are present in the Tres piezas for violin and piano, of Revueltas, written eight years after the Sonatina of Chávez. ¹⁸

Chávez recognized Manuel Ponce as the first nationalistic composer and folklore scholar in México. Ponce's historical significance is summarized by Chávez:

In two aspects, his work has had an essential influence upon the development of the music of his country. At the beginning of our century the Mexican composers scarcely ventured beyond the limits of 'salon music.' It was at this time that Ponce undertook to compose in the larger forms, achieving such magnificent results as his Piano Concerto and his Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello. These two works were the foundation stones of a higher Mexican musical expression . . . The other aspect of his music which is of essential significance is the 'musical nationalism' which he initiated. . . . it was he who created a real consciousness of the richness of Mexican folk music, and gave orientation to the process of integrating that music into the higher forms of composition . . . ¹⁹

Although Ponce's later works were modernistic and neoclassical, his early nationalistic works are sometimes belittled because of their lightness and neoromantic style. Mayer-Serra comments that early nationalism

. . . generally suffers from a hackneyed style, full of false sentimentalism and salon mannerism. This is so with Albeniz and Granados . . . in the first phase of their work. Despite these initial defects, however, their compositions were of vital significance for the development of Spanish music. A quarter of a century later, Ponce's production played a similar role in México.²⁰

Ponce's early nationalistic works, unlike the post-revolutionary compositions of Chávez and his disciples, were not products of government ideology, but, instead, were a personal evocation of the music of the mestizo in a neoromantic setting usually devoid of strong political messages. Although Ponce initiated musical nationalism during the early days of the Revolution, he had little influence on the younger artists of the new revolutionary social nationalism. Despite criticism of Ponce's use of European technique and his light treatment of Mexican themes in his early works, his music--especially art songs and guitar solos--remains popular to the present day.

Music as Cultural-Political Propaganda

The revolutionary government desired to imprint the new social order and values on the minds of the masses. The arts were seen as a powerful tool in the government's nationalist propaganda program: music, painting, literature, etc. were used as a medium for symbols linked to specific social idealisms, attitudes, cultural identity and, ultimately, social behavior. In other words, music did not shape the Revolution--it was used after the fact to reinforce the current political ideology. Music was therefore shaped by the Revolution.

Music as a vehicle of cultural propaganda may be observed in the government's commissioning of choral works for children and workers. Manuel Ponce, Vicente Mendoza, Blas Galindo and others were employed by the Secretary of Education to create new choral works and to arrange Indian and mestizo songs at a level accessible to the musically untrained. These songs were meant to reinforce current socio-political values, produce cultural identity and to accomplish goals of social programs, such as the teaching of health and hygiene to remote villagers.²¹

Chávez's Proletarian Cantatas, Llamadas (Proletarian Symphony or Corrido of the Revolution) and El Sol (Mexican Corrido), are similar in intention to the nationalistic song for children and workers discussed above. Both of the Proletarian Cantatas are scored for choir and orchestra, use a relatively simple tonal style in order to be accessible to uninitiated listeners, and express solidarity with leftist cultural ideology. It is significant that in these works, like the children's and worker's songs above, the normal style of the composer was modified in response to the expressed social goals; i.e., to reach and meet the needs of the uneducated masses.

Caballos de Vapor (Horse Power), a ballet by Chávez with set designs by Rivera, is in step with the revolutionary left and, unlike the Proletarian Cantatas, is directed at a sophisticated and international audience, using the latest avant-garde techniques. The plot illustrates the capitalistic exploitation of South America by North America and its fateful result--the revolt and triumph of worker over capitalist. Paradoxically, Caballos de Vapor was premiered not in México but in Philadelphia in 1932, Leopold Stokowski conducting. However, possibly due to the sensitive subject matter of the plot, the last scene involving the worker's revolt was not staged.²²

Although there are numerous compositions designed to reinforce the post-revolutionary political ideology of México, this final example of music as cultural-political propaganda by José Rolón illustrates the prevalent anti-imperialist attitude of the times--the same attitude which caused Soviet Russia's nationalistic tamperings to fail. Writing in an impressionistic style, Rolón conceived his symphonic work Cuauhtemoc (1929), in three movements: "Coronación," "Defensa heróica" and "Finale." According to Malmström, his programmatic work is supposed to illustrate the deeds of Cuauhtemoc, the last Aztec king and glory of México, and his heroic struggle against the symbol of universal imperialism, Cortés.²³
©Copyright 2001 by Peter Kun Frary • All Rights Reserved

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.	. Music & The Socio-Cultural Environment of Post-Revolutionary Mexico Peter Kun Frary, Professor of Music, University of Hawaii Post-Revolutionary Music and Government In 1921, for the first time in history, the Mexican government allocated a large budget for the fine arts, and placed José Vasconcelos, the Secretary of Education, in charge of the various cultural programs. The ten years of bloodshed during the Revolution had destroyed most of the traditional channels of patronage; consequently, the government remained as the only major financial support for the arts. Thus, the governmental role in the development of the arts was crucial--especially since nationalism was officially sanctioned by the government. In general, artists who created works which reinforced revolutionary social nationalism received government funding and positions; artists who did not do this, failed to receive funding or positions. The new government-supported nationalism, according to Latin American historian John J. Johnson, produced nationalistic propaganda "no longer confined to the abstractions of a few intellectuals; it was brought down to the masses in its dynamic and politically charged form."¹¹ The government's support of nationalistic art began with the muralist school of Rivera, Orozco and Siqueiros. In 1922 these three men organized an artist's union and began to systematically exploit government funds earmarked for the arts. Significantly, the muralist school set a precedent for other artists in terms of nationalism and economic survival. Although Weinstock writes that "Ponce's example probably helped orient Chávez towards his strong interest in the hitherto neglected music of the Indians,"¹² the youthful Chávez soon overtook Ponce, his former piano teacher, as the leading nationalistic composer in México. Unlike Ponce, Chávez quickly entered into the inner circle of cultural politics while still in his early twenties. Following his début as a composer, Chávez was approached by Vasconcelos and asked to write a ballet on an Aztec subject, the result being El fuego nuevo (The New Fire, 1921). Thereafter, Chávez received many more commissions, the conductorship of the Orquestra Sinfonica México (OSM) and important administrative posts.¹³ Because of Chávez's position as a government official, educator, composer and conductor he became, without question, the most powerful and influential member of México's musical community from the 1920s to the 1950s. Chávez's nationalistic style--an austere blending of Indianism, neoclassism, primitivism and modernistic elements--set an important precedent for up-and-coming composers. A new generation of nationalistic composers--Silvestre Revueltas, Pablo Moncayo, Blas Galindo, Daniel Ayala, Salvador Contreras, et al.--were fostered by Chávez: first as their mentor and second as their patron. Chávez as the patron is reflected in the more than eighty works by contemporary Mexican composers performed by the OSM during his stay as conductor (1928-1948). Young nationalistic Mexican composers received top priority in the OSM's programming. Malmström comments that "for the growth of Mexican national music, the existence of the OSM has without doubt been essential, especially so with Chávez and Revueltas as conductor and assistant conductor." ¹⁴ Besides the use of avant-garde technique and Indianism, Chávez established a precedent in the scoring of indigenous Indian instruments with Western instruments and the percussive treatment of non-percussion instruments. Manuel Ponce and Silvestre Revueltas experimented briefly with Indianism, but found it unsatisfactory for the expression of their nationalistic temperaments. Revueltas' sarcastic comments concerning the use of Indian instruments in his orchestral sketch Cuanahuac seems to indicate some insincerity and dissatisfaction with Indianism: This is music without tourism. In the orchestra, the huehuetl (Indian drum) is used as a means of nationalist propaganda. Other instruments in the score are even more nationalist, but no attention should be paid to them; it is all just anticapitalist agitation. ¹⁵ It is possible that Revueltas' sarcasm was related to his resentment of bureaucracy and its policies, such as state sanctioned pre-conquest nationalism.¹⁶ Revueltas, like Ponce, believed that the popular and folk music of the mestizo, not reconstructed Aztec music, served the purposes of Mexican nationalism best. Nevertheless, Revueltas was active politically, serving as secretary to the League of Revolutionary Artists and Writers (LEAR),¹⁷ and created a number of important nationalistic works based on the music of the mestizo. Although Revueltas did not favor Chávez's speculative reconstruction of Aztec music as a basis of nationalism, he was profoundly influenced by the then avant-garde technique of Chávez. Otto Mayer-Serra, a Mexican musicologist, explains: Folk melody, twisted and disfigured by constant alterations, the hard implacable hammering of the accompaniment--in a word, all the rather harsh conceptions of musical Mexicanism that are peculiar to Chávez's scores--are present in the Tres piezas for violin and piano, of Revueltas, written eight years after the Sonatina of Chávez. ¹⁸ Chávez recognized Manuel Ponce as the first nationalistic composer and folklore scholar in México. Ponce's historical significance is summarized by Chávez: In two aspects, his work has had an essential influence upon the development of the music of his country. At the beginning of our century the Mexican composers scarcely ventured beyond the limits of 'salon music.' It was at this time that Ponce undertook to compose in the larger forms, achieving such magnificent results as his Piano Concerto and his Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello. These two works were the foundation stones of a higher Mexican musical expression . . . The other aspect of his music which is of essential significance is the 'musical nationalism' which he initiated. . . . it was he who created a real consciousness of the richness of Mexican folk music, and gave orientation to the process of integrating that music into the higher forms of composition . . . ¹⁹ Although Ponce's later works were modernistic and neoclassical, his early nationalistic works are sometimes belittled because of their lightness and neoromantic style. Mayer-Serra comments that early nationalism . . . generally suffers from a hackneyed style, full of false sentimentalism and salon mannerism. This is so with Albeniz and Granados . . . in the first phase of their work. Despite these initial defects, however, their compositions were of vital significance for the development of Spanish music. A quarter of a century later, Ponce's production played a similar role in México.²⁰ Ponce's early nationalistic works, unlike the post-revolutionary compositions of Chávez and his disciples, were not products of government ideology, but, instead, were a personal evocation of the music of the mestizo in a neoromantic setting usually devoid of strong political messages. Although Ponce initiated musical nationalism during the early days of the Revolution, he had little influence on the younger artists of the new revolutionary social nationalism. Despite criticism of Ponce's use of European technique and his light treatment of Mexican themes in his early works, his music--especially art songs and guitar solos--remains popular to the present day. Music as Cultural-Political Propaganda The revolutionary government desired to imprint the new social order and values on the minds of the masses. The arts were seen as a powerful tool in the government's nationalist propaganda program: music, painting, literature, etc. were used as a medium for symbols linked to specific social idealisms, attitudes, cultural identity and, ultimately, social behavior. In other words, music did not shape the Revolution--it was used after the fact to reinforce the current political ideology. Music was therefore shaped by the Revolution. Music as a vehicle of cultural propaganda may be observed in the government's commissioning of choral works for children and workers. Manuel Ponce, Vicente Mendoza, Blas Galindo and others were employed by the Secretary of Education to create new choral works and to arrange Indian and mestizo songs at a level accessible to the musically untrained. These songs were meant to reinforce current socio-political values, produce cultural identity and to accomplish goals of social programs, such as the teaching of health and hygiene to remote villagers.²¹ Chávez's Proletarian Cantatas, Llamadas (Proletarian Symphony or Corrido of the Revolution) and El Sol (Mexican Corrido), are similar in intention to the nationalistic song for children and workers discussed above. Both of the Proletarian Cantatas are scored for choir and orchestra, use a relatively simple tonal style in order to be accessible to uninitiated listeners, and express solidarity with leftist cultural ideology. It is significant that in these works, like the children's and worker's songs above, the normal style of the composer was modified in response to the expressed social goals; i.e., to reach and meet the needs of the uneducated masses. Caballos de Vapor (Horse Power), a ballet by Chávez with set designs by Rivera, is in step with the revolutionary left and, unlike the Proletarian Cantatas, is directed at a sophisticated and international audience, using the latest avant-garde techniques. The plot illustrates the capitalistic exploitation of South America by North America and its fateful result--the revolt and triumph of worker over capitalist. Paradoxically, Caballos de Vapor was premiered not in México but in Philadelphia in 1932, Leopold Stokowski conducting. However, possibly due to the sensitive subject matter of the plot, the last scene involving the worker's revolt was not staged.²² Although there are numerous compositions designed to reinforce the post-revolutionary political ideology of México, this final example of music as cultural-political propaganda by José Rolón illustrates the prevalent anti-imperialist attitude of the times--the same attitude which caused Soviet Russia's nationalistic tamperings to fail. Writing in an impressionistic style, Rolón conceived his symphonic work Cuauhtemoc (1929), in three movements: "Coronación," "Defensa heróica" and "Finale." According to Malmström, his programmatic work is supposed to illustrate the deeds of Cuauhtemoc, the last Aztec king and glory of México, and his heroic struggle against the symbol of universal imperialism, Cortés.²³ ©Copyright 2001 by Peter Kun Frary • All Rights Reserved	.
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