Traditional music and dance
At the origin of all Mexican music, there were those of the pre-Hispanic civilizations. Without stringed instruments, they used only percussion instruments such as the teponaztli (drum), flutes, rattles, conches or their voices. Some forms of pre-Hispanic music have survived to the present day, generally serving as accompaniment for ritual dances, such as the impressive Danza de los Voladores or the ancient Danza del Venado. They also orchestrate the less authentic but more visible Danza de los Concheros, which is performed daily in Mexico City's Zócalo and Coyoacán squares. In this ritual, the concheros, who are dressed in Aztec style, dance in a circle to honor the gods of their ancestors, to the rhythm of the drum and the shell bracelets around their calves. The Danza de los Voladores is the most impressive, with four dancers performing it suspended by their feet from a 30 to 40 meter pole and spinning to the sound of a small drum and flute
Since the Spanish colonization, Mexican music has been built around indigenous music, combining it with various Hispanic imports. In general - and since the 19th century - it has traditionally been performed by large ensembles in which string instruments predominate, the guitar being present in all Mexican sub-genres. The country is riddled with sub-genres, with each region cultivating its own unique aesthetic
One of the most notable examples can be found in the state of Veracruz with el son jarocho. This rural rhythm was imported by the Spaniards and draws its influences from Afro-Cuban music of the 18th and 19th centuries, the pinched arpeggios recalling the sounds of distant Andalusia. The basic instruments of jarocha music are the harp, the jarana, a small eight-string guitar that drips with jerky rhythms, the requinto, a small four-string guitar, and the tarimba, a small wooden platform where the dancers mark the rhythm with their feet. Jarocho ensembles are famous for their ability to improvise stanzas to suit any situation. The singers take turns singing a phrase and the other responds to it. The most famous son jarocho tune is La Bamba - the famous song popularized by the Ritchie Valens version and the American film of the same name. Today, jarocho ensembles, recognizable by their white costumes, can be found not only in Veracruz but throughout Mexico. Some contemporary artists, such as Lila Downs and the Angelino revival group Las Cafeteras, are trying to revive the jarocho sound in their songs
Still in Veracruz - but also in Hidalgo, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas, Querétaro or Puebla - you can hear el huapango. This aesthetic, which originated in chamber music imported by the Spaniards, is said to be an adaptation of 17th-century European instrumentation to indigenous musical traditions, with the addition of singing (in falsetto) and zapateo (the rolling of heels on the floor). The traditional huapanguero ensemble, called the "huasteca trio," has the violin providing the melodic line of the piece while two other string instruments support the rhythm and harmony. The vocals are generally provided by two voices in duet. Two notable works have allowed the huapango to reach an audience beyond Mexican borders: Yves Allégret's 1953 film Les Orgueilleux and the famous song America, composed in 1957 by Leonard Bernstein for his musical West Side Story (which is a huapango).
Although it is now popular throughout Mexico, musica norteña is in essence the music of the north of the country. One of its hallmarks is the cowboy style of its ensembles, featuring a full ensemble of narrow-brimmed hats, plaid shirts, skin vests and boots. The main instrument is the accordion, joined by guitars, double bass and percussion. The vocals are nasal and the lyrics are about love, the difficulties of everyday life or the life of migrants. In terms of sound and rhythm, música norteña bears some similarities to European music such as the polka. With more than 32 million records sold and five Latin Grammy awards, Los Tigres del Norte are by far the biggest stars of the genre. They also made themselves famous by popularizing one of the wildest subgenres of música norteña: the narcocorrido. These songs, which glorify drug traffickers and their exploits (violence, wealth, lawsuits, etc.), also ridicule the police in their lyrics and panic the authorities, who have sought to ban them in the past. Without success, narcocorrido is still alive and well in Mexico
Other common regional forms in the country include abajeño music, a traditional aesthetic of the indigenous communities of Jalisco, Colima and Michoacá; Istmeños, songs from the Zapotecs of Oaxaca - popularized by pop star Lila Downs; son calentano, a complex violin music from the Balsas river basin in southern Mexico; and son jalisciense, from Jalisco and Colima, from which mariachi music is derived
Let's talk about the mariachis: a gigantic musical tradition in Mexico, the mariachis have become national emblems over the years. Born in the state of Jalisco in the 19th century, this folkloric genre synthesizes a good part of the regional music mentioned above and brings together ranchera, huapan, polka or corrido music. In general, a mariachi group is composed of violin, vihuela, guitar, guitarrón (large bass guitar) and a trumpet. Recognizable by their traje de charro - a large embroidered hat, trousers with two rows of silver buttons, a short jacket and a large malla for a tie - mariachis can be seen almost everywhere in the country. In Mexico City, their favourite place is the Plaza Garibaldi. If the genre has multiplied great names through generations, some of them cultivate a particular aura like Jorge Negrete, Pedro Infante, Javier Solís, Alejandro Fernández, Aida Cuevas or the group Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán (active since 1898)
As a country in love with its musical tradition, Mexico has no shortage of opportunities or places to listen to it. Starting with Cumbre Tajin, a festival established in 2000 that has been spreading the word about Toteño culture through concerts of traditional (and contemporary) music. On the festive side, the Feria De San Marcos is one of the main attractions in Aguascalientes. This festival, whose origins date back to the beginning of the 19th century, pays tribute to the performances of Mexican popular culture and includes numerous concerts. Also worth mentioning is the Son Jarocho de Tlacotalpan festival, which takes place every year at the end of January or beginning of February and has been a must-see ever since. Finally, in Morelia, the Cactux is a bar that hosts concerts of noise punk, reggae and traditional music.
Popular music
If you want to fully embrace Mexican music, it is essential to know some local icons, starting with Lucha Reyes (1906-1944), once known as "the mother of ranchera music. Today she is one of the pillars of Mexican musical heritage. Another huge icon, Juan Gabriel (1950-2016), is the sole embodiment of Mexican romanticism, crossing the whole range of national music through his repertoire, from ranchero to bolero and pop. The success of the one that Mexicans nicknamed "El Divo" (masculine of "Diva") has transcended all generations and social classes. Paquita la del Barrio, another Mexican music personality, is the star of the working class neighbourhoods and of the female public thanks to her lyrics about poverty, domestic violence and infidelity. More recently, Natalia Lafourcade (born in Mexico City in 1984) has won over the public (massively) with her songwriting, Lila Downs, who has become famous for her songs in Zapotec, Mayan and Nahuatl, and the more rock-oriented duo Rodrigo y Gabriela, who have become world-famous thanks to their guitar virtuosity
Classical music
Between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the Spanish evangelizing enterprise dragged in its wake many composers and interpreters of Baroque music then in vogue in Europe. It was at this time that Pedro de Gante (1480-1572) founded the first school of this genre in Mexico City. The cities of Mexico City, Puebla, Oaxaca, Tepotzotlán and present-day Morelia quickly became the spearheads of this musical style, which retains all its strength today. In the 19th century, Mexico was subject to the same influences as other western countries. At that time - that of the Porfirio presidency - waltz and polka were in fashion. The best known composer of the time was undoubtedly Juventino Rosas (1868-1894) for his work Sobre las olas, an intense echo of Viennese waltzes. This period was also marked by Ernesto Elorduy (1853-1912), the author of delicate mazurcas
mixing the traditional Polish form with Spanish-Mexican melodies, and Ricardo Castro (1864-1907), composer of the first symphonies of modern Mexico.The twentieth century was a time of recognition for local composers and theorists, who followed in the footsteps of the modernism then in vogue in Europe: Julián Carrillo (1875-1965) is still studied today for his approach and his instrumental experiments in microtonalism (the "thirteenth sound"). But in this period of government-sponsored exaltation of local roots, it was above all the nationalist composers who attracted attention with their style, which was imbued with folkloric or popular musical themes: Carlos Chávez (1899-1978), who became the figurehead of musical nationalism by creating the predecessor of the National Symphony Orchestra and the National Institute of Fine Arts, and Silvestre Revueltas (1899-1940), who is considered the most representative and talented composer of his generation. From 1940, the arrival of many political refugees in Mexico propelled the musical landscape towards new horizons. Mexican music was full of avant-garde, carried by visionary composers such as Mario Lavista (1943-2021), author of operas and multiple essays, Manuel Enríquez (1926-1994), who developed an intense repertoire for strings and percussion, giving primary importance to the texture of the music, or Julio Estrada, who was a student of great minds such as Boulanger, Messiaen, Xenakis or Stockhausen. More recently, it is Javier Torres Maldonado (1968) who has established himself as the most important Mexican composer of contemporary music with his research on the spatialization of sound and acoustic illusions.
Today, many Mexican performers are among the most sought-after on the international scene, such as the tenor Rolando Villazón (1972), born in Mexico City (and naturalized French), Javier Camarena (1976), considered the tenor of impossible operas, and the mezzosoprano Cassandra Zoé Velasco (1990), a specialist of bel canto. Also worth mentioning is the conductor Alondra de la Parra (1980), a confirmed and still rising star on the international scene. Despite her young age, she is regularly invited to conduct the most prestigious orchestras of the five continents. Let's not forget to mention Simon Ghraichy, a French-Lebanese-Mexican pianist (born in 1985), a future great of his instrument.
For music lovers, there are plenty of opportunities to listen to great music in Mexico. For example, during Easter and Semana Santa, the Festival Cultural de Zacatecas offers concerts featuring classical guitar, opera and chamber music. Later in the year, in August, the Festival Internacional de Musica de Camara de San Miguel de Allende offers chamber concerts (of international scope) at the Angel Peralta Theater and in the different churches of the city. Later in the year, during the last two weeks of November, the Festival de Música de Morelia offers numerous classical music concerts.
