José Pablo Moncayo García (1912-1958, Mexico)

Huapango!

In 2011, Huapango, as a form of Mexican mariachi music, was added to the UNESCO List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity – an honor which had also been bestowed upon the healthy Mediterranean diet in 2010 and the Tango in 2009!

Mariachi music with its typical sound of trumpets and string instruments became a national symbol of Mexican culture with the success of the film industry from the 1930s until the 1950s and, for a short time, even a security risk at airports when members of different families were greeted with simultaneous formations of mariachi musicians.

The Huapango by José Pablo Moncayo (1912-1958) is especially popular; the work was inspired by three traditional Son Huastecas from Veracruz. Moncayo, who would have been 100 years old this June, created an unofficial Mexican national anthem with his Huapango from the year 1941; the work has entered into the repertory of classical symphonic music, pop music, and in turn, of mariachi groups as well.

As composer, conductor, pianist and percussionist, Moncayo was, alongside Silvestre Revueltas and Carlos Chávez, a representative of Mexican art music - and also part of the Grupo de los Cuatro with Blas Galindo - who sadly passed away at too young an age. His Huapango (8 min.) was premiered by the Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado de México conducted by Chávez in 1941 and today, is a popular concert opener all over the world. In much the same way, the Sinfonietta (10 min.) also represents his typical Mexican style, by making one feel like saddling the horses. No less fun-loving and yet, dramatic, is his work Tierra de Temporal (11 min.) for orchestra. Moncayo’s death in 1958 is considered to be the end of the Mexican national school of composition.

More orchestral works by Pablo Moncayo