Traditional music and dance
The origins of all Mexican music lie in the pre-Hispanic civilizations. Devoid of string instruments, they used only percussion instruments such as the teponaztli (drum), flutes, rattles, conches and 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, performed daily in Mexico City's Zócalo and Coyoacán squares. In this ritual, the concheros, 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 suspended by their feet from a 30 to 40-metre pole, whirling to the sound of a small drum and flute.
Since Spanish colonization, Mexican music has been built around indigenous music, blending the latter with various Hispanic imports. In general - and since the 19th century - it has traditionally been performed by giant 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 rhythm of rural origin 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 perform alternately, one intoning a phrase, the other responding. The best-known son jarocho tune is La Bamba - the famous song popularized by Ritchie Valens' version and the American film of the same name. Today, these 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, seek to revive the jarocho sound in their songs.
Still in Veracruz - but also in Hidalgo, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas, Querétaro and Puebla - you can hear el huapango. Derived from chamber music imported by the Spanish, this aesthetic 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). In the traditional huapanguero ensemble, known as the "huasteca trio", the violin provides the melodic line of the piece, while two other string instruments support the rhythm and harmony. The vocals, meanwhile, are generally provided by two voices in duet. Two notable works have brought the huapango to audiences beyond Mexico's 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).
Though popular throughout Mexico today, musica norteña is essentially the music of the country's north. One of its hallmarks is the cowboy style of its ensembles, featuring a full panoply 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 and the lives of migrants. Both in sound and rhythm, música norteña displays similarities with certain European forms of music, such as the polka. With over 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 a name for themselves by popularizing one of the wildest sub-genres of música norteña: narcocorrido. These songs, glorifying drug traffickers and their exploits (violence, wealth, lawsuits, etc.), also ridicule the forces of law and order in their lyrics, and panic the authorities, who have in the past sought to ban them. Although unsuccessful, narcocorrido is still alive and well in Mexico.
Other common regional forms include abajeña music, a traditional aesthetic of the indigenous communities of Jalisco, Colima and Michoacán; 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 mariachis: a gigantic musical tradition in Mexico, mariachis have become national emblems over the years. Native to the state of Jalisco in the 19th century, this folkloric genre synthesizes much of the regional music mentioned above, bringing together ranchera, huapango, polka and corrido. A typical mariachi band consists of violin, vihuela, guitar, guitarrón (large bass guitar) and trumpet. Recognizable by their traje de charro - large embroidered hat, pants adorned with two rows of silver buttons, short jacket and large malla for a tie - mariachis can be seen almost everywhere in the country. In Mexico City, their favorite venue is Plaza Garibaldi. While the genre has produced a host of great names over the generations, some of them have a special aura, such as Jorge Negrete, Pedro Infante, Javier Solís, Alejandro Fernández, Aida Cuevas and the Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán group (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 Tajín, a festival established in 2000 that has been promoting Toconac culture through concerts of traditional (and contemporary) music. On the festive side, the Feria De San Marcos is one of Aguascalientes' main attractions. This festival, whose origins date back to the early 19th century, pays tribute to Mexican popular culture and features numerous concerts. The Son Jarocho festival in Tlacotalpan takes place every year in late January or early February and has been a must-see ever since. Last but not least, in Morelia, the Cactux is a bar that hosts concerts of noise punk, reggae and traditional music.
Popular music
To fully embrace Mexican music, it's essential to know a few local icons, starting with Lucha Reyes (1906-1944), once dubbed "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 embodiment of Mexican romanticism, whose repertoire spans the whole range of national music, from ranchero to bolero to pop. The success of the man nicknamed "El Divo" (the masculine form of "Diva") transcended all generations and social classes. Another Mexican music personality, Paquita la del Barrio, is the star of working-class neighborhoods and female audiences, thanks to her lyrics about poverty, domestic violence and infidelity. More recently, it's Natalia Lafourcade (born in Mexico in 1984) who has (massively) won over the public with her chanson d'auteur, Lila Downs who has become famous for her songs in Zapotec, Mayan and Nahuatl or, on a rockier note, the duo Rodrigo y Gabriela who have enjoyed a worldwide hit thanks to their guitar virtuosity.
Classical music
Between the 15th and 16th centuries, Spain's evangelizing enterprise brought in its wake many composers and performers of the Baroque music then in vogue in Europe. It was at this time that Pedro de Gante (1480-1572) founded the first school of the 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 force today. In the 19th century, Mexico was subject to the same influences as other Western countries. During the Porfirio presidency, waltzes and polkas were in vogue. The best-known composer of the period was undoubtedly Juventino Rosas (1868-1894) for his work Sobre las olas, an intense echo of Viennese waltzes. The period was also marked by Ernesto Elorduy (1853-1912), who wrote delicate mazurcas blending traditional Polish form with Hispano-Mexican melodies, and Ricardo Castro (1864-1907), composer of the first symphonies of modern Mexico.
The twentieth century brought recognition for local composers and theorists, who followed in the footsteps of modernism then in vogue in Europe: Julián Carrillo (1875-1965) is still studied today for his approach and instrumental experimentation with microtonalism (the "thirteenth sound"). But in this era of government-sponsored exaltation of local roots, it was above all the nationalist composers who attracted attention with their style steeped in folk 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), considered the most representative and talented composer of his generation. From 1940 onwards, the arrival of numerous political refugees in Mexico propelled the musical landscape towards new horizons. Mexican music was steeped in avant-gardism, driven by visionary composers such as Mario Lavista (1943-2021), author of operas and numerous essays; Manuel Enríquez (1926-1994), who developed an intense repertoire for strings and percussion, with an emphasis on musical texture; and Julio Estrada, a pupil of such great minds as Boulanger, Messiaen, Xenakis and Stockhausen. More recently, Javier Torres Maldonado (1968) has established himself as the leading Mexican composer of contemporary music, with his research into the spatialization of sound and acoustic illusions.
Today, many Mexican performers are among the most sought-after on the international scene, including Mexico City-born (and naturalized French) tenor Rolando Villazón (1972), Javier Camarena (1976), considered the tenor of impossible operas, and bel canto mezzosoprano Cassandra Zoé Velasco (1990). And let's not forget conductor Alondra de la Parra (1980), both a confirmed and rising star on the international scene. Despite her young age, she is regularly invited to conduct the most prestigious orchestras on five continents. And let's not forget Simon Ghraichy, the Franco-Lebanese-Mexican pianist (born 1985), a future great of his instrument.
Music lovers can rest assured that in Mexico, there is no shortage of opportunities to listen to great music. 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 programs chamber concerts (of international stature) at the Angel Peralta Theatre and in the city's various churches. A little later in the year, during the last two weeks of November, the Festival de Música de Morelia offers a wide range of classical music concerts.
