MINNESOTA ORCHESTRA 2010-2011 Young People’s Concerts

Viva Latino

November 17 & 18 2010 10:00 & 11:35 am

Minnesota Orchestra

Courtney Lewis, conductor Jill Sandager, soprano

Students from Emerson Spanish Immersion, dance ensemble

The Minnesota Orchestra gratefully acknowledges generous support from:

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Minnesota Orchestra 2010-2011 Young People’s Concerts

VIVA LATINO

Table of Contents

Program 3 Performers 4 Introduction 6 Curriculum Standards 7 Music of Latin America 8 Revueltas Sensemaya 12 Marquez Danzon No. 2 18 Copland El Salón México 24 Villa-Lobos Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 30 Bernstein Symphonic Dances 36 from West Side Story: Mambo Traditional Mexican Hat Dance 41

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Minnesota Orchestra 2010-2011 Young People’s Concerts

VIVA LATINO

Program

Silvestre Revueltas Sensemaya

Arturo Márquez Danzón No. 2

Aaron Copland El Salón Mexico

Heitor Villa-Lobos Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5

Aria (Cantilena): Adagio Jill Sandager, soprano

Leonard Bernstein Mambo from West Side Story

Traditional Mexican Hat Dance

Students from Emerson Spanish Immersion, dance ensemble

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The Minnesota Orchestra, now in its second century and led by

Music Director Osmo Vänskä, ranks among America’s top symphonic ensembles, with a distinguished history of acclaimed performances in its home state and around the world, award-winning recordings, radio broadcasts and educational outreach programs, and a visionary commit-ment to building the orchestral repertoire of tomorrow.

The 98-member ensemble performs nearly 200 programs each year and its concerts are heard by live audiences of 400,000 annually. Its Friday night performances are broadcast live regionally by Minnesota Public Radio, and many programs are subsequently featured on American Pub-lic Media’s national programs, Symphony Cast and Performance Today.

In addition to traditional concerts, the Minnesota Orchestra connects with more than 85,000 music lovers an-nually through educational programs including Young People’s Concerts (YPs), Target Free Family Concerts and Kinder Konzerts. In the last decade more than half a million students have experienced a Minnesota Or-chestra YP. Musicians also engage in such Minnesota Orchestra-sponsored initiatives as the Adopt-A-School program (founded in 1990), Side-by-Side rehearsals and concerts with young area musicians, and the UPbeat program, which establishes multi-year relationships with communities throughout the Twin Cities and around the state.

Courtney Lewis, conductor Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Courtney Lewis has worked with orchestras and cham-ber ensembles from London to Venezuela, earning recognition as one of today’s top emerging conductors. He is founder and music director of Boston’s acclaimed Discovery Ensemble, a chamber orchestra with the unique mission of introducing inner-city school children to classical music while bringing new and unusual repertoire to established con-cert audiences. He recently completed his second season as Zander Fellow with the Bos-ton Philharmonic Orchestra, a prestigious conducting apprenticeship under the ensem-ble’s music director, Benjamin Zander. In addition to his work with the Boston Philhar-monic, he has assisted Zander with the London Philharmonia, Toronto Symphony, Saint

Louis Symphony and Símon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela. In November 2008 Lewis made his major American orchestra debut with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, leading a series of five concerts. He subsequently spent several weeks assisting conductors David Robertson, Marc Albrecht and Yan Pascal Tortelier. In recent seasons he has also worked with the BBC Philharmonic, Tulsa Symphony and Liverpool Mozart Orchestras, as well as smaller groups including the Nash Ensemble and Alban Berg Ensemble. Lewis attended the University of Cambridge, where he studied composition with Robin Holloway and clarinet with Dame Thea King, graduating at the top of his year with starred first class honors. After completing a master’s degree with a focus on the late music of György Ligeti, he attended the Royal Northern College of Mu-sic, where his teachers included Sir Mark Elder and Clark Rundell.

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Jill Sandager, soprano Guest artist Jill Sandager is a local singer with a wide

and varied musical and stage background. Jill received

her bachelors degree from Trinity International Uni-

versity in Illinois and has training in voice, acting, and

dance. She has performed with such groups as the Saint

Paul Chamber Orchestra, Theater Latte Da, Great

American History Theater, The Minnesota Opera and Stages Theatre, among many oth-

ers. She has also appeared in several television commercials including Comcast and Cub

Foods, and has performed at many special events, live and televised. In addition to Jill’s ac-

complished performance background, she also is a seamstress and clothing designer. We

welcome Jill to the Minnesota Orchestra for Viva Latino this fall!

Emerson Spanish Immersion,

Dance Ensemble

Emerson creates a bilingual, multicultural commu-

nity, where students are empowered to develop

their uniqueness, be prepared for further education,

and become productive citizens of the global society.

The Spanish Immersion Learning Center is a dual language immersion program for native

English and native Spanish speaking students. In kindergarten through 2nd grade, students

receive 90% of their instruction in Spanish and 10% of their instruction in English. This

allows students to develop a strong foundation on which they build throughout the elemen-

tary years. In 3rd grade through 5th grade, time in English gradually begins to increase

with the English/Spanish ratio culminating at 60/40 in the 5th grade. Reading and lan-

guage arts are taught in both students' native and second languages. All students learn to

read and write in both languages.

This information was taken from the Emerson Spanish Immersion website, for more infor-

mation please go to: http://emerson.mpls.k12.mn.us/

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Introduction

The Viva Latino! Young People’s

Concert presents memorable music

from many Latin American cultures.

The concert repertoire includes music

that echoes the character, spirit, and

energy of Latin America, particularly

Brazil, Mexico, and Cuba, and

American composers influenced by

Latino music.

The Activities and Lessons

A variety of Listening Activities and Resources are provides for each piece of music. Choose

the lessons that are appropriate for your teaching situation. Don’t forget to download the

music files from the Minnesota Orchestra website Education Pages. It includes the entire

concert repertoire.

Connecting to Standards

Teachers can use the activities and resources to support their work in teaching to

Minnesota and National music standards. Interdisciplinary connections to literacy and

social studies are also suggested. The majority of the lesson strategies focus on the

Minnesota Standards listed below. (This list represents the standards that fit the

curriculum, not the complete Minnesota Standards in music. For the full draft of the

standards document, go to the Minnesota Department of Education website, arts standards

page at

http://education.state.mn.us/MDE/Academic_Excellence/Academic_Standards/Arts/inde

x.html.)

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Standards most often addressed in this curriculum are listed below. They are from the Minnesota State Arts Standards, June 2008 revision.

Strand 1, Standard 1: ARTISTIC FOUNDATIONS - Demonstrate knowledge of the foundations of the art area.

Benchmark #1 • Describe the elements of music including melody, rhythm, harmony, dynamics, tone

color, texture, form, and their related concepts. (YP learning activities focus on musical elements, related concepts, and vocabulary of music.)

Benchmark #2 • Describe how the elements and related concepts, such as pitch, tempo, canon, and ABA

are used in the performance, creation, or response to music. (Descriptive Review and other processes in this guide focus on describing, analyzing, and interpreting the music. Lessons provide strategies and tools which require students to draw upon their musical knowledge as they respond to the music.)

Benchmark #3 • Identify the characteristics of a variety of genres and musical styles, such as march,

taiko, mariachi, and classical. (The YP concert repertoire includes multiple musical forms for orchestra drawn from music reflecting Latin American cultures.)

Strand 1, Standard 3: ARTISTIC FOUNDATIONS - Demonstrate understanding of the personal, social, cultural, historical contexts that influence the art area. Benchmark #1

• Describe the cultural and historical traditions of music including the contributions of Minnesota American Indian tribes and communities. (Repertoire for this YP concert includes multiple works from Latin American cultures.)

Benchmark #2 • Describe how music communicates meaning. (Student discussion, writing, and

analysis/interpretation of musical works demonstrates their level of understanding about how music communicates meaning.)

Strand 4, Standard 1: ARTISTIC PROCESS: Respond/Critique

Benchmark #1 • Justify personal interpretations and reactions to a variety of musical works or

performances. (Using the Descriptive Review process, discussions about the meaning in the music provides material to assess student’s ability to state personal interpretations and their reasons for them.)

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Some Thoughts about the Music of Latin America

It is interesting that we can often identify the Latin

American roots of a piece of music when we first

hear it without knowing anything about it. What is

it that we hear in the music that makes us know

that it is from somewhere in Latin America?

Latin American music cannot be defined with a

single set of characteristics or in general terms.

Each of the more than 20 countries, 14 states, and

countless islands has its own specific musical

culture.

But in spite of the differences, we hear something in

the musical “fingerprints” shared by cultures with

common histories. The cultural fingerprints are like

clues imbedded in the music. We listen and our

brains assess them quickly settling on a general

idea about the origins of the music. The clues are

right there in the rhythm patterns, melodies, or the instrument and vocal tone colors and performance practices.

Even though we may not understand the “complex musical convergence representing many cultures” that is

occurring, we know it is Latin American.

pathogencombat.com

Latin America’s Musical Roots

The ancestry of Caribbean, Central and South America music and culture is complex. First because it is the

result of centuries of blending musical traditions from four continents:

• The indigenous peoples of Central and South America (The Amerindians who populated the continent

during the pre-Conquest era. Included small nomadic bands to the highly developed cultures of the

Maya, Aztec, and Incan.)

• Europeans (especially those from Spain and Portugal). This includes Moors and other groups from

North African and the Middle East who moved through and into the Iberian Peninsula for hundreds of

years.)

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• Central and West African music, dance, and cultural traditions carried with slaves brought to the New

World. African influence is strong in the Caribbean and South American coastal areas.

Secondly, the proportions of cultural markers from any one of the four areas varied greatly as they blended

together. The prominence of a certain musical characteristic from a particular cultural home will differ from one

country or region to the next. For example, African influence is strong in the Caribbean and South American

coastal areas. And Mexican music developed from Aztec and Mayan ancestors, and the Spanish invaders and

colonizers who infused a very different culture into Mexico, as Portugal did in Brazil. But European roots are

audible in Caribbean music just as African roots exist in Mexican music

Despite this, there are some broad characteristics and cultural threads that can be identified.

Rhythm is the unifying element in Latin American music. A listener will hear:

• Syncopated rhythm patterns.

• Key rhythm patterns known as the clave, which keep time organized in the music. Clave is the basic

building block around which the music revolves. Dances in various Latin countries are based on

characteristic rhythmic patterns (clave). For example, mambo, salsa, rumba.

• Music that is often polyrhythmic. There are layers of rhythm; different rhythm patterns occurring at the

same time.

Melodies in the music:

• Are often ornamented, a Spanish/Moorish connection.

• Move mostly in steps and encompass a fairly narrow in range.

• Are modal.

• Often present call and response exchanges between two voices (two instruments, voice and instrument,

two voices). The call and response exchanges are sometimes improvised.

Tone color also provides listeners with information about the origins of the music. The instruments playing a

piece often present the strongest clue we hear when trying to identify the origins of the music.

Below are Latin American Instruments familiar to students through their general music and instrumental

classes.

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Castanets: Used in North African, Middle Eastern, ancient Roman, Spanish, Portuguese, and

eventually Latin American music. Two concave hardwood “shells” are tied together at one end.

A player holds them the hand and clicks them together to produce rhythm patterns or a rapid

series of clicks.

Claves: Pair of thick hard wood sticks, around 8 inches long and 1 inch in diameter. One is placed

on a stationary cupped hand, resting on the curled fingers and thumb. The other is held in the

other hand which moves to strike the stationary clave. The cupped hand acts as a resonator.

Maracas: A shaking instrument made from hollow wood, dried animal skin stitched

together, or oval dried gourds. Filled with pebbles, beads, or dried beans, with wooden

handles attached to seal the opening.

Cencerros: A metal cowbell hit with a stick.

Guiro: Grooved instrument often made of wood or a large hollow gourd. A stick is rubbed over

the grooves to produce rhythmic sounds. Holes on the smooth surface opposite the

grooved surface are used to hold the instrument.

Bongo Drums: A Cuban instrument composed of two small wooden drums of different size

held between the knees and played with the hand. The two sizes result in two different

drum pitches. The drum heads are made of animal skin.

Conga Drum: Single headed drum with a shell that bulges in the

middle. Hands strike the animal skin head to make a sound. Originally grouped

in three sizes played by three drummers; small drum (Quinto) is the highest

pitched voice, the middle drum (Conga) is in the mid-range, and largest (Tumba)

is the lowest pitched. More recently, congas are played in pairs by a single

drummer.

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Timbales: A set of two drums affixed to a stand and played with wooden sticks. A metal cowbell or cencerros is

often attached to the timbales’ stand.

Marimba: Originated in Africa. It is made from wooden rods or bars, arranged in an

order similar to that of a piano keyboard; it is a tuned instrument. Hollow metal

pipes (the resonators) are affixed beneath each bar. They amplify the sound

vibrations that are made when the bars are hit with wooden mallets.

Guitar: A plucked string instrument played with fingers or a pick. Consists of a hollow

wooden body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number but

sometimes more, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods

and used to be strung with animal gut. More recently the strings are made from either

nylon or steel.

Resources, Latin American Music • Anderson, William & Patricia Shehan Campbell. Multicultural Perspectives in Music Education, MENC,

1989. A new 2 volume set published by Rowmann & Littlefield Education will be available in 2011. • George, Luvenia. Teaching the Music of Six Different Cultures. Danbury, CT: World Music Press, 1987.

Currently available as a used book while revision is underway. George focuses on Mexican music in this book.

• McConnachie, John & Mark Ellingham. Rough Guide to World Music Volume Two: Latin and North America, the Caribbean, Asia & the Pacific, 2000. Published by Rough Guide Music Guides.

• Roberts, John Storm. The Latin Tinge. Oxford University Press, 1999. Websites

• “Comprehensive Visual Arts, Dance and Music Lesson Plans Integrated with Spanish and Latin Culture,” a curriculum to download from Associated Content, http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/133707/ comprehensive_visual_arts_dance_and.html

• From the Kennedy Center ArtsEdge site, “AmericArtes: Celebrating the Arts of Latin America,” http://www.artsedge.kennedy-center.org/americartes/performing/artsedge.html The cue sheet for Ballet Folclórico is particularly useful for Brazilian music and dance.

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“… popular culture does not walk a humble distance behind the classical and appear only as quotation. They dance and clash with each other in complete simultaneity in Revueltas’s music.” Peter Garland

Sensemayá is a mysterious and intriguing work. The composer created music that reflects the cultures and traditions, without using Cuban or Mexican folk songs.

From:abhivakshita-gaddiel.blogslivehost.

If Time is Limited • Listen to the music with students. • Ask them to respond to what they hear with their own thoughts and ideas, and then listen again.

Activity #1 Respond to the music using a reflective process Materials: Chalk board or chart paper, markers, audio Descriptive Review is a process that helps students reflect and describe from prior knowledge and ex-perience. Its core premise is that describing something without judgment leads to deeper understanding of the subject. It slows down the act of making meaning and grounds it in close observation of what is actually perceived. Learners reflect on key questions, then collectively respond through words and writ-ten text.

1. Engage students in this process BEFORE you listen and BEFORE providing any informa-tion about the music. The goal is to elicit their responses and impressions, not those of the teacher. ◊ Write the 3 questions at the top of 3 columns in clear view.

◊ Students will describe the music without judgment and create a word bank. ◊ Remind them of brainstorming processes; all responses are valid. ◊ Document student responses on the chart.

What do you hear? What’s going on in the mu-sic? (Describe the music with all senses.)

What questions do you have about the music? (I wonder…)

What do you think this mu-sic is about? (What does the composer want you to think, feel, understand?)

Sensemayá Silvestre Revueltas (1899-1940)

Listening Activities

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2. Read the first questions, play the music, then ask them to respond out loud. 3. Write responses on the chart. Do not explain the music, but do ask clarifying questions. If you rephrase

when writing a response, check with the responder. If students repeat an earlier comment, add a check to the first iteration.

4. Pose the second, and listen again. Decide whether to listen before responding to the third question.

5. Read the word banks out loud. Congratulate them on close, detailed listening and for finding so much about the music using their skills as observers and listeners. .

Activity #2: What inspired Revueltas to create Sensemayá? Materials: Information in the “More about the Composer & Music” section 1. After completing Activity #1, ask students if they are curious about who created the music and what the

composer was expressing in the music. (They always say “yes”!)

2. Use information included with this lesson to introduce them to Revueltas. Basic facts include: • The name of the piece, Sensemayá. • The composer is Silvestre Revueltas, a Mexican artist. Not well known during his lifetime, he has

recently come to the attention of many more people outside of Mexico. • The inspiration for the work was a poem written by the Cuban poet, Nicolás Guillén. The poem is a

chant spoken during a sacred snake ritual. A snake is a sacrifice, offered as a gift to a god known as Babalu in the United States. Babalu is the Afro-Cuban spirit who has the power to either heal or spread pestilence.

3. Display an excerpt of the poem. Ask students to read it with the expressive voices they use in Reader’s Theater. Discuss what they noticed in the text and if they think there are any connections to the music.

Activity #3: Listen for landmarks in the music Materials: CD, copies of the outline of the music included with this lesson 1. Follow an outline of Sensemayá and focus on specific musical landmarks.1

2. Before you listen, focus attention on the rhythm pattern that continues through most of the piece. Learn to

clap and count the pattern through a simple process. 7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

• First, write the numbers 1 through 7 across the board like this:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

• Count them together 4 times through with a steady rhythm and no pauses after the number seven. Each number gets one beat.

• Circle the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th beat in the set. • This time count every beat (1 to 7) with voices, and clap the circled beats. This turns the set of beats

into a pattern. Practice the pattern several times.

2 4 6 • Listen to the opening of Sensemayá and find this pattern. Bass drum and a pair of tom-toms play it.

Softly clap with the music. Chant the 4 syllable title, “Sen-se-may-a,” with the pattern. The word seems to fit this pattern.

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3. There are two key themes in the music. The tuba plays the first at CD 0:21. Strings play the second at CD 1:50. Play each for the students a few times to help them recognize them.

4. Provide a copy of the outline of Sensemayá for each student. As they follow along, listen

to the music and use the pause and go-back buttons to assure that they hear each section. Additional Listening Activities • Download and watch this video on YouTube of the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra, con-

ducted by Gustavo Dudamel. It provides students a visual picture of the instrumental tone colors in real time as the music unfolds. www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZO2VkKKR7o

• Encourage students to interpret this music through other modes. Provide the tools they need to respond to the music through movement, music, poetry and the visual arts.

Silvestre Revueltas was born on the last day of 1899, in Santiago Papasquiaro, Durango, a small town in the north of Mexico. His interest in music and the arts were apparent by the age of six. When his family moved to Mexico City, he studied at the National Conservatory of Music. In 1917 he moved to the United States to study at St Edward College in San Antonio, Texas. He completed his musical education with the greatest distinction at the Chicago College of Music where he studied violin and composition. He lived in Chi-cago until 1924. With Carlos Chavez, he organized the first concerts of contemporary music in Mexico in 1924 and 1925, events that presented unknown music. It had a great impact on Mexico City audiences. After a long concert tour in Mex-ico and the United States, he returned home to Mexico, where he remained from 1929 onwards. In 1929 Chavez offered him the position of assistant conductor of the Orquesta Sinfonica de Mexico, which he held until 1936. Working together they were able to do much to promote Mexican music, offering a rich repertoire including works by the most outstanding and prominent names of the period. At the same time Revueltas began a very successful career as a prolific composer, activity which brought Cuauhnahuc (Cuernavaca) (1930), Esquinas (Corners) (1931), Ventanas (Windows) and Colorines (Coloured Beads) (1932), Janitzio (1933), Caminos (Roads) (1934), Homenaje a Federico Garca Lorca (Hommage to Federico Garca Lorca) (1936), Itinerarios (Routes) (1937) and Sensemaya (1938). This series of works consti-tutes a vivid example of his extraordinary contribution to the form of the national Mexican symphonic poem, with compositions that show his originality and freshness of inspiration, together with his technical mastery. He occupied various positions in Mexico and wrote music for films. He died on October 5, 1940.

More about the Composer & the Music

Silvestre Revueltas kammerensemble.de

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Sensemayá by Enrique Riveron

 Sensemayá also inspired visual art. Born in Cienfuegos, Cuba, Enrique Riveron (1902-1998) painted in multiple media and artistic styles. He painted Sensemayá in 1988. (artexpertswebsite.com)

The Music Sensemayá is a poem by the Cuban poet Nicolás Guillén adapted as an orchestral work by the Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas. Guillén was noted as a poet who worked at creating a synthesis between African and white cultural elements in Cuba. Guillén's poem evokes an Afro-Caribbean chant performed during a snake ritual. Revueltas first set the poem to music in 1937, originally setting it for small wind ensemble. In 1938, he expanded it into a full-scale orchestral setting for 27 wind instruments, fourteen percussion instruments and strings. As one reviewer described it: “The piece has gained new popularity in recent years as Revueltas's work has been 'rediscovered' and performed by orchestras around the world as well as part of movie scores. The Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra from Venezuela performs it regularly around the world and has led to a resurgence of this piece.” 1 In the Revueltas biography, In Search of Silvestre Revueltas (1991), author Peter Garland states that “We will probably have to wait until the next century to get a correct perspective on the musical history of this one. My opinion is that such a perspective will differ radically from the one that has been promulgated through the universities and academic scholarship since the 1940s; and that in such a corrected view, Silvestre Revueltas will figure as one of this century’s greatest composers.” Indeed, in the twenty years since Peter Garland made these remarks…the perspective seems to have changed. While still, perhaps, the “famous unknown composer,” Silvestre Revueltas (1899-1940) is now regarded as one of the most important figures of Mexican twentieth-century music. 2 The Poem The poem Sensemayá is based on Afro-Cuban religious cults and preserved in the cabildos, the self-organized social clubs of African slaves. African religions were transmitted from generation to generation. These religions, which had a similar but not identical structure, were known as Lucumi or Regla de Ocha if they derived from the Yoruba from West Africa, the Palo from Central African, the Vodú from Haiti. In this poem we meet an adept known as the mayombero. He is knowledgeable about herbal medicine and the leader of the rituals. In Sensemayá the mayombero leads a ritual which offers the sacrifice of a snake to a god. This god, popularized as Babalu in the United States by band leader Desi Arnaz, is the Afro-Cuban spirit who has the power to heal or spread pestilence. One of the main motives in Sensemayá is based on this word ¨mayombero¨. This chant "mayombe, bombe mayombé", is an example of Guillén´s use of repetition, derived from an actual ceremony. An excerpt from Sensemayá by Nicolás Guillén

¡Mayombe-bombe-mayombé! ¡Mayombe-bombe-mayombé! ¡Mayombe-bombe-mayombé! The snake has eyes of glass; The snake coils on a stick; With his eyes of glass on a stick,

With his eyes of glass. The snake can move without feet; The snake can hide in the grass; Crawling he hides in the grass, Moving without feet. Mayombe-bombe-mayombe.!

                                                            

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Resources

• For the full text of Guillén´s poem in Spanish with translation to English visit the Yale-New

Haven Teacher Institute site, http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1979/5/79.05.06.x.html

• An extended essay on Revueltas and Sensemaya is posted as program notes from Program Notes

for Williams College Symphonic Winds ensemble, 2008-2009 season, “Excavations of Nostalgia

and Myth: Re-claiming the past, re-examining the present, re-imagining the future”

http://music.williams.edu

1. Garland, Peter. In search of Silvestre Revueltas (1991).

2. Music outline based on material from the Music Room website,

http://www.musicroom.com/se/ID_No/051201/details.html

3. From the NAXOS classical music website, NAXOS.com

4. From Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensemayá

5. Program Notes for Williams College Symphonic Winds ensemble, 2008-2009 season. “EXCAVATIONS

OF NOSTALGIA AND MYTH: Re-claiming the past, re-examining the present, re-imagining the future.”

http://wso.williams.edu/orgs/symphwinds/content/downloads/program-notes/Excavations%20note.pdf

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Musical Milestones in Sensemayá by Silvestre Revueltas

Music starts softly with a slow trill in the bass clarinet. Tom-toms and bass drum play a syncopated rhythm in 7/8 time.

7 8

(CD 0:11) A low, solo bassoon plays a spooky rhythmic ostinato. Claves plays the 7th beat in each measure. (CD 0:21) A tuba plays the first theme. It is a strong and ominous short theme – a rhythmic motive.

(CD 0:45) More brass instruments join in on the theme, starting with horns. Music gets louder and stronger and the underlying rhythm continues. Horns blast loudly. Low clarinets play trills beneath the horns. (CD 1:50) Something new happens! Strings introduce a jagged, rhythmic second theme. Then the brass slowly takes over the section. The music grows louder and more complex as it heads for a loud climax! (CD 2:46) Then it returns to the softer, ominous opening sound. There is a foreboding mood in the music (CD: 3:33) The music becomes more obsessive, cries out loudly, then moans quietly. (CD 4:07) Themes overlap and twist around each other like a snake. Sometimes segments of the themes are played and sometimes whole themes are played. Full orchestra weaves what sounds like a musical riot. (CD 6:33) It all comes to a massive climax. The short coda ends with a very loud accents; a burst of rhythm. They sound like the drop of a knife.

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Danzón No. 2 Arturo Márquez

“The Danzón No. 2 is …a very personal way of paying my respects and expressing my emotions towards truly popular music.” Arturo Márquez The danzón originated in Cuba in the 1850s and at one time was the island's official dance. It survives and thrives today in Mexico.

www.peermusicclassical.com

Listening Activities

Danzón No. 2 is a symphonic work based on a Cuban dance and music tradition of the same name. Though it is a concert piece, the warmth and engaging energy of popular music and dance are reflected in the music. If Time is Limited

• Listen to the music with students. Notice two important characteristics: o A long, legato melody that is first played by the clarinet. It will often come back, but

sometimes in an altered version. o The clave rhythm pattern at the beginning of the piece. It also returns played by different

instruments, and with variations. • Also notice how the dynamics in the music shift frequently. Márquez often draws the music back to a

very soft dynamic level to get listeners ready for the next bold section. Activity #1: Clave Rhythm in Danzón No. 2 The clave rhythm pattern is a prominent feature of Danzón No. 2 Materials: Claves and/or rhythm sticks, clave history and information (see below), CD, clave rhythm patterns

1. Listen to the clave (CLAH- vay) rhythm pattern in the music. It is quite clear at

the beginning of the music, CD 0:00 to 0:35. • Help students understand that in Latin American music there are two

definitions of the word clave. One is the musical instrument, the second is the syncopated pattern called clave.

• The clave rhythm pattern is a tool for organizing time in Afro-Cuban music. • The word ‘clave’ is the Spanish word for ‘keystone.’ Just as a keystone holds an arch together, the clave

pattern holds the rhythm together in music. • The clave consists of five stroke pattern. It can be played as a forward clave pattern of 3 + 2 tones, or a

reversed 2 + 3 pattern.

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wawis.com.mx 

Activity #4: Find the tempo changes in the music

Tempo is the musical term for the speed of the music. The tempo in Danzón shifts from slower to faster.

Changes in the tempo make the music more interesting; we wonder what is coming next. As you listen, ask

students to tap the underlying beat softly and give a signal when they notice an accelerando, or a ritardando

(musicspeak for speed up and slow down.) Use these Italian musical terms as you speak to students.

Extended Activities

1. Watch the YouTube video of Gustavo Dudamel and the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra performing

Danzón No. 2 at the 2007, BBC London Proms Music Festival. The camera work is very good; your

students will see the actual instruments that play the key melodies and patterns in the music and have a

clearer understanding of how the spotlight shifts amongst the instruments.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vwZAkfLKK8

2. Learn more about the clave rhythm from the web. There are two detailed lesson plans available that are

clear and helpful. One is part of a unit, Comprehensive Visual Arts, Dance and Music Lesson Plans

Integrated with Spanish and Latin Culture at

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/133707/comprehensive_visual_arts_dance_and.html.

A second is Hispanic Rhythm Patterns and Drums at http://www.teachervision.fen.com/musical-

instruments/lesson-plan/6747.html

3. Students can identify some of the many instruments that stand out in the music; clarinet, clave, guiro, tom

toms (which sound like bongo drums), trumpet, trombones, piano, and sweeping strings. The YouTube

video will help you find them.

More about the Composer & the Music

Mexican composer Arturo Márquez (1950) is well

known for his use of Mexican musical forms and

styles in his compositions. He was born in Álamos,

Sonora, the oldest of nine and the only musician.

Marquez's father was a mariachi musician and his

paternal grandfather was a folk musician in the

northern states of Sonora and Chihuahua. Marquez heard

many styles of music at an early age, music that was the impetus for his compositions.

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The Music

Márquez received his first inspiration for Danzón No. 2 while traveling to Malinalco in 1993 with

painter Andrés Fonseca and dancer Irene Martinez, who both loved to dance. The pair later brought

Márquez to dance halls in Veracruz and the popular Salón Colonia in Mexico City. Like Aaron

Copland, who traveled to the dance halls of Mexico City and produced El Salón Mexico (1932),

Márquez found himself entranced and inspired by the music. But unlike Copland, who was a visitor

from the outside finding his way into the music, Márquez was a native who discovered the music from

the inside out, connecting with the musical traditions of his parents and grandparents. Of this

experience, Márquez writes:

"I was fascinated and I started to understand that the apparent lightness of the danzón is only

like a visiting card for a type of music full of sensuality and qualitative seriousness, a genre

which old Mexican people continue to dance with a touch of nostalgia and a jubilant escape

towards their own emotional world; we can fortunately still see this in the embrace between

music and dance that occurs in the State of Veracruz and in the dance parlors of Mexico City.

The Danzón No. 2 is a tribute to the environment that nourishes the genre. It endeavors to get

as close as possible to the dance, to its nostalgic melodies, to its wild rhythms, and although it

violates its intimacy, its form and its harmonic language, it is a very personal way of paying

my respects and expressing my emotions towards truly popular music."

In his early teen, Marquez’ family immigrated to La Punte, California, a suburb of Los Angeles.

He attended Fairgrove Junior High School, where he began to play trombone in the school band.

He continued the trombone while attending William Workman High School. While living in La

Puente he also began private music lessons on piano, violin, and trombone. He started composing

at the age of 16. He continued music studies at the Mexican Music Conservatory, then won a

scholarship from the French government to study composition in Paris with Jacques Casterede.

On returning to the United States, he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship and obtained a MFA

in composition from California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California. There he studied with

Morton Subotnick, Mel Powell, Lucky Mosko, and James Newton. With the introduction of his

series of Danzónes in the early 1990s, Marquez’ music caught the attention of listeners and per-

forming groups beyond Mexico. On returning to the United States, he was awarded a Fulbright Schol-

arship and obtained a MFA in composition from California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California.

There he studied with Morton Subotnick, Mel Powell, Lucky Mosko, and James Newton. With the intro-

duction of his series of Danzónes in the early 1990s, Marquez’ music caught the attention of listeners and

performing groups beyond Mexico.

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Danzón

At one time, the Danzón was the official dance of Cuba. Though no longer popular in Cuba, it is

still alive and well in Mexico. The danzón evolved from an older style called the contradanza. The

contradanza was brought to Cuba in the 1790s by French colonists who escaped to Cuba from Haiti

during the Haitian Revolution. In Cuba, the very rhythmic music and dance traditions from Africa

influenced the contradanza leading to a fusion of European and African culture and tradition.

 Clave

The clave rhythm pattern is a tool for organizing time in Afro-Cuban musical styles such as the

rumba, son, mambo, salsa, Latin jazz, conga de comparsa, and others. The five-stroke clave pattern

represents the structural core of many Afro-Cuban rhythms. Just as a keystone holds an arch in

place, the clave pattern holds the rhythm together in Afro-Cuban music.

 The clave pattern originated in sub-Saharan African music traditions where it serves essentially

the same function as it does in Cuba. The pattern is also found in the African Diaspora music of

Haitian vodou drumming and Afro-Brazilian music. It also exists in North American popular mu-

sic, where it is often used as a rhythmic motif or ostinato.

 The word clave, is the Spanish work for "keystone" or "key" which indicates the importance of the

clave rhythm in Latin music. The repeated five-note pattern can be performed with a "forward

clave rhythm" of three notes followed by two or a "reversed clave rhythm" of two notes followed

by three.

 Vocabulary

clave – a syncopated two-bar rhythm pattern

syncopation – rhythm patterns where the accent falls on a weak or unexpected beat

rhythm pattern – an arrangement of notes of varying lengths or duration

accent – a stressed beat; a strong beat

dynamics - the loudness or softness of music along a system of gradations

23

Danzón N

o. 2 A

rturo

Márq

uez

Mexican com

poser Arturo M

árquez used a variety of dynamics in D

anzón No. 2. A

s you listen, show

the dynamic levels you hear by m

oving your finger across the sound-line. When is the m

usic

louder? Softer? Can you show

a crescendo?

pp p

mp

mf

f ff

pianissimo

piano m

ezzo piano m

ezzo forte forte

fortissimo

 

softe

r ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐‐ ‐ ‐ ‐

‐ ‐‐ ‐

‐ ‐‐ ‐

‐ ‐‐‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ lo

uder

24

El Salón México Aaron Copland (1900-1990)

“…it wasn’t the music that I heard there, or the dances that attracted me, so much as the spirit of the place.” Aaron Copland American composer Aaron Copland said these words in 1932 after visiting a dance hall, or salón in Mexico City. His good friend, Mexican composer Carlos Chavez, took him to El Salón México. The people, music, and dances he experienced made such a lasting impression on Copland that he was inspired to create El Salón México.

Photo: Clive Barda / ArenaPAL

Listening Activities

The essential question to ask students is this: “How did Aaron Copland make this music sound Latin American?” Post the question and seek student responses as you learn about the music. If Time is Limited

• Use Activity #1 (below) to introduce the piece and prompt students to listen and think about the music.

• Activity #2 provides the story behind the music, how Copland came to write El Salón México. Activity #1: The first time you listen Materials: CD, writing materials 1. When we listen to music, really listen, we readily make conscious and unconscious connections; to

other music we know, to our prior knowledge, and to the greater world. Introduce El Salón México by creating a scenario that taps into these connections, understandings, and experiences. Before listening, set the stage using a scenario prompt such as:

You are quietly sitting in the school library when you hear some music coming from the classroom next door. They are watching a video, but you don’t know what it is about. However, as you listen, your imagination begins to create a movie in your head.

What do you see? Hear? 2. Listen to the complete El Salón México, then ask students to

quickly write or tell their stories. Share several and ask them to talk about their similarities, differences, and unusual events.

Activity #2: What did Aaron Copland do on his Mexican vacation?

Materials/resources: CD, map of Mexico, “More About the Composer & the Music” section of this lesson

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1. El Salón México was composed because Copland had a good time when he went on a Mexican vacation. Use information included with this lesson to tell students some of the details about why Copland wrote the music. • Find Mexico City on a map. • When he was 32 years old, Aaron Copland went on a vacation to visit Mexico. • A friend and fellow composer, Carlos Chavez, took him sightseeing in Mexico City, and stopped at El

Salón México. (Salón is the Spanish word for ‘room’ but can also be a room with a special purpose. This salon was a dance hall, which is something like a night club.)

• Copland was very interested in all he saw and heard. He was struck by the music and dancing, the people and their dignity, and all the conversations he experienced. They stayed in his mind.

• When he returned home, he decided to capture his impressions of El Salón México in music. • At this time, Copland was making a major change in the kind of music he wrote. He now wanted to

create music that more people could enjoy, music that was less formal and more interesting to everyday folks. In the past, his compositions appealed to sophisticated audiences with more experience in listening to music. El Salón México was a good project for his new sound.

2. Read the quote from Copland’s biography to students. It is

included in the “More about the Composer & the Music” section below. Then listen to the music.

3. After listening, discuss the idea that people often create

something new as a response to a life experience. Ask students if they’ve ever created something after a vacation or an event. Perhaps they’ve drawn a picture, written a letter, made a scrapbook, written in a journal, or created a poem. Share ideas about events they’ve experienced and how they were remembered. Make connections to Copland’s story of creating this music.

fernandoorgambides.com

Activity #3: How did Copland make it sound like Latin American music? Materials: CD, chart of the Essential Question, Introduction section of this guide Composers often write music that “sounds” like a culture other than their own. Copland was a New Yorker with Jewish-American roots, but listeners “just know” that this music is from South of the Border. 1. Post the question; tell students that they will return to it as they study El Salón México.

Leave room below the question for their responses. 2. Listen to the music, then discuss the question and ask for ideas and responses based on what they’ve heard

and learned so far. Write below the question. 3. Students will pose many ideas using their available vocabulary. Here are key characteristics to help them

articulate: • Themes/melodies/tunes are Mexican folk songs • Strong rhythm elements; syncopation, accented rhythm patterns • Instrument tone colors: trumpet has important part, percussion sounds Latin American. For

example, many drums, woodblock sounds like claves, guiro 4. Return to this question often, adding responses when appropriate.

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Activity # 4: Tempo changes make the music interesting Materials: Audio, copies of Speedometer worksheet 1. Copland frequently changed tempo to change the mood and add details to the music. Review or learn

the vocabulary for six tempo markings. 2. Analyze the music for tempo changes and variations. Use the tempo meter (Speedometer) included with

this guide. Directions are on the worksheet. Resources for Further Listening: Elements & Milestones1 Use this information if time allows for a more detailed study of the music. 1. Melody: Copland did not create his melodies based on the songs he heard in the dance hall. Instead he

found folk songs in collections that became his themes. Songs from collections by Frances Toor and Ruben M. Campos were used most often. They include these three themes from the opening section.2

o The introduction comes from “El Palo Verde” o The trumpet solo (CD 0:33) comes from “La Jesusita” o Bassoon and bass clarinet duet (CD 1:20) is a rhythmically altered version of “El Mosco”

2. Rhythm: Copland used syncopation and mixed meters extensively in this music. Meter signatures sometimes change within a single bar. There are also many tempo changes in the music.

3. Tone Color: The music is for symphony orchestra, including the highest piccolo to the low bass clarinet, a double bassoon, and tuba. Percussion instruments are prominent, though most are not Latin American. They include woodblock, cymbal played with sticks, timpani, guiro, snare drum, bass drum, temple blocks, and a small, French drum with a dull sound (a tambour de Provence).

4. Harmony: Straightforward and primarily major. When a key changes, it is usually done abruptly by simply shifting from one major key to another. Copland sometimes included notes that sound like mistakes in the harmony to help listeners imagine the informal, folksy setting in the dance hall. In other places he adds some spicy sounds with extra notes in the harmony such as seconds, sevenths and ninths.

                                                           

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5. Texture: mostly homophonic with a few monophonic solo sections. There are frequent changes from full orchestra, to smaller sections of the orchestra, then to solo sections. At times, tunes are traded by various instruments as in a “conversation.” There is a major contrast in texture in the slower section with just a few instruments playing. Copland also scores key melodies in octaves at times, which adds variety to the texture.

6. Pitch: The pitches cross the very wide range of the orchestra, from the piccolo on the highest end of the pitch range to the bass clarinet, double bassoon, and tuba holding down the low end.

7. Form: A single movement similar to a tone poem. It consists of a long introduction and three sections. As students become more familiar with the music, help them locate some of these landmarks to increase their understanding of how the music is constructed.

• Introduction – Fast and lively • Slow tempo. A trumpet solo following the introduction is the longest melody Copland quotes, “La

Jesusita.” A section that sounds a bit like the “Mexican Hat Dance” is the transition to a sweeping melody. Ends in a repeated trumpet call to get us ready for the next fast section.

• Fast tempo, exhilarating. Comes to a crashing close. • A solo clarinet and violin introduce another slow tempo section. This is sometimes called the

“siesta” section because it sounds like a lullaby. Lullaby melodies alternate with each other. An insistent rocking tune gets faster and takes the piece back to the fast tempo.

• A fast tempo finale builds in rhythmic intensity and melodic complexity. The many folk tunes return, and here Copland has them played simultaneously with original keys and rhythms – no accommodations to make them sound “prettier” to our ears. He does this so that the “…result is a kind of polytonality that achieves the frenetic whirl I had in mind before the end, when all is resolved with a plain unadorned triad." 1

Additional Listening Activities 1. Provide many opportunities for students to interpret the music; draw and paint, write poetry and stories about El Salon

Mexico, and dance to sections of the music. 2. The eleven minute film, El Salón México, is an animated interpretation of Copland’s music. It has won several awards

over the past two years. You can watch a film preview and hear the introductory music at http://www.elsalonmexico.com/

3. For a different interpretation of the music, watch the film clip from the movie, El Salón Mexico!, starring Ricardo Montalbán on YouTube. It is a film about a young Mexican composer. He is irresistibly drawn to create music in a restaurant and it comes out as El Salón Mexico! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-Q49bIo1v4

More about the Composer & the Music

Aaron Copland (1900-1990) was born in Brooklyn, NY into a family that was not at all musical. But his parents, owners of a local department store, made sure all five of their children took music lessons. Copland's first teacher was his sister. When he turned thirteen, he was ready to study with a professional music teacher, but his parents refused to fund the lessons. They had already spent money on music lessons for the four older children without any real results; they expected their youngest son would also quit very soon. But young Copland was persistent and they eventually agreed. Copland recalled his first day of piano lesson in his autobiography, when at the age of thirteen, "...with fear and trembling I knocked on the door of Mr. Wolfsohn's piano studio on Clinton Avenue..." It opened Copland’s eyes to big possibilities. Within two years, he decided to become a composer. In high school, he studied composition with Rubin Goldmark, a patient teacher, but one who didn’t understand the unusual harmonies and sounds that his young pupil created. In 1921, Copland traveled to France to learn more.

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He worked for three years with the famous composition teacher, Nadia Boulanger (Boo-lawn-zhay). He came home in 1924 with very specific ideas about the kind of music he would compose: He wrote some pieces using jazz rhythms and harmonies and others that were tuneful, rhythmic, folk-like and energetic. It was music that sounded very American. Though Copland could write in many musical styles, it is the energetic American sound that most people remember when they think about Aaron Copland. The Music In 1932, Copland was in Mexico visiting composer Carlos Chavez. Chavez took Copland to El Salón México, a popular dance club. Copland described the scene in his autobiography:

“Perhaps my piece might never have been written if it hadn't been for the existence of the Salón México. I remember reading about it for the first time in a tourist guide book:

Harlem-type nightclub for the peepul [sic], grand Cuban orchestra. Three halls: one for people dressed in your way, one for people dressed in overalls but shod, and one for the barefoot.

When I got there, I also found a sign on the wall which said: "Please don't throw lighted cigarette butts on the floor so the ladies don't burn their feet.” …In some inexplicable way, while milling about in those crowded halls, one really felt a live contact with the Mexican people — the electric sense one sometimes gets in far-off places, of suddenly knowing the essence of a people — their humanity, their separate shyness, their dignity and unique charm.”

The dance hall experience inspired El Salón México: A Popular Type Dance Hall in Mexico City. He completed it in 1936; The Mexico Symphony Orchestra conducted by Chavez gave the first performance the following year. Copland based his music on folk tunes from collections compiled by Ruben Campos and Frances Toor, not music he heard in Mexico. They include “El Palo Verde” and “La Jesusita” from the Toor anthology and “El Mosco” and “El Malacate” from the Campos collection. He adapted at least five other tunes into the piece. Copland used melodic fragments from the tunes, shifted the emphasis of their rhythms, changed some meters entirely, and mixed them all together.1 Vocabulary

• homophonic: music with a single melody line with an harmonic accompaniment • monophonic: music created with a single melodic line • syncopation: rhythm patterns where the accent falls on a weak or unexpected beat • mixed meter: changing the meter by placing different time signatures at the beginning of a measure, resulting

in music with an extremely irregular rhythmic feel.

Resources • Venezia, Mike. Aaron Copland (Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Composers). (1995) A soft cover bio for

children that includes actual photos, interesting stories, and cartoon images. • Erika Kirsten Svanoe wrote a paper comparing the orchestra and band arrangements of El Salon Mexico in

2009 as partial fulfillment of a DMA degree from Ohio State University. Full text of the paper can be found at http://etd.ohiolink.edu/send-pdf.cgi/Svanoe%20Erika%20Kirsten.pdf?osu1243886091

                                                           1 The material in this section is from Listening Notes - El Salón México from BBC, http://www.bbc.co.uk 2 Svanoe, Erika Kirsten. “El Salon Mexico by Aaron Copland: a study and comparison of the orchestral score and two transcriptions for band” 3 Copland, Aaron & Vivian Perlis. Copland: 1900 Through 1942. St. Martin’s Press.

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El Salon Mexico – Music that changes tempo Aaron Copland wrote many tempo changes into El Salon Mexico. Italian words are used as the labels for tempo markings in a musical score. We refer to a word for speed as the “tempo marking.” Here are some of the terms for tempo in Copland’s music. The list starts with a slow tempo marking and moves to faster tempo markings.

• Largo — very slow (40–60 beats per minute or bpm) • Adagio — slow and stately; means "at ease" (66–76 bpm) • Andante — at a walking pace (76–108 bpm) • Allegro — fast, quickly and bright or "march tempo" (120–139 bpm) • Vivace — lively and fast, quicker than allegro (? 140 bpm) • Presto — very fast (168–200 bpm)

As you listen, keep track of the places where Copland speeds up and slows down. Imagine how slow or fast a car might move. Move your finger or a marker across the “speedometer” to indicate what you think about the tempo in various parts of the music.

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Bachianas Brasileiras No.5 Aria (Cantilena) Heitor Villa-Lobos

“Yes, I’m Brazilian—I’m very Brazilian. In my music, I let the rivers and seas of this great Brazil sing. I don’t put a gag on the tropical exuberance of her forests and skies, which I intuitively transpose to everything I write.” Heitor Villa-Lobos Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos loved J.S. Bach’s music

very much. He created nine suites that fused Bach’s musical character with his beloved Brazilian folk music. He called them Bachianas Brasileiras. Each movement in the music has two titles; one a traditional musical term similar to what Bach might have used, and the second a Brazilian word. Listening Activities

Villa-Lobos wove Bach’s musical voice together with the spirit of Brazil. The Aria (Cantilena) from Suite No. 5 is performed by a soprano and eight cellos. The flowing phrases of the melody move in steps. The first and last sections are sung on a single syllable and the middle section has lyrics from a poem. If Time is Limited

• Listen to the music with students and identify Brazilian composer Villa-Lobos as the creator of this music.

• Help students identify two key tone colors, the high voice of a soprano and the lower cellos Activity #1: first impressions Students will use their critical listening skills to focus on musical details, then create a word and phrase bank that describes the music. . Do not provide any information about the music or composer before this activity. Materials: CD, markers or chalk, and two questions on the chalkboard at the head of two columns

1. Students describe what they hear without prior input. They will:

• Listen closely as the music plays and think about the first question. (Post questions on the board or large chart paper in two columns.)

What do you hear? What do you notice in this music?

• When they have something they want to say, they will QUIETLY walk to the board or chart and write it down under the question, then return to their seat. They can return to add more responses. If a student has written a feature that another student also notices, the second student can place a check beside it. Remind them they will walk to the board, write responses, and return to their seats while the music plays. They should move very quietly.

2. Start a second chart or list with a question that asks students to make connections between the music

and their prior knowledge and life experiences. Repeat the process for gathering responses.

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Activity #2: focus on specific elements present in the music

Students will focus on vocal and instrumental tone colors, the main melody, and

the three part form of the music.

Materials: CD, word banks, music map included with this lesson

1. Tone Color & Texture

• Based on their descriptive word bank, ask students to identify the two sound colors

they heard (low strings – cello, and a female voice – soprano).

• Help students create a working description of each tone color using terms from their

word bank or from discussions. For example: The woman sang in a high voice. At first

she sang without words; later she sang words, but not in English. There were string

instruments from an orchestra. They had a low cello sound. Sometimes they were plucked. Sometimes

they played using a bow.

• Listen to a portion of the music to reinforce and expand their descriptions.

2. Melody

• Students can describe the melody using word bank terms and adding new ones through discussion.

Supply additional musical terms you’d like them to use. Write their descriptions on the board. For

example: The soprano is singing a song. At first she sings just one syllable, an “ah” sound. This is called a

vocable. She sings long, smooth tones on the vocable, but the middle she sings words. The language is

Portuguese, spoken by people in Brazil. The words are from a poem.

• This song has long phrases. It is smooth (legato) and flowing.

• The cellos also play long phrases when they take over the song. Sometimes they play plucked (pizzicato)

notes to go with the melody (the accompaniment).

• At this point, share some of the text from the poem that inspired the music (see below).

• Listen to portions of the music to identify and confirm these aspects of the melody.

3. Form/structure

• Identify the three part A B A form of the music. Use the information on the map included with the lesson.

• Students can create their own map of the musical form.

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Activity #3 Interpreting the Music Materials: CD, word banks, text of the poem, visual art supplies 1. Review the all the word and phrase banks created by students. Ask students to think about what they

think the composer and the musicians are expressing through the music. • Draw upon their ideas in the word bank and the information about the piece provided below. • Provide copies of the poem that Villa-Lobos used as his text. • Discuss connections they perceive between the text and the music.

2. Listen to the whole piece with eyes closed. Ask them to think about all the things they now know about

the Cantilena. 3. Next, ask students to interpret the music through a different medium. Using visual art materials you

provide, ask students to express their impressions and ideas about the music through line, color, shape, and texture. Or choose another art area for student interpretations such as movement, writing (prose or poetry), or music (creating their own piece).

4. Share the work with each other in class. Additional Learning Activities 1. Geography Connections: Find Brazil on a map and

look at pictures from various places and settings. Brazil is the largest country of South America. Because Portugal colonized Brazil, the people speak Portuguese as well as the many indigenous languages of the original population. Brazil’s Amazon River is one of the longest in the world. The headwaters rise in the Andes Mountains of Peru, then flows almost 4,000 miles eastward through Brazil to the Atlantic Ocean. Until the 1960’s indigenous peoples lived in the interior of this vast country, and the European settlers, the African people forced to come to Brazil, and all their descendents lived on the coast. Rain forests cover a good portion of Brazil, but in recent years developers have decimated large tracts of the forest by cutting down the trees and exporting the wood.

2. What makes the music Latino?

Respond to the question in a discussion. The goal is to solicit student input and examples from the music. Refer to the section of the Young People’s Concert curriculum titled Latin American Music. (Some tips: composer from Brazil; text by Brazilian poet; melody mostly stepwise; ornamented melody in some sections; modal – if you can readily explain this idea).

3. Follow the notation of the first theme. Notice the long notes, legato slurs, and the many places

where the melody moves in steps.

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More about the Composer & the Music

Aria (Cantilena) was created by Heitor (hay-tor) Villa-Lobos (vee-la lo-bos) (1887-1959), Brazil’s most significant 20th Century composer. His deep interest in music was apparent at an early age. He studied cello as a child, then taught himself how to play many other instruments. His mother thought he spent far too much time playing the piano, so she sold it. In response, Villa-Lobos bought a guitar and practiced it in secret. To earn money, he played in cafes, was a member of a theater orchestra, and even worked in a match factory. Hearing Bach’s music was one of Villa-Lobos' first musical memories. He was interested in many things; toys and trains, pancakes, kites, and ballgames. Each provided inspiration for a composition. He also researched the folk music of Brazil, traveling deep into Brazil via the Amazon River, searching for, and collecting melodies and rhythms from Brazilian tribes and examples of authentic instruments. In Rio he drew upon the music of the chorões, the pop musicians of Rio de Janeiro, who formed various mixed ensembles for serenades, parties, and other social events.

www.bach-cantatas.com

He composed over 2000 works in his lifetime and also served as the director of Music Education for the public schools of Rio de Janeiro.

What’s In a Name? Lobos is the Spanish word for "wolf." The wolf in Villa-Lobos apparently comes from an originally Spanish surname, so it probably relates to a European animal. But Villa-Lobos felt a very strong an identity as a Brazilian. He was probably aware of the beautiful Lobo-Guará, or Wolf with a Mane. This animal is threatened with extinction; Brazil's zoos and various Government and environmental groups are working to re-introduce wolves into their natural habitat.1

Lobo-Guara, a wolf with a mane2 The Music In Bachianas Brasileiras, a set of nine suites for various ensembles, Villa-Lobos wanted to establish a connection between the sound and musical voice of J.S. Bach and that of current Brazilian folk music through melody, choice of instruments, the use of Bach’s older harmonic language, and even in the dual naming of his movements, the first traditional and the second Brazilian. Bach’s preludes and fugues from The Well-Tempered Clavier were played in his home throughout childhood. As a composer, he transcribed parts of this keyboard music for other instruments including his beloved cello. His admiration for Bach was deep and almost mystical by the time he wrote Bachianas Brasileiras. In this music, Villa Lobos created a whole new style or genre of music, one that fuses Bach’s approach with Villa Lobos’ own Brazilian musical voice. Bachianas Brasileiras means “Bach in the fashion of Brazil.” Here is what Villa Lobos said ”This is a special kind of musical composition, based on an

34

intimate knowledge of the great works of Bach and also on the composer's affinity with the harmonic,

contrapuntal and melodic atmosphere of the folklore of Brazil."

The famous Aria (Cantilena) from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5, was written for soprano and eight cellos, and

was dedicated to his wife, Arminda. The first of two movements in suite No. 5, it evokes the world of Bach’s

cantatas, complete with Bach-like ornaments and cadence figuration. But the long, legato vocal line is

harmonized in a Brazilian fashion. The lyrics of the Cantilena were written Ruth Valadares Corrêa, who also

sang the premiere in 1938. Here is the text translated to English:

Lo, at midnight clouds are slowly passing, rosy and lustrous

o'er the spacious heav'n with loveliness laden.

From the boundless deep the moon arises wondrous,

glorifying the evening like a beauteous maiden.

Now she adorns herself in half unconscious duty, eager,

anxious that we recognize her beauty,

while sky and earth, yea, all nature with applause salute her.

All the birds have ceased their sad and mournful complaining,

now appears on the sea in a silver reflection

moonlight softly waking the soul and constraining hearts to cruel tears and bitter dejection.

Lo, at midnight clouds are slowly passing rosy and lustrous o'er

the spacious heavens dreamily wondrous.1

Key Music Vocabulary

• aria – an expressive melody usually but not always performed by a solo voice with accompaniment

• soprano – a woman’s singing voice in the high range

• lyrics – the words of a song

• cantilena - a smooth flowing style in writing vocal music; comes from cantus, Italian for song

• legato – smooth, connected, flowing

Resources

Visit the Villa Lobos website at http://www.villalobos.ca/

                                                           1 From Villa-Lobos website at http://www.villalobos.ca/ 2www.leavesgrass.blogspot.com 3www.elizabethparcells.com/

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Bachianas B

rasileiras No.5, A

ria (Cantilena)

Heitor V

illa-Lobos

Brazilian com

poser Heitor V

illa-Lobos loved the m

usic of 17th century G

erman com

poser, J.S. Bach. W

hen he wrote B

achianas Brasileiras,

he wove B

ach’s musical language w

ith his own B

razilian feeling into the music. T

he Aria (C

antilena) features a soprano and eight cellos.

A

B

A

The m

ood is quiet and serene, a m

oonlit night in Brazil.

• Plucked cellos (pizzicato)

begin softly. • A

soprano and one cello begin a haunting “song.” She does not sing w

ords, just a single syllable, “ah.”

• Cellos continue; they play

“perpetual motion” m

usic to accom

pany the singer. • M

usic is smooth and

flowing, high in the

soprano’s voice. Her

notes move in steps.

• It slows dow

n (a ritardando) at the end of

long phrases. • T

hen the “song” is repeated by one cello w

ithout the singer.

• A ritardando again at the end of the

section.

(CD

0:00 – 3:04)

Something new

happens…

…a new

melody, w

ith words for the soprano

to sing. “ L

o, at midnight

clouds are slowly

passing, rosy and lustrous…

F

rom the boundless deep the m

oon arises w

ondrous…”

• She sings words of the poem

. Short m

usical phrases move dow

n (descend). • M

usic is louder and more dram

atic with

strong feelings. • A

ll strings are now bow

ed. • W

hen soprano repeats the melody,

there is an extra upward flourish each

time.

“Now

she adorns herself … anxious that w

e recognize her beauty, w

hile sky and earth, yea, all nature w

ith applause salute her.” (C

D 3:04 – 4:45)

The quite, serene m

ood returns.

• Soprano hums the sam

e gentle “song” she sang in the opening section.

• Everything is softer; there are no

repeats. • M

usic slows dow

n gradually.

• Near the end, both

soprano and strings hold out long tones. A

t the very end, she sings an octave leap (8 tones higher).

(CD

4:45 – end)

 

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Symphonic Dances from West Side Story “Mambo” Leonard Bernstein

“Music can name the un-nameable and communicate the unknowable."1 Leonard Bernstein

Leonard Bernstein made important contributions to the world of music as a pianist, composer, conductor and educator. “Mambo” is from one of his enduring works, the Broadway musical West Side Story.

Listening Activities

Bernstein grew up in Massachusetts in a Jewish-American family. Yet “Mambo” sounds like they were created by someone with Latin American roots. Help students think about how Bernstein made his music sound full of the Latino vibe. If Time is Limited

• Listen to the music with students. • Identify Leonard Bernstein as the composer. Tell student that this music is from West Side

Story, a Romeo and Juliet love story set in New York City. Many of the characters were immigrants from Puerto Rico, so Bernstein created music based on Caribbean dances and rhythms. “Mambo” was included in the dance at the gym scene, where gang members from the Sharks and the Jets showed off dance moves in an impromptu competition. Watch the YouTube video of this movie scene at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v112uaRmlQNg.

• Help students identify the strong rhythmic elements in the music. Practice the two places in the music where audience members will shout out “Mambo!”

Activity #1: Mambo, a Cuban dance style “Mambo” was inspired by the Cuban dance style of the same name. Its rhythmic energy communicates the Latino roots of some of the characters. Materials: CD, Caribbean map 1. Listen to “Mambo” and ask students to respond to this question: “What did you notice about

the music?” Write key words from their discussion on the board.

2. Provide a short overview of the story using information from the Plot Summary below and the web. Leonard Bernstein wrote “Mambo” for the Broadway musical, West Side Story. A reprise of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the story is about the tension between two urban gangs with different cultural roots. It is set on the west side of New York City, a place that is home to many newer immigrant families.

inkspot.com1

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3. The music reflects the rhythmic energy of the Cuban dance, the mambo. The mambo, as well as several other Cuban dances, was very popular in the United States in the 1940’s and 1950’s. Ask students to find Cuba on a map and notice how close it is to Florida and the U.S. mainland.

4. Knowing some of background of the Cuban mambo, its history, how it came to be part of Bernstein’s musical will help students understand why it is part of the Viva Latino! concert. Here are mambo facts for students. • The mambo is both a musical form and a dance style. • It originated in Cuba. • The word “mambo” means “conversation with the gods” in

Kikongo, the language spoken by the Central African people forced into slavery and taken to Cuba in the 17th and 18th century

• The mambo developed from an older dance called the danzón. (To find out more about the danzón, go to the lessons for Danzón No.2 by Arturo Marquez.)

• In 1938, two Cuban brothers, Orestes and Cachao López, wrote a danzón and named it “Mambo.” People loved it! This piece started a new trend within the existing danzón style.

• It was the syncopated rhythms patterns in the Lopez brothers’ music that caught peoples’ attention.

• In the early 1940’s, other Cuban musicians adopted the syncopated rhythmic structure from the danzón named “Mambo.” They helped the mambo become its own style of music and dance.

• The mambo became very popular in cities like Havana (Cuba’s capital), Mexico City, then worked its way from Florida to New York City. It influenced other popular music.

Activity #2 Focus on Specific Elements Investigate the musical elements in “Mambo” with a special focus on syncopated rhythm patterns. Practice when to shout the accent word, “MAM-BO!” Materials: CD, rhythm patterns 1. Rhythm: Accents and Patterns

• Rhythm is the most prominent element in “Mambo,” and a key reason why the music sounds Latino. The music has both a strong underlying beat and syncopated rhythm patterns.

• Syncopated rhythm patterns occur when accents fall on unexpected beats. Musical accents often follow an even pattern of regularly spaced strong and weak beats (as in a march). A stress or accent on the weaker beat, one normally unstressed, gives it a boost of energy.

• Try this: chant and clap a word pattern with accents in the usual places. . > > > > Straw- ber-ry short cake Straw- ber-ry short cake

To transform it into a syncopated pattern, change the first note in each measure to an eighth note and move the accent from the 1st syllable (straw) to the 2nd syllable (ber).

> > > > Straw- ber- ry short cake Straw- ber- ry short cake

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• Try altering other even word patterns into syncopated patterns. For example, a rhythm pattern based on four student names can be changed from a simple to swinging syncopation by moving the accent.

• Play a portion of the CD and tap the underlying steady beat with your foot. Then softly clap some of the accented syncopated patterns you hear.

• The tempo of the music is marked presto – very, very fast. • Bernstein asked orchestra members to do something unusual in “Mambo.” They shout out the word

“MAM-BO!” twice and sound like the crowd of people at the dance in West Side Story. The audience will also shout the MAM-BO! accent at the concert. Practice before the concert!! The two places in the music are at CD 0:37 and 0:51.

2. Tone Color & Texture

The music has many layers and a thick texture. You will hear Latin American percussion instruments such as the bongos, conga, and cowbell. The trumpet also plays key solo passages in the music.

Activity #3: Watch the “Mambo” scene from the movie Materials: DVD of West Side Story, Dance in the Gym, or excerpt from YouTube Before watching the movie excerpt that includes “Mambo,” ask students to predict what they think they will see, based on what they know about the music and story. What will they see in the film clip? What will they hear? What will the characters, costumes, and sets will look like? What will the actors do? Jot responses on the board. Refer to them later when students discuss what they observed in the movie segment. As they watch, students should note when predictions were right on the mark and when there were differences. Discuss what they noticed. The six minute excerpt is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v112uaRmlQNg. At this location, put “west side story mambo” into the search bar. The first 2 minutes show a teacher using a game to get the teens from the two rival gangs (Sharks and Jets) to mix with each other. When the music swings into the “Mambo” introduction, characters run back to their friends, one group on each side of the gym. Each group takes turns in the spotlight and the action evolves into a dance competition. You can stop here, or continue with the last two minutes of the video except. It is the scene where Maria and Tony first see each other across the dance floor while the music and dancers swirl around them. . Additional Learning Activities 1. Watch the Simon Bolivar Youth Symphony from Venezuela play Bernstein’s “Mambo” at the BBC 2007

Proms. It brought the house down when the young musicians also danced to sections of the music as they played. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIAaiBNCYU4

2. Ask students to work in small groups and choreograph their own version of “Mambo.” A DVD of West Side

Story and the YouTube video of the youth orchestra can get them started.

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More about the Composer & the Music

Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) enjoyed a brilliant career as a composer, conductor, author, and educator. As the son of Jewish immigrants, Bernstein was raised to respect and participate in Jewish music, culture, and traditions. He also loved the sound of American pop music such as boogie-woogie and the energy and rhythm of jazz. This was the 1920’s; an era when more households had radios and more people had access to all kinds of music. When he was ten years old, an amazing event happened in Bernstein’s family; his Aunt Clara needed a place to store her piano. What joy when it arrived! Piano lesson started immediately. In 1943, 25 year old Bernstein was hired as the assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic. A few months later, he was called upon to step in for the famous Bruno Walter and conduct an important concert with very little notice. (Part of an assistant conductor’s job is to cover for any conductor who cannot perform.) He ably filled Walter’s shoes and became a conducting sensation overnight. Eventually Bernstein was named music director of the New York Philharmonic, and served from 1958 to 1969. He was named "laureate conductor" after he retired. Bernstein was a strong supporter of music education, creating a popular series of narrated Young People’s Concerts that presented complex musical ideas with understandable explanations and examples. He composed all kinds of music, including Broadway hits (West Side Story), film scores (On the Waterfront), symphonies, a Mass, and music for solo instruments. Most music lovers remember Bernstein as a man with boundless energy and passion for music, a passion he shared with any listener who crossed his path. The Music Key themes in West Side Story of immigration, racism, and urban violence are as current today as they were fifty five years ago. The story is based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, a tale about a young man and woman from two feuding families who inconveniently fall in love. In the musical, the two feuding Italian families are replaced by two opposing New York teenage street gangs, fighting for “turf” on the west side of New York City. The Jets consider themselves “American” and the Sharks are newly arrived immigrants from Puerto Rico. twilightguide.com Plot Synopsis Riff, leader of the Jets, enlists his friend Tony, to challenge the Sharks to a rumble in order to settle their differences. Bernardo, leader of the Sharks, brings his sister, Maria, newly arrived in America, to the dance. She is there as a date for Bernardo’s pal, Chino, but Maria is not interested. Instead Maria and Tony fall in love at first sight. Bernardo is angry. He accepts Riff’s challenge for a rumble. Tony intervenes and gets the two gang leaders to agree to a fair fight—no weapons—between the best men from each gang. Maria asks Tony to try to stop the fight. He tries, but Riff and Bernardo get into a knife fight. Tony intervenes, and Riff is stabbed. Dying, he hands his knife to Tony, who kills Bernardo as a full-fledged rumble breaks out. Tony runs off, finds Maria, and hides in her room. They decide to run away together. Tony leaves to borrow money from a friend. The police visit Maria to question her. When Maria sends Anita to warn Tony that she will be delayed, Anita is terrorized by the Jets. Angry, she leaves a message for Tony that Maria was shot and is dead. Tony is filled with despair. He is ready to die in yet another fight, but is startled to see Maria walking past the playground. They rush to greet

40

each other, but Chino interferes and shoots Tony. The members of

the two gangs come running at the sound of the shot and watch

Tony die in Maria’s arms. She cries out in anger at all of them.

Three members of the Jets pick up Tony’s body, but when they

falter, two members of the Sharks help them carry him off. 1

West Side Story opened at Broadway’s Winter Garden Theater in

1957 and ran for 734 performances. The MGM film West Side Story,

released in 1960, won ten academy awards for which it was

nominated, including Best Picture.

Vocabulary:

• syncopation – rhythm patterns where the accent falls on a weak or unexpected

beat

• rhythm pattern – an arrangement of notes of varying lengths or duration

• accent – a stressed beat; a strong beat

• presto – very fast

Resources

• Bernstein, Leonard. Young People’s Concerts (2006). Amadeus Press. The basic big ideas

and images Bernstein presented in the Young People’s Concerts have been captured in text

and images. Thought this book can be read by middle level students, it is extremely useful

for teachers trying to help students shape ideas as they listen and think about music.

• Venenzia, Mike. Leonard Bernstein: Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers (1998).

Children’s Press. A student focused bio with authentic photos, cartoons, the important

facts, and the fun stories.

• For photos and extensive biographical information, visit the official Leonard Bernstein

site, http://www.leonardbernstein.com

• The U.S. Library of Congress has a great deal of Bernstein information, including

pictures, scripts from Bernstein Young People’s Concerts, correspondence, and much

more. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/bernstein/

                                                           1 From Famous Quotes, www.famousquoteshomepage.com 2 Photo from www.famousquoteshomepage.com 3 Synopsis from <a href="http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/1003/West-Side-Story-1961.html">West Side Story (1961) - Overview, Synopsis, Critique</a>   

Independent.co.uk

41

Mexican Hat Dance (Jarabe Tapatio) Jesús González Rubio

In Mexico it is called Jarabe Tapatío (ha- rah-bay tah-pah-tee-oh). In many other places it is known as the Mexican Hat Dance. Jarabe means "sweet syrup" or "elixir") and Tapatio means that the dance is from Guadalajara in the Mexican state of Jalisco. The theme of the dance is courtship and the male-female relationship. It is the national dance of Mexico. Listening Activities

Students from Emerson Spanish Immersion, Minneapolis Public Schools, will dance to Jarabe Tapatio at the Viva Latino! Concert If Time is Limited

• Watch a video of the Jarabe Tapatio. As students hear the dance music they will also see the dance steps and the traditional costumes worn by dancers.

• Set the stage before watching with some information about Jarabe Tapatio. Ask students to keep their eyes on the man’s hat and notice how it is used. Information about the dance’s origins, meaning, and traditional costumes is included in the “More about the Music & Dance” section below.

Activity #1: Watch a video and learn about Jarabe Tapatio Materials: computer connection to the web or download on DVD or to computer; screen & projector 1. Here are two versions of the dance from the many available on the web. Preview, then choose one for your

students to view. Or show both and ask students to discuss the similarities and differences. Use the information in the section titled “More about the Music & Dance” to set the stage.

• Video #1: Two couples dance in an outdoor setting. Both men and women

are in the more traditional costume. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87Ttti3z4Tc

• Video #2: Also two couples, men are wearing a simplified costume. Many good close-ups of the dancer’s feet and facial expression. Mariachi Vargas. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zE6qVVffM1Q&feature=related

2. Briefly talk about what the dance is about; what “story” does it tell? Two key

ideas are the timeless story of courting and wooing through the art of dance, and the energy and love of life of the Jalisco residents. Focus on traditional costumes and notice how the hat or sombrero is used in the dance. • The woman wears the traditional China Poblano ensemble. The man is dressed in a

charro suit. Look below for more information on dance costumes. (See picture) • The male dancer also wears a sombrero, a typical Mexican hat which serves as an

important prop in the dance. When you watch the selected video, notice all the ways the hat is part of the dance. (See picture)

www2.si.umich.edu 

Wikipedia.com

42

Activity #2: Six tunes for one dance The music for Jarabe Tapatio is a medley of songs.

It was composed by Jesús González Rubio.

Materials: CD, space for movement

1. While listening to the CD, help students notice the beginning of each new melody by writing numbers from

1 to 6 on the board as the music plays. Note that introduction is not typical.

0:00 to 0:18 Short Introduction, not a usual part of Jarabe Tapatio

0:18 to 1:00 “Jarabe de Jalisco,” from the state of Jalisco. Longest and best known melody of the

set. 3 parts with the first the third the same, an A B A design. (Notation for the

“Jarabe de Jalisco” is included with this guide.)

1:00 to 1:40 “Jarabe del Atole.” A dance from the late 1800’s. Softer and more legato (smoother)

melody, it is a charming part of the wooing dance.

1:40 to 2:10 “Son del Palomo.” A son is a song, this one is from Paloma. This arrangement

calls for a slower tempo with accents.

2:10 to 2:18 Short transition

2:18 to 2:33 “Jarana Yucateca” a typical dance style from the Yucatán Peninsula plus another

short transition.

2:40 to 2:40 “Jarabe Moreliano” from the state of Michoacán

2:55 to end “La Diana” a lively song that wants you to clap along.

2. The music for a Jarabe Tapatio is usually performed by a mariachi band. Listen to a mariachi arrangement of

the music at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXx79wO3BDI. Performing is Mariachi Vargas de

Tecalitlan, a long-time ensemble from the Southern Jalisco area.

3. When students are familiar with the six songs in Jarabe Tapatio, have some fun creating movements for

each. They need not be dance steps, just movement that captures the spirit of the music. However, there is a

video that teaches the steps of the dance included in the next section.

Additional Listening Activities

1. Find a small group of student volunteers who are willing to learn the dance steps to Jarabe Tapatio.

They can follow the dance lesson video that teaches the steps, then add in the music.

http://www.pecentral.org/lessonideas/ViewLesson.asp?ID=9974

2. Learn more about the ensemble that traditionally accompanies Jarabe Tapatio, the mariachi band. Here

is a place to start, http://www.teachervision.fen.com/mexico/music/6757.html

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More about the Music & Dance

Jarabe is the name of the dance style, and the adjective tapatio indicates something from Guadalajara in the Mexican state of Jalisco. The name “Mexican Hat Dance” likely came from the hat that the male wears. It eventually becomes a key prop in the dance. The much celebrated "Hat Dance" was born during the Mexican Revolution (1910 - 1920) as a form of national unity. It includes the most significant Mexican dance forms, in a medley known as Jarabe, roughly translated as "sweet herbs” or “sweet syrup." The traditional choreography for Jarabe Tapatío was first created in the early twentieth century to celebrate a government-sponsored fiesta commemorating the successful end of the Mexican Revolution.

Photo by Johnny Lamb www.flickr.com/photos/juancordero/4145800806/ The dance was further popularized by the famous Russian prima ballerina, Anna Pavlova. While on tour in Mexico in 1919, she created and performed a staged version in pointe shoes and was showered with hats by her adoring Mexican audiences. In 1924, Jose Vasconcelos, Secretary of Education, proclaimed the jarabe tapatio as Mexico’s national dance and decreed that it would be taught throughout the Mexican public school system as a symbol of Mexican identity, and a tradition to bind together the ethnically diverse population.1 Since then, it has become a folk dance popular throughout Mexico and the Southwestern United States. It is a symbol of the national pride and honor of the Mexican people. Music: The music for the Jarabe Tampatio was composed by a 19th century music professor from Guadalajara, Jesús González Rubio. The music includes six melodies:

• Jarabe de Jalisco - From the state of the same name • Jarabe del Atole - A famous public domain jarabe from the late 1800's • Son del Palomo - Perhaps Mexico's most common "son" • a Jarana Yucateca - The typical dance style from the Peninsula of Yucatán • Jarabe Moreliano - From the state of Michoacán • La Diana - Mexico's musical applause number 2

Dance: The dance tells the story of wooing and courtship. It can be performed either by a couple or a group of couples. The charro approaches, making courtship gestures to la china. They flirt throughout the beginning of the dance, as the man attempts to woo the woman with his zapateado steps (stamping and tapping) and his machismo (manliness). (Originally, the women’s’ steps were not strong and percussive, but today both men and women dance in an energetic style.) When he achieves his goal of impressing the woman, he becomes over confident and “drunk with glory.” The woman then shoos him away as a borracho (an inebriate). In the end, he succeeds in conquering the woman. He enthusiastically throws his hat to the ground, then kicks and swings his leg over his partner's head as she bends down to pick it up. The two do a triumphant march to a military tune called a Diana, and the dance ends with a romantic turn or the couple hiding their faces behind the man's sombrero where they share a kiss.

44

Costumes: The man's costume is a black charro suit that consists of black pants, a vest or jacket, and

a hat. The pants are decorated with silver buttons that look like artificial pieces of money. They help

to show off the man’s fancy steps as he dances and stomps his feet. . The cuffs and breast of the jacket

are decorated with silver buttons and braid. The hat, a large sombrero the same color as the suit, is

decorated the same way. 1

The woman is dressed as a China Poblano, a traditional style of dress. Legend attributes the style to

St. Catarina de San Juan, a slave from India brought to New Spain. (China was the word for any

person from Asia in those days.) It was the clothing worn by women in the servant class in the 19th

century. The china outfit includes:

• White blouse, with bright colored fringe and beaded silk embroidery of geometric or floral

design

• A skirt called a castor after the material from which it was made, decorated with sequined

floral shapes. A white laced hem slip peeks out from under the skirt.

• A shawl, made fine with silk, or in most cases a knitted fabric

• Sometimes a neck scarf or kerchief

• Satin shoes embroidered with silk thread; Earring and necklaces

Here is the music for first of the six melodies, “Jarabe de Jalisco.”                                                            1 Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jarabe_tapat%C3%ADo

2 The Mexican Folkloric Dance Company of Chicago website, http://www.mexfoldanco.org/jarabe.shtml 3 Topics Online Magazine for Learners of English http://www.topics-mag.com/internatl/dance/mexico_jarabe_tapatio.htm