Chavez: The Conclusion

I apologize for my illness today which did not permit me to cover as much of the material that I had discovered about Chavez as I wanted. I believe then a brief post to hit the remaining highlights of Chavez and his Indian Symphony should be sufficient.

My initial experience with Chavez and the Indian Symphony dates back to my middle school days. I remember at that impressionable age of having the opportunity to watch the different VHS tapes of Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts series. One of the concerts focused on Latin American Music, and the closing number on that program happened to be Chavez's Indian Symphony.

I must admit that my personal tastes in music concentrate around the symphonic tradition of the German and Russian composers of the late Romantic and Post-Romantic eras. Very slowly I have grown to appreciate more and really want to listen to music of other eras, but only slowly. I do listen greatly to lots of music from different eras, but personally I always gravitate towards that specific era in music history.

However, my initial experience with the Indian Symphony was one of fascination. The rhythmic vitality and the color of the orchestration employed by Chavez in this masterpiece had ne enthralled. Unfortunately, I never did take the time to explore about Chavez, actually forgetting about him for close to a decade.

When I was in Germany this past summer, I happened to go into a CD store and come across the box set from which I played the excerpts we listened to today. At that point, I was again captivated by Chavez's music again. I'll confess that sometimes I would listen to the Indian Symphony four or five times in a row before switching to something else.

Then, the first day of American Innovators occurred. I, like most people mistakenly would assume, expected this to be a class solely about composers who reside within the borders of the USA. Then, when Dr. Brunner gave us the option of exploring the music of American composers who reside in countries other than this one, I immediately got the idea to explore Chavez. The piece which I would want to highlight in my presentation would, of course, be the Indian Symphony.

Chavez's Indian Symphony is a rhythmic and orchestrational masterpiece. The rhythms Chavez incorporates indicate that this music is very much folk inflected. The plaintive melodic lines that Chavez writes for in the middle section of the symphony, and then get restated near the conclusion are very much native American in character. Chavez's choice of the Clarinet as the means of Orchestration further brings out this folk element.

This symphony differs from much orchestral work in the sheer variety of the melodic material that is used. In the short 3:30 minute excerpt that we were able to hear in class, a representative example of all the different styles and moods that Chavez writes for were included.

What was brought up in class, and must be reiterated, is that even though Chavez did write in a Populist style like Copland did, he like Copland also wrote in styles that were much more austere and difficult to grapple with. And also in the manner of Copland, his music that does remain popular is music like the Indian Symphony, which draws upon the rich folk traditions of Mexico.

Also touched upon in the lecture was Chavez's career as a conductor. This was one which he pursued over the last fifty years of his life and to great acclaim. He conducted many premieres of his works, including the Indian Symphony (premiered in New York by the New York Philharmonic in 1936.)

In summary, the career of Chavez must be viewed not as a career that specialized in one facet of music. Instead, he was a consummate musician who was able to establish himself as an educator, composer, and conductor. To quote Dr. Brunner: "He put Mexico on the map."