Songs for the Departed:
A Celebration of Día de los Muertos

Harold Clurman, Copland's closest friend, was a founder of the Group Theatre. He had long hoped for a collaboration between Copland and the Group; the opportunity came with Irwin Shaw's play, Quiet City. Clurman convinced Copland to compose incidental music to a script about a distressed trumpet player, who played to express the emotions of different people in various parts of the city. After a few tryouts, the play was dropped, but as Clurman pointed out, "Aaron just scooped up that music and arranged a suite for trumpet, English horn, and string orchestra. The play was long forgotten but the music lives on."

-Vivian Perlis, 1998

Moncayo studied harmony with Huízar, the piano with Hernández Moncada and composition with Chávez at the Mexico City Conservatory. By Chavez in a concert at new York City’s Museum of Modern Art, and again like Galindo, Moncayo went on to study with Aaron Copland at the Berkshire Music Center (1942). He began his musical career in 1931 as a percussionist in the Mexican Symphony Orchestra, which he conducted from 1949 to 1954. In 1934, along with Galindo, Contreras and Ayalas, he formed the Group of Four whose aim was to rekindle the nationalist spirit in Mexican music. Some of Moncayo’s works – in particular his famous Huapango – incorporate popular melodies, in this case the folkdances el siquisirií, el balajú and el gavilán. Regrettably, the popularity of this piece has obscured the rest of Moncayo’s small, original output: for example Amatzinac and Bosques, which display Impressionist traits and a predominantly modal harmonic idiom, and the Muros verdes for piano, whose sequence of motifs describe a spiral form. His opera La mulata de Córdoba – based on the work of the same name by Xavier Villarrutía – tells the story of an enchantress condemned to death during the Inquisition who disappears, on the point of being executed, in a boat cloud of fire. Moncayo’s modernist style admirably combines with the poetry of the text to create one of the finest 20th-century Mexican operas. Such was his significance that his death in 1958 is considered to mark the end of the nationalist school in Mexico.

--Ricardo Miranda Pérez

La Minerva is a concerto for violin and orchestra dedicated to Mexican women, who are the backbone of countless families across the country. In my hometown of Guadalajara, a statue of the Roman goddess Minerva stands as a proud guardian of the city, symbolizing the strength, courage, and resilience that characterize the women of Mexico. As often happens in my creative process, the first spark of inspiration for this concerto came from a vivid image: I envisioned Minerva, holding a violin and bow instead of her shield and spear, standing as a soloist in front of the orchestra, ready to fill the concert hall with her majestic sound.

The concerto is cast in three movements. Each movement presents and develops a single theme and builds to a powerful climax before resolving. The first movement, titled “Canción de Amor” (“Love Song”), is a slow movement in 3/4 time that embodies the romantic and rhythmic qualities of a balada ranchera. It features soaring violin melodies reminiscent of those Lola Beltrán might have sung in a heartfelt serenade.

“Polka Taconeada” (“Heel-stomping Polka”), the second movement, is a lively piece in 2/4 time that evokes the International Women’s March, a global event held annually on March 8th to commemorate the achievements of women and to advocate for gender equality and women’s rights. The title comes to life as the soloist stomps their heel against the ground while playing the main theme, recreating the march’s percussive and pulsating rhythm. The movement showcases the violinist’s virtuosity and exceptional coordination when simultaneously stomping and playing.

The final movement, “Himno a la Mujer” (“Hymn to Women”), is a moderately paced huapango in 6/8 time that invites listeners to unite and raise their voices in a collective anthem of solidarity and celebration of women. It begins with the soloist holding the violin like a guitar and gently strumming the hymn. Soon after, the whole string section joins in, their strumming enhancing the hymn’s spirit. The soloist then plays the hymn with the bow, and gradually, the entire orchestra joins in solidarity. Toward the end of the movement, the soloist performs an intense cadenza, which resolves as they pluck the hymn with the left hand while sustaining a pedal note with the bow. One final time, the orchestra unites, playing the hymn and bringing the concerto to a triumphant conclusion.

—Juan Pablo Contreras (August 2021)

Mariachitlán (Mariachiland) is an orchestral homage to my birthplace, the Mexican state of Jalisco, where mariachi music originated. The work recounts my experience visiting the Plaza de los Mariachis in Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco, a place where mariachis play their songs in every corner and interrupt each other to win over the crowd.

In Mariachitlán, traditional rhythms such as the canción ranchera (ranchera song) in 2/4 time (choon-tah choon-tah), the vals romántico (romantic waltz) in 3/4 time (choon-tah-tah), and the son jalisciense (Jalisco song) that alternates between 6/8 and 3/4 time, accompany original melodies inspired by the beautiful landscapes of Jalisco. Mariachi instruments such as the trumpet, harp, and violin are featured as soloists in this work. Furthermore, the strings emulate the strumming patterns of vihuelas, while the contrabasses growl like guitarrones.

Near the end of the piece, a policeman blows his whistle in an attempt to stop the party. However, the crowd chants Mariachitlán, gradually increasing in intensity, and is rewarded with more vibrant music that ends the work with great brilliance.

The original version of Mariachitlán (2016), scored for symphony orchestra, won the 2016 Jalisco Orchestral Composition Contest and was nominated for a 2019 Latin GRAMMY® Award for Best Arrangement.

—Juan Pablo Contreras (May 2021)

This arrangement of Mariachitlán was commissioned by Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.

Premiered on June 26, 2021, at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, United States,

by Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Jaime Martín

Recorded by the Orquesta Latino Mexicana,

conducted by Juan Pablo Contreras, for Universal Music Mexico