Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 4, No. 12 (1930-09)

400 The Phonograph Monthly Review In introducing the music of Mexico, I am not going to start with La Paloma and La Golondrina, beautiful though they may be, as these songs are well known to nearly everyone; but I shall start with some of the less familiar songs and dances (folk and composed)—little songs about flowers, birds, trees, fountains, lovely maidens and their charms—all the beauties of the commonplace things of life translated into words and melodies. There is a touch of sadness to many of these songs—not the sadness of melancholy, expressed by dismal chords and lugubrious rhythms, but rather a wistful pathos that is not depressing to the listener. In regard to the records, I would call attention to the fact that they are not ordinarily carried in stock by the dealer. If you live where there is a Spanish colony, you will probably find there a little music store which carries a stock of Spanish and Latin American records; otherwise, your dealer will have to order them for you. With the passing of the acoustical recording, many of the discs have disappeared from the cata- logs, and they are not being re-recorded. I am therefore omitting several interesting records which I have in my library, as they are no longer obtainable. The Mexican Ministry of Education has started to collect and popularize the folk songs of the coun- try, as they are being rapidly crowded out by the modern music. On Victor 79176, the chorus of the Secretary of Education sings two of these songs: Las Mahanitas — “The Little Mornings.” This is the type of song sung by young people on their way home from an entertainment, in the “small hours.” On the other side of the disk is La Paloma Blanca —“The White Dove,” by the well-known composer, Miguel Lerdo de Tejada, sung by the mixed chorus of 35 voices, unaccom- panied. This disk is really a fine example of choral recording. This same chorus has also re- corded the song so popular in revolutionary per- iods that it has been called “the Mexican Marseil- laise”— La Valentina (Victor 79242). The song is not very war-like as to the music, which is a quiet melody in triple time. Neither have the words a bloodthirsty theme, as they tell the story of a wandering drunkard, as he repeats it to a girl named Valentina. On the other side of the disk the chorus sings La Peregrina —“The Pilgrim,” by R. Palmerin, one of the typical songs of Yucatan. From Lower California comes A la Luz de la Luna — “By the Light of the Moon” (Victor 79238), which is apparently a variation and am- plification of the folk song by that name. In the towns and cities there are little bands of street musicians called mariachis , who go about singing, and playing on violin, guitar, a crude kind of harp, etc. They do not give a very artistic performance, but perhaps you would like to hear one of them—Mariachi Coculense Rodriguez, on Victor 79413. This disk has El Camino Real — “The Highway” on one side; and El Durazno — “The Peach Tree” on the other. A folk song that I have found very popular with all who hear it is the corrido, Soy Virgencita — “Pm a Little Maiden” (Columbia 3390-X). Co- rrido means “an event of the time,” and should not be confused with corrida , the word for “bullfight.” The corrido is a topical ballad dealing with some happening in the everyday life of the people. Many of them originate in the pulquerias —drinking shops selling nothing but pulque, an intoxicating drink obtained from the maguey plant. There are many of these corridos, some of them quite interesting. Among them may be mentioned Hermosas Puentes —“Beautiful Fountains” (Col- umbia 2556-X) ; and El Adolorido —“The Mourn- ful One” (Columbia 2559-X), the latter by Al- fonso Esparza Oteo, a popular contemporary com- poser. A iovely little folk song from the State of Michoacan, Adios, Mariquita Linda — “Farwell, Lovely Mary,” is sung as a duet on Victor 79034. Among other folk songs may be mentioned Te Vengo a Decir Adios —“I am Come to Tell Thee Farewell” (Columbia 2626-X) ; Una Noche Serena y Obscura—“ Dark and Quiet Night” (Victor 46406) sung as a duet with guitar accompani- ment, and illustrating this typical use of the guitar; Uy Tara Lala (Victor 81915), an odd song from the lowlands along the coast ( abajeho ) ; Guiri, Guiri (Victor 79363), a Yaqui song from the northern cattle country; and El Novillo Des- puntado—P The Bull with the Blunted Horns,” (Columbia 2567-X), one of the many gay little canciones , which is the word commonly used for “song.” The tango rhythm is found in many Mexican songs, which are called danzas . This same rhythm (a dotted eighth note followed by a sixteenth, con- stituting the first beat in a measure of 2/4 time) is also found in the Cuban habanera , the Brazilian maxixe, the Porto Rican danza, and the Argentine tango. Friedenthal states that this rhythm orig- inated in a grotesque Negro dance called the tango; but this, of course, had little in common with the Argentine dance by that name. An ex- tremely popular song in danza form is Esperon’s La Borrachita —“The Little Tippler” (Columbia 2220-X) , a soprano solo with orchestral accom- paniment. Jesse Crawford has also recorded it as an organ solo (Victor 21111) ; the vocal version gives a better idea of the composition. An older danza , but one very typical, is La Per jura —“The Perjured One” (Columbia C-2689), by M. Lerdo de Tejada. This is an acoustical recording, but it is still retained in the catalog. Another especially pretty danza is Adios a Guadalajara —“Farewell to Guadalajara” (Victor 78566). A graceful, lively dance from the State of Jalis- co, but popular ail over Mexico, is the jarabe tapatio. (The Jaliscans are also called tapatios.) In this dance, a man and girl perform various steps before and around each other. The gentle- man wears a huge sombero , which he throws to . the ground, and the girl dances in and around its brim. At the end of the dance, she picks up the hat and places it on her partner’s head. On Vic- tor 46569 there is a medley of Jarabes played by a Mexican orchestra, which gives a very good idea of the music of this dance.