The
music of MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
is diverse and features a wide range of different musical styles influenced by a variety of cultures, most notably Amerindian and European. Many traditional Mexican songs are well-known worldwide, although their origin in Mexico is not clear to the non-Mexican listener; "
Bésame Mucho"Bésame Mucho" is a Spanish language song written in 1940 by Mexican Consuelo Velázquez before her sixteenth birthday.- Inspiration and Translation :...
", "
Granada"Granada" is a popular Mexican song written by composer Agustín Lara, which has become a standard. It is about the Spanish city of Granada.The most popular versions are: the original with Spanish lyrics by Lara ; a version with English lyrics by Australian lyricist Dorothy Dodd; and instrumental...
", "
Cielito Lindo"Cielito Lindo" is a popular traditional song of Mexico, written in 1882 by Quirino Mendoza y Cortés . In recent decades it has come to be widely known as a theme song for Mexicans, particularly in international circumstances, like the soccer championship World Cup, where Mexican fans sang it to...
", "
El ReyJosé Alfredo Jiménez was a Mexican singer-songwriter in the ranchera style....
",
La Bamba"La Bamba" is a Mexican folk song, originally from the state of Veracruz, best known from a 1958 adaptation by Ritchie Valens, a top 40 hit in the U.S. charts and one of early rock and roll's best-known songs.-Traditional origins:...
, "
Maria BonitaMaria Bonita is a romance novel, one of a trilogy, based on the story of Maria, the wife of João Lopes da Costa Pinho. João Lopes da Costa Pinho emigrated to Brazil from Vila Nova da Guia in Portugal. Some say he arrived barefoot but he went on to be immensely wealthy, owning some 32 cattle and...
", "
Mexico Lindo y Querido"México lindo y querido" is a traditional mariachi and ranchera Mexican song by the famous singer and actor Jorge Negrete . The song was composed and written by Chucho Monge. It is widely known in Mexico and throughout the Spanish-speaking world since it debuted. The lyrics characterize the...
" and many more are part of the
Mexican cultureMexico has changed rapidly during the 20th century. In many ways, contemporary life in its cities has become very similar to that in neighboring United States and Europe. Most Mexican villagers follow the older way of life more than the city people do. More than 75% of the people of Mexico live in...
.
Folk music
Traditional music can be classified by
- type of ensemble (mariachi, banda, conjunto calentano, conjunto jarocho, etc.)
- type of musical form (canción ranchera, son huasteco, son jarocho, polka, etc.)
Type of ensemble
- Mariachi
Mariachi, in relation to the music of Mexico, may also be defined in relation to the conditions associated with its historical development. A mariachi ensemble is an integration of stringed instruments highly influenced by the cultural impacts of the colonial era. Throughout the history of...
- Marimba
The marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. Keys or bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones...
- Conjunto jarocho
A conjunto jarocho is a type of mexican folk ensemble. Often it consists of requinto, arpa jarocha and jarana, but can also have violin, pandero octagonal, quijada, marimbol or güiro.Its repertory covers sones jarochos in 3/4, 6/8 and 4/4....
- Conjunto huasteco
thumb|right|Conjunto huastecoA conjunto huasteco is a type of Mexican folk ensemble. Often it consists of guitarra huapanguera, jarana huasteca and violin, but can also have other violins and guitars....
- Banda
Banda is a brass-based form of traditional Mexican music. Bandas play a wide variety of songs, including rancheras, corridos, cumbias, baladas, and boleros...
- Conjunto norteño
A conjunto norteño is a type of mexican folk ensemble. Often it consists of accordion, bajo sexto, double bass and drums, but it can also have saxophone.Its repertory covers canción ranchera, corrido, balada, huapango norteño, polka, redova and chotís....
- Conjunto calentano
A conjunto calentano is a type of mexican folk ensemble. Often it consists of violin, guitar and tamborita, but can also have other violin, guitarra panzona, guitarra sexta and harp....
Type of musical form
Musical forms include:
rancheraThe ranchera is a genre of the traditional music of Mexico. Although closely associated with the mariachi groups which evolved in Jalisco in the post-revolutionary period, rancheras are also played today by norteño or banda groups...
,
corridoThe corrido is a popular narrative song and poetry form, a ballad, of Mexico. It derives largely from the 18th century Spanish romance, and in its most known form consists of 1) a salutation from the singer and prologue to the story; 2) the story itself; 3) a moral and farewell from the...
,
son huastecoSon Huasteco is one of 8 Mexican son styles and is a traditional Mexican musical style originating in the 6 state area of Northeastern Mexico called La Huasteca. It dates back to the end of the 19th century and is influenced by spanish and indigenous cultures...
,
son jarochoSon Jarocho is a traditional musical style of Veracruz, a Mexican state along the Gulf of Mexico.It evolved over the last two and a half centuries along the coastal portions of southern Tamaulipas state and Veracruz state, hence the term jarocho, a colloquial term for people or things from this...
,
polkaThe polka is a lively Central European dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in the Czech lands and is still a common genre in Lithuanian, Czech, Croatian, Slovenian, Polish, German, Hungarian, Austrian,...
, redova,
son calentanoThe son calentano is an instrumental form of Tierra Caliente, Mexico. It has meters in 3/4 and 6/8, an ornamented use of violin and back beats on guitar and tamborita....
, son istmeño, son planeco,
boleroBolero is a name given to certain slow-tempo latin music and its associated dance and song. There are Spanish and Cuban forms, which are both significant, and which have separate origins. The term is also used for some art music...
ranchero,
danzónDanzón was once called the official dance of Cuba, but it is no longer an active musical form. Like the habanera, the danzón evolved from the Contradanza, originally of English origin, brought to Cuba by French colonists fleeing the Haitian Revolution in the 1790s...
, marcha, canción cardenche
Ranchera
RancheraThe ranchera is a genre of the traditional music of Mexico. Although closely associated with the mariachi groups which evolved in Jalisco in the post-revolutionary period, rancheras are also played today by norteño or banda groups...
was originally played only with voice and guitar, now it is also is interpreted by
mariachiMariachi, in relation to the music of Mexico, may also be defined in relation to the conditions associated with its historical development. A mariachi ensemble is an integration of stringed instruments highly influenced by the cultural impacts of the colonial era. Throughout the history of...
bands,
banda-People:*Rupiah Banda, President of Zambia*Hastings Banda, former President of Malawi*Banda Singh Bahadur, a famous Sikh warlord*Banda Kanakalingeshwara Rao, a famous Indian stage actor.-Places:*Banda District in Uttar Pradesh, India...
,
conjunto norteñoA conjunto norteño is a type of mexican folk ensemble. Often it consists of accordion, bajo sexto, double bass and drums, but it can also have saxophone.Its repertory covers canción ranchera, corrido, balada, huapango norteño, polka, redova and chotís....
and duets. Examples include the work of
Cuco SanchezJosé del Refugio Sánchez Saldaña better known as Cuco Sanchez was a Mexican singer and songwriter who wrote dozens of hits, including Anillo de Compromiso, Anoche Estuve Llorando, Por qué Peca Esa Mujer, Fallaste Corazón, Cama de Piedra, and Arrieros Somos.His songs were performed by various...
,
Chavela VargasIsabel Vargas Lizano is a Mexican singer. She is especially known for her rendition of rancheras genre - a folkloric musical genre widely popular in Mexico - but she is also recognized for her contribution to other popular Latin American song genres...
, and Fanny Fernández.
Mexican Sones
Mexican son first appeared in the 17th century and is a fusion of indigenous, Spanish and African traditions, much like Cuban son. But in Mexico, the music exhibited lots of variation from region to region, both in rhythm and instrumentation. Some of these regional sones include son jarocho from the area around Veracruz, son jaliscense from Jalisco, son huasteco, son calentano, son michoacano, etc.
Mexican fiddling
Mexican fiddling is often used in these types of music styles:
- Son Huasteco
Son Huasteco is one of 8 Mexican son styles and is a traditional Mexican musical style originating in the 6 state area of Northeastern Mexico called La Huasteca. It dates back to the end of the 19th century and is influenced by spanish and indigenous cultures...
music, from the Huasteca territory, this music is played in the states of Hidalgo, VeracruzVeracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave is one of the 31 states that constitute the United Mexican States. Veracruz is borderd by Tamaulipas to the north, the Gulf to the east, Tabasco to the southeast, Oaxaca and Chiapas to the south and Puebla, Hidalgo, and San Luis Potosi to the west...
, San Luis PotosiThe Mexican state of San Luis Potosí has an area of .It is in the central part of the Mexican republic, It borders Coahuila to the north, Nuevo Leon to the north-east, Tamaulipas to the east, Veracruz to the east, Hidalgo, Queretaro, and Guanajuato to the south, and Zacatecas to the north-west...
and ZacatecasZacatecas state of Mexico is located in the north-central region and it is bounded to the northwest by Durango, to the north by Coahuila, to the east by San Luis Potosí, to the south by Aguascalientes and Guanajuato and to the southwest by Jalisco and Nayarit...
and the fiddle is accompanied with jarana huastecaThe jarana huasteca, jarana de son huasteco or jarana is a string instrument.It is a guitar-like chordophone with 5 strings. It is smaller than the guitarra huapanguera and usually forms part of the conjunto huasteco ensemble, along with the guitarra huapanguera and violin, taking on the role of...
and huapangueraThe huapanguera, guitarra huapanguera or quinta huapanguera is a Mexican guitar-like instrument that usually forms part of a conjunto huasteco ensemble, along with the jarana huasteca guitar and violin. Here it takes on the role of the bass instrument using a rhythmical strumming technique. Its...
.
- Calentano
Son calentano is a style of Mexican fiddle music made famous by Juan Reynoso, originating from the Tierra_Caliente_ region of Mexico.The repertory from Tierra Caliente music covers sones calentanos and gustos, and other musical forms as Indias, Malagueñas, Peteneras, Valses, Polkas, Pasos Dobles,...
music from Tierra calienteTierra caliente is a term used in Latin America to refer to those places within that realm which have a distinctly tropical climate...
.
- Abajeño music from Jalisco
Jalisco is one of the 31 Mexican states that, together with the Mexican Federal District, conform the 32 federal entities of Mexico.Jalisco is located in central-western Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Nayarit to the northwest, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes and San Luis Potosí to the north,...
and ColimaColima is a state in western Mexico. It shares its name with its capital and main city, Colima.Colima is a small state, sharing a border with the Mexican states of Jalisco to the north and east, and Michoacán to the south. To the west Colima borders the Pacific Ocean. In addition to the capital...
.
- Arpa grande music from Michoacán
Michoacán formally Michoacán de Ocampo , is one of the 31 constituent states of Mexico. It borders the states of Colima and Jalisco to the west, Guanajuato and Querétaro to the north, México to the east, Guerrero to the south-east, and the Pacific Ocean to the south.Michoacán has an area of...
.
- Mariachi
Mariachi, in relation to the music of Mexico, may also be defined in relation to the conditions associated with its historical development. A mariachi ensemble is an integration of stringed instruments highly influenced by the cultural impacts of the colonial era. Throughout the history of...
music.
Pop
The Mexican music market serves as a launching pad to stardom for artists who are interested extending the market-range of their music. Such was the case with Julio Iglesias, Thalia, Paulina Rubio, Ricky Martin and Shakira, the last of whom arrived in Mexico in 1994, released a second album there and started a successful career in the United States after that. According to the
America Top 100, Mexico had over 90 hits in Latin America during 2006, almost a third more than its closest competitor, the United States.
Rock and metal
In the 60s and 70s, during the PRI government, most rock bands were obligated to appear underground, that was the time after Avándaro (a Woodstock-style Mexican festival) in which groups like
El TriEl Tri is a Mexican blues/hard rock band from Mexico City fronted by Alex Lora. Previously known as "Three Souls in my Mind", the band has existed in some form since 1968...
, Enigma, The Dugs Dugs, Javier Batiz and many others arose. During that time
Carlos SantanaCarlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican-born American Grammy Award-winning rock musician and guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered a blend of rock, salsa and jazz fusion. The band's sound featured his melodic, blues-based...
became famous after performing at Woodstock. During the 80s and 90s many Mexican bands went to the surface and popular rock bands like
MolotovMolotov is a three-time Latin Grammy Award-winning Mexican rock and hip hop band formed in Mexico City on September 23, 1995. Their lyrics feature a mixture of Spanish and English, rapped and sung by all members of the group. Musically, Molotov blends heavy basslines with heavy guitar riffs...
,
Control MacheteControl Machete is a Mexican hip hop group from Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. Its members are Fermin IV , Patricio "Pato" Chapa Elizalde, and Toy Kenobi . -History:...
,
Café TacubaCafé Tacuba is a Grammy Award and Latin Grammy Award-winning band from Naucalpan, Mexico. They were founded in 1989, and since then have had the same musical lineup:* Rubén Isaac "Ribaac" Albarrán Ortega:...
, Los Caifanes,
ManáManá is a popular hispanic pop/rock band from Ecuador whose career has spanned almost seven decades. They have earned fourteen Grammy Awards, fifthteen Latin Grammy Awards, 1 MTV Video Music Awards Latin America, three Premios Juventud awards, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards and 12 Premios Lo...
and
Maldita VecindadLa Maldita Vecindad y los Hijos del Quinto Patio is a band formed in Mexico City in 1985. The last studio album recorded was in 1998. Since then, the band has collaborated with other bands, as well as having participated in tribute albums like the tributes for José José and Tigres del Norte...
got many followers. The latter are "grandfathers" to the Latin ska movement.
Mexico CityMexico City is the capital city of Mexico. It is the economic, industrial, and cultural center in the country, and the most populous city, with about 8,836,045 inhabitants in 2008...
has also a considerable movement of bands playing surf rock inspired in their outfits by local show-sport
lucha libreLucha libre is a term used in Mexico, and other Spanish-speaking countries referring to a form of professional wrestling involving varied techniques and moves....
, with Lost Acapulco initiating and leading the movement. Mexico recently has had a "rebirth" of rock music with bands like
JumboJumbo was a large African bush elephant, born 1861 in French Sudan, imported to a Paris zoo, transferred to the London Zoo in 1865, and sold in 1882 to P. T. Barnum, for the circus. The giant elephant's name has spawned the common word "jumbo" as meaning large in size...
,
ZoéZoé is a Mexican alternative/psychedelic band. They initially formed in Mexico City in 1994, although membership started to stabilize in 1997...
,
PorterPorter may refer to:*Cole Porter , American composer and songwriter*Michael Porter , University Professor at Harvard Business School*Porter , an English surname or given nameOccupations:...
, etc., which have made this genre popular again. Many
Chicano rockChicano rock is a rock music performed by Mexican American groups or music with themes derived from Chicano culture. Chicano Rock, to a great extent, does not refer to any single style or approach. Some of these groups do not sing in Spanish at all, or use many specifically Latin instruments or...
musicians also drew inspiration from the rhythms and sounds of Mexican music, including
Ritchie ValensRichard Steven "Ritchie" Valenzuela , better known by the stage name Ritchie Valens, was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist....
,
The ChampsThe Champs were a rock and roll band, most famous for their Latin-tinged instrumental "Tequila." Formed by studio executives at Gene Autry's Challenge Records to record a B-Side for the Dave Burgess single, the intended throwaway track became more famous than its A-Side, "Train to Nowhere"....
,
Los LobosLos Lobos are an American Chicano rock band. They are 3-time Grammy Award winners. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country music, folk, R&B, blues and traditional Spanish and Mexican music such as boleros and norteños....
, and
Los Lonely BoysLos Lonely Boys is a Grammy Award-winning rock band from San Angelo, Texas. They play a style of music which they dub as Texican Rock n' Roll, combining elements of rock and roll, blues, soul, country, and Tejano....
.
The Mexican rock movement began in the late 1950s and early 1960s, rapidly becoming popular, and peaking in the 80's and 90's with real authentic sounds and styles. Mexican Rock combined the traditional instruments and stories of Mexico in its songs. Mexican along with Latin American Rock remain very popular in Mexico, surpassing other cultural interpretations of Rock and Roll.
Latin alternative
An eclectic range of influences is at the heart of Latin alternative, a music created by young players who have been raised not only on their parents' music but also on rock, hip-hop and electronica. It represents a sonic shift away from regionalism and points to a new global Latin identity.
The name "Latin alternative" was coined in the late 1990s by record company executives as a way to sell music that was --literally-- all over the map. It was marketed as an alternative to the slick, highly produced Latin pop that dominated commercial Spanish-language radio, such as Ricky Martin or Paulina Rubio.
Artists within the genre, such as Kinky and Café Tacuba, have set out to defy traditional expectations of Latin music. Now, in an age of Internet connections, downloading and sampling, Latin alternative has become not just a reaction to outside influences but its own genre.
Mexican Ska
Ska entered Mexico in the 1980s, originally in
Mexico CityMexico City is the capital city of Mexico. It is the economic, industrial, and cultural center in the country, and the most populous city, with about 8,836,045 inhabitants in 2008...
, and the genre enjoyed its highest popularity during the 1990s. Mexican Ska groups include
Panteon RococoPanteón Rococó is a Mexican ska band from Mexico City. Despite flourishing black markets, they have sold thousands of records. While being stars in Mexico, they have been touring Europe for the last several years, especially Germany, where their European Label Übersee Records is located.- Musical...
(Mexico City), La Maldita Vecindad (Mexico City),
Tijuana No!Tijuana No! is a Ska, Rock and Punk Mexican band, from Tijuana BC, México. In the beginning their name was Radio Chantaje , and later they became No, but upon the knowledge of another band called the same, they changed their name to No de Tijuana , to later just shorten it to Tijuana No!...
(Tijuana, Baja California; originally called Radio Cantaje), and Los Skarnales (Houston).
Banda
Banda music was created with the imitation of military bands that were imported during the reign of emperor Maximillian in the 1800s. Banda sounds very similar to polka music. Polish immigrants established themselves in the state of Sinaloa. It was further popularized during the
Mexican RevolutionThe Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started in 1910 with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements.Over time the Revolution...
when local authorities and states formed their own bands to play in the town squares. Revolutionary leaders such as
Pancho VillaJosé Doroteo Arango Arámbula , better known as Francisco “Pancho” Villa, was the first Mexican Revolutionary general along with Troyal Gonzales and Uriel Carrasco....
, also took wind bands with them wherever they went. Banda has to this day remained popular throughout the central and northern states. It has, however, diversified into different styles due to regions, instruments and modernization. Today people associate banda with Sinaloense. This originated in the 1940s when the media distributed
Banda el RecodoBanda Sinaloense el Recodo de Don Cruz Lizárraga, often referred to as Banda el Recodo or simply La Banda Sinaloense is a band Mexican Banda sinaloense group. Since its founding in 1938, it has been under the direction of the Lizárraga family...
repertoire as exclusively from
SinaloaSinaloa is one of the 31 states of Mexico, located in the northwestern part of the country. The state is bordered to the north by Sonora and Chihuahua; to the south, by Nayarit; to the east by Durango, and to the west, across the Gulf of California, Baja California Sur. The state extends...
when it was actually regional music from all over Mexico.
Although banda music is played by many bands from different parts of Mexico, its original roots are in
SinaloaSinaloa is one of the 31 states of Mexico, located in the northwestern part of the country. The state is bordered to the north by Sonora and Chihuahua; to the south, by Nayarit; to the east by Durango, and to the west, across the Gulf of California, Baja California Sur. The state extends...
, which is hugely famous for bands such as
Banda el RecodoBanda Sinaloense el Recodo de Don Cruz Lizárraga, often referred to as Banda el Recodo or simply La Banda Sinaloense is a band Mexican Banda sinaloense group. Since its founding in 1938, it has been under the direction of the Lizárraga family...
from
SinaloaSinaloa is one of the 31 states of Mexico, located in the northwestern part of the country. The state is bordered to the north by Sonora and Chihuahua; to the south, by Nayarit; to the east by Durango, and to the west, across the Gulf of California, Baja California Sur. The state extends...
.
Banda Sinaloense experienced international popularity in the 1990s. The most prominent band was
Banda el RecodoBanda Sinaloense el Recodo de Don Cruz Lizárraga, often referred to as Banda el Recodo or simply La Banda Sinaloense is a band Mexican Banda sinaloense group. Since its founding in 1938, it has been under the direction of the Lizárraga family...
which is renowned as "the mother of all bands". Unlike tamborazo Zacatecano, Sinaloense's essential instrument is the tuba. Sometimes an
accordionThe accordion is a portable box-shaped musical instrument of the hand-held bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox...
is also included. (
Sound sample) Well known artists include:
- Banda El Recodo
Banda Sinaloense el Recodo de Don Cruz Lizárraga, often referred to as Banda el Recodo or simply La Banda Sinaloense is a band Mexican Banda sinaloense group. Since its founding in 1938, it has been under the direction of the Lizárraga family...
- La Arrolladora Banda El Limón de René Camacho
- Banda La Costeña
|
Joan Sebastian Joan Sebastian, born in Juliantla, Guerrero is a popular three-time Grammy Award and five-time Latin Grammy Award winning-Mexican singer and songwriter. He has composed hundreds of pop songs and been a regular staple on the top-40 charts in Mexico since his career began in 1977. His music is a...
El Coyote y su Banda Tierra Santa
El Chapo de SinaloaErnesto Pérez better know by his stage name El Chapo de Sinaloa , is a Mexican norteño/banda singer....
Julio PreciadoJulio Preciado y su Banda Perla de Pacifico is a banda singer based in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico. His music is based on norteño songs, such as those of Los Cadetes de Linares, and sometimes includes accordions in addition to bass instruments. Julio Preciado was a former member of La Banda el Recodo...
|
Tamborazo Zacatecano originated in the state of
ZacatecasZacatecas state of Mexico is located in the north-central region and it is bounded to the northwest by Durango, to the north by Coahuila, to the east by San Luis Potosí, to the south by Aguascalientes and Guanajuato and to the southwest by Jalisco and Nayarit...
and translates to
drum-beat from Zacatecas. This banda style is traditionally composed of 2 trumpets, 2 clarinets, a saxophone, a trombone and the essential bass drum.
La Marcha de Zacatecas is a perfect example of this type of music.
Cumbia
The history of Cumbia in Mexico is almost as old as Cumbia in Colombia. In the 1940´s Colombian singer Luis Carlos Meyer Castandet, emigrated to Mexico where he worked with the Mexican orquestra director Rafael de Paz. In the 50s he recorded what many people think was the first cumbia recorded outside of Colombia,
La Cumbia Cienaguera. He recorded other hits like
Mi gallo tuerto,
Caprichito, and
Nochebuena . This is when Cumbia began to popularized in Mexico.
In the 70s Aniceto Molina also emigrated to Mexico, where he joined the group from
GuerreroThe State of Guerrero is a state in the southern meridional region of Mexico. With an area of , it occupies about 3.3% of Mexican territory. It borders the Pacific Ocean to the south , Michoacán to the west , Oaxaca to the east , and Mexico State , Morelos , and Puebla to the north...
, La Luz Roja de San Marcos , and recorded many popular tropical cumbias like
El Gallo Mojado,
El Peluquero, and
La Mariscada. Also in the 70s
Rigo TovarRigoberto Tovar García was a Mexican singer best known as Rigo Tovar, famous for his cumbia songs...
became very popular with his fusion of Cumbia with ballad and Rock.
Other popular Mexican Cumbia composers and interpreters are Mike Laure, Chico Che, Efren David, Grupo Cañaveral, Los Angeles Azules, Celso Piña, Grupo Saya,
Grupo BroncoGrupo Bronco is a Mexican Grupero group from Apodaca, N.L.. Bronco's modern take on the Norteño style in the '80s and '90s helped earn them a number of international hits...
and Selena.
Now a days Cumbia is played in many different ways, Cumbia andina mexicana, Cumbia Norteña, Tecno-Cumbia, Cumbia Sonidera, Cumbia with Ska and Reggae.
- Rigo Tovar
Rigoberto Tovar García was a Mexican singer best known as Rigo Tovar, famous for his cumbia songs...
y su Costa Azul
- Los Angeles Azules
- Tropicalísimo Apache
- Los Sonors
- Celso Piña
- Grupo Cañaveral
- Grupo Soñador
- Alberto Pedraza
- Los Reyes Del Sabor
- Tropicalísimo Lobo
- Sabor Kolombia
Gruperas
Gruperas are the mixed sound of rumba and ranchera music mostly heard in the mid south of Mexico. This music contains both rumba rhythms and ranchera rhythms which these are mostly heard at parties, clubs and Mexican radio. Artists representing this genre are the "Queen of Grupera" Ana Bárbara, Bronco, Guardianes del Amor, and Marco Antonio Solis, among others. Muzzaac.
Norteño
Another important music style is
musica Norteña, or northern style tunes, which has been the basis for such sub-genres as musica de banda. Musica Norteña like musica Tejana, arose in the 1830s and 40's in the
Rio GrandeThe Rio Grande is a river that forms part of the border between the United States and Mexico. At long, it is the fourth-longest river system in the United States...
region, in the southern
TexasTexas is the second-largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.The name had wide usage among native Americans, meaning "friends" or "allies"...
. Influenced by both Bohemian music and immigrant miners, its rhythm was derived from European polkas, which were popular during the 1800s.
Influencia cubana
Rumba came from the black Mexican slaves in Veracruz, Mexico city, and Yucatán. The style began in Cuba and later became famous in the black community of Mexico. These songs are popular in the south of Mexico.
Cha cha cha- Creation of the Cha-cha-chá :The cha-cha-chá is unusual as dance music genres go in that its creation can be attributed to a single composer named Enrique Jorrín ....
,
danzonDanzón was once called the official dance of Cuba, but it is no longer an active musical form. Like the habanera, the danzón evolved from the Contradanza, originally of English origin, brought to Cuba by French colonists fleeing the Haitian Revolution in the 1790s...
,
mamboMambo is a Cuban musical form and dance style. The word mambo derives from ki-kongo based language , the language spoken by West-Central African slaves taken to Cuba.-The song Mambo:...
and
boleroBolero is a name given to certain slow-tempo latin music and its associated dance and song. There are Spanish and Cuban forms, which are both significant, and which have separate origins. The term is also used for some art music...
grew importantly in
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, especially in
VeracruzVeracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave is one of the 31 states that constitute the United Mexican States. Veracruz is borderd by Tamaulipas to the north, the Gulf to the east, Tabasco to the southeast, Oaxaca and Chiapas to the south and Puebla, Hidalgo, and San Luis Potosi to the west...
and
Mexico CityMexico City is the capital city of Mexico. It is the economic, industrial, and cultural center in the country, and the most populous city, with about 8,836,045 inhabitants in 2008...
. Important song writers that influenced this were
Perez PradoPerez Prado was a Cuban/Mexican bandleader and composer. He is commonly referred to as the "King of the Mambo"...
,
Benny MoreBenny Moré is considered by many fans of Cuban music as the greatest Cuban singer of all time. He was gifted with an innate musicality and fluid tenor voice which he colored and phrased with great expressivity. Moré was a master of most genres of Cuban music, such as the son montuno, mambo,...
and
Agustin LaraÁngel Agustín María Carlos Fausto Mariano Alfonso del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús Lara y Aguirre del Pino was a Mexican composer.-Biography:...
.
Danzon
The European influence on Cuba's later musical development is most influentially represented by danzón, which is an elegant dance that became established in Cuba before being exported to popular acclaim throughout Latin America, especially Mexico. Its roots lay in European social dances like the English country dance, French contredanse and Spanish contradanza. Danzon developed in the 1870s in the region of Matanzas, where African culture remained strong. It had developed in full by 1879 and later was brought to Mexico.
Classical music
Mexico has a long tradition of classical music, as far back as the 16th century, when it was a Spanish colony. Music of
New SpainThe Viceroyalty of New Spain , was the political unit of Spanish territories in North and Central America, and Asia-Pacific. The territory included the present-day California, Southwestern United States, Mexico, Central America , the Caribbean, and the Philippines. It was ruled by a viceroy from...
, especially that of
Juan Gutiérrez de PadillaJuan Gutiérrez de Padilla was a composer of New Spain . He was born in Málaga, Spain but moved to Puebla, Mexico, in 1620 to compose music in the new world...
and
Hernando FrancoHernando Franco was a Spanish composer of the Renaissance, who was mainly active in Guatemala and Mexico.- Life :Franco was born in Galizuela in Extremadura, a source region for many people who came to the New World in the 16th century...
, is increasingly recognized as a significant contribution to New World culture.
PueblaPuebla is a Mexican state located in the south-central part of the country, to the east of Mexico City. The state borders Veracruz to the east, Hidalgo, Mexico State, Tlaxcala, and Morelos to the west, and Guerrero and Oaxaca to the south. The state's largest cities are Puebla and Tehuacan, it has...
was a significant center of music composition in the 17th century, as the city had considerable wealth and for a time was presided over by Bishop
Juan de Palafox y MendozaJuan de Palafox y Mendoza , was a Spanish bishop in the Roman Catholic Church. He also held political office in the New World. From June 10, 1642 to November 23, 1642 he was viceroy of New Spain.-Early life:...
, who was an enthusiastic patron of music. Composers during this period included Bernardo de Peralta Escudero (mostly active around 1640), and also
Juan Gutiérrez de PadillaJuan Gutiérrez de Padilla was a composer of New Spain . He was born in Málaga, Spain but moved to Puebla, Mexico, in 1620 to compose music in the new world...
, who was the most famous composer of the 17th century in Mexico. The construction of the cathedral in Puebla made the composition and performance of polychoral music possible, especially compositions in the
Venetian polychoral styleThe Venetian polychoral style was a type of music of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras which involved spatially separate choirs singing in alternation...
. Late in the century, Miguel Matheo de Dallo y Lana set the verse of poet Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz.
In the 18th century, Manuel de Sumaya, maestro de capilla
at the cathedral in Mexico City, wrote many cantadas
and villancicos
, and he was the first Mexican to compose an opera, La Partenope
(1711). After him, Ignacio Jerusalem, an Italian-born composer, brought some of the latest operatic styles as well as early classical (galantIn music, Galant was a term referring to a style, principally occurring in the third quarter of the 18th century, which featured a return to classical simplicity after the complexity of the late Baroque era...
) styles to Mexico. His best-known composition is probably the Matins for the Virgin of Guadalupe
(1764). Jerusalem was maestro de capilla at the cathedral in Mexico City after Sumaya, from 1749 until his death in 1769.
In the 19th century the waltzes of
Juventino RosasJosé Juventino Policarpo Rosas Cadenas was a Mexican composer, violinist, and band leader.Rosas was born into a poor Otomi family, in Santa Cruz de Galeana, Guanajuato, now renamed Santa Cruz de Juventino Rosas...
achieved world recognition. Manuel M. Ponce is recognized as an important composer for the Spanish classical guitar, responsible for widening the repertorium for this instrument. Ponce also wrote a rich repertoire for solo piano, piano and ensambles, and piano and orchestra, developing the first period of modernistic nationalism, using Native American and
EuropeanEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
resources, but merging them into a new, original style.
In the 20th century,
Carlos ChavezCarlos Antonio de Padua Chávez y Ramírez was a Mexican composer, conductor, teacher, journalist, and the founder and director of the Mexican Symphonic Orchestra. He was influenced by native Mexican cultures. Of his six Symphonies, his Symphony No...
, is a notable composer who wrote symphonies, ballets, and a wide catalogue of chamber music, within variated esthetical orientations. Another recognized composer is
Silvestre RevueltasSilvestre Revueltas Sánchez was a Mexican composer of classical music, violinist and conductor.-Life:He was born in Santiago Papasquiaro in Durango, and studied at the National Conservatory in Mexico City, St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas and the Chicago College of Music...
who wrote such pieces as The night of the mayas, Homenaje a García Lorca,
SensemayáSensemayá is a poem by the Cuban poet Nicolás Guillén, adapted as an orchestral work by the Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas. It is one of Revueltas's most famous compositions....
based on a poem by
Nicolas GuillenNicolás Cristóbal Guillén Batista was an Afro-Cuban poet, journalist, political activist, and writer. He is best remembered as the national poet of Cuba.-Life:Guillén was born in Camagüey, Cuba...
, and orchestral suites like
JanitzioIsla de Janitzio, located at , is the main island of Lake Patzcuaro in the state of Michoacán, Mexico.The town of Janitzio, which means "where it rains", is located atop the hill. Janitzio can only be reached by boats which run regularly back and forth from about 7:30 am to 6 pm,...
and Redes originally writen for motion pictures.
Jose Pablo MoncayoJosé Pablo Moncayo García was a Mexican pianist, percussionist, music teacher, composer and conductor. "As composer, José Pablo Moncayo represents one of the most important legacies of the Mexican nationalism in art music, after Silvestre Revueltas and Carlos Chávez." He produced some of the...
with compositions such as Huapango
, and Blas GalindoBlas Galindo Dimas was a Mexican composer.Born in San Gabriel, Jalisco, Galindo studied intermittently from 1931 to 1944 at the National Conservatory in Mexico City, under Carlos Chávez, Candelario Huizar, José Rolón, and Manuel Rodríguez Vizcarra...
with Sones de Mariachi, are also recognized as adapters of Mexican sons into symphonic music. A later contributor to this tradition,
Arturo MárquezArturo Márquez is a renowned Mexican composer of orchestra music who is well known for using musical forms and styles of his native Mexico and incorporating them into his compositions....
is also internationally known by his orchestral mastery and melodic vivacity.
In 1922,
Julian CarrilloJulián Carrillo Trujillo was a Mexican composer, conductor, violinist and music theorist, who discovered the Thirteenth Sound.-Biography:...
(violinist, composer, conductor, theoretician and inventor), created the first microtonal system in the history of classical music. During subsequent years, he also developed and constructed harps and pianos able to play music in fragments of tone, like fourths, sixths, eighths and sixteenths. His pianos are still manufactured in Germany and are used to play Carrillo's music, mainly in Europe and Mexico.
Another contemporary Mexican composer was
Conlon NancarrowConlon Nancarrow was a U.S.-born composer who lived and worked in Mexico for most of his life. He became a Mexican citizen in 1955....
(of American birth), who created a system to play pianola music, using and developing theories of politempo
and polimetrics.
Some avant-garde composers leading Mexican music during the second half of the 20th century were Alicia Urreta, Manuel Enríquez,
Mario LavistaMario Lavista is a Mexican composer and writer.He began piano studies as a child and enrolled at the Conservatorio Nacional de Musica in 1963 under the guidance of Carlos Chavez, Hector Quintanar and Rodolfo Halffter...
and
Julio EstradaJulio Estrada Velasco was born in Mexico City, April 10, 1943. His family was exiled from Spain in 1941. He is a composer, theoretician, historian, pedagogue, and interpreter.-Life:...
. Some of them also contributed to the academic development of music teaching in
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
universities, a work also enriched by
Daniel CatanDaniel Catán is a Mexican composer known particularly for his operas.He was born in Mexico City.He studied philosophy at the University of Sussex and music at the University of Southampton. He received a Ph.D...
,
Carlos Sanchez-GutierrezCarlos Sánchez-Gutiérrez is a Latin-American composer and teacher. He currently resides near Rochester, New York....
,
Carlos SandovalCarlos Sandoval Mendoza is a composer, musician and sound artist living in Berlin, Germany. For over ten years now, he works with sensor-gloves used as a computer-based musical instrument. As a composer he has left behind ideas of pre-determination and control in favor of the collaboration with...
, Ignacio Baca-Lobera, Hebert Vázquez, Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon and Samuel Zyman. In the other side of the Athlantic the composers of a new generation,
Javier ÁlvarezJavier Álvarez is a Spanish sprint canoer who competed in the late 1980s. He was eliminated in the semifinals of the K-4 1000 m event at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.-References:*...
, Ana Lara,
Víctor RasgadoVíctor Rasgado is a Mexican pianist and classical composer, whose works have been performed in Mexico, the United States, Italy and the Netherlands.-Biography:...
,
Juan TrigosJuan Trigos, Composer and Conductor
Mexico City, 1965----- Biography :Born February 26, 1965, in Mexico City. His academic training includes degrees in Orchestral and Chorus Conducting, Composition, Gregorian Chant and Piano, from leading institutions in Italy and Mexico...
,
Hilda ParedesHilda Paredes is one of the leading Mexican contemporary composers.- Biography :She was born in Tehuacan, Puebla, Mexico and currently resides in London, United Kingdom, but has lived for extended periods in her home country, and been a prominent music teacher at the National Autonomous University...
,
Javier Torres MaldonadoJavier Torres Maldonado is a Italian-Mexican composer of mostly orchestral, chamber, vocal and electro-acoustic works.
- Biography :
...
,
Gabriel PareyonGabriel Pareyon is a Mexican composer and musicologist.He studied at the Composers’ Workshop of the National Conservatoire of Music, Mexico City , with Mario Lavista, and he received bachelor and master degrees in composition at the Royal Conservatoire, The Hague , where he studied with Clarence...
, and Georgina Derbez, also have contributed to the academic and artistic life.
Jazz
Some major exponents are Leo Acosta, Tino Contreras,
Juan García EsquivelJuan García Esquivel often simply known as Esquivel!, was a Mexican band leader, pianist, and composer for television and films. He is recognized today as one of the foremost exponents of a sophisticated style of largely instrumental music that combines elements of lounge music and jazz with Latin...
, Luis Ocadiz, J.J. Calatayud, Leo Acosta, Arturo Castro, Chilo Morán, Popo Sánchez, and
Eugenio ToussaintEugenio Toussaint Uhtohff , is a Mexican composer, arranger and jazz musician of international fame.-Career:He began playing in 1972 with the band "Odradek"...
.
Electronic music
Some of the best Mexican composers for electronic and electroacoustic media are Antonio Russek,
Javier Torres MaldonadoJavier Torres Maldonado is a Italian-Mexican composer of mostly orchestral, chamber, vocal and electro-acoustic works.
- Biography :
...
, Rodrigo Sigal, Rogelio Sosa, and
Manuel Rocha IturbideManuel Rocha Iturbide is a Mexican composer and sound artist.-Biography:Manuel Rocha Iturbide was born in 1963 in Mexico City, he started musical studies when he was 13 years old. In 1983, after studying musical pedagogy in Lyon France for one year, he decided to start a career as composer at the...
, the later conducting festivals and workshops of experimental music and art, in
Mexico CityMexico City is the capital city of Mexico. It is the economic, industrial, and cultural center in the country, and the most populous city, with about 8,836,045 inhabitants in 2008...
and
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
Table (traditional music ensembles)