La noche de los mayas (Revueltas)

La noche de los mayas is a film score by the Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas for the 1939 film of the same name, which relates to Mexico's pre-Columbian heritage. Revueltas's score consists of 36 sequences without any organic relation to one another, composed to be easily fitted to an already-edited film. The work is best known in the symphonic suite extracted by the Mexican conductor José Yves Limantour, whose arrangement extensively alters Revueltas' original score.[1]

Concert suites

Since Revueltas' death in 1940, the film score has been arranged for performance in the concert hall.

Hindemith

In 1946 the German composer Paul Hindemith made a visit to Mexico where he met Rosaura Revueltas, sister of Silvestre. This led to his concert arrangement in two movements.[2] Hindemith's version calls for a small orchestra consisting of:

  • 2 flutes (both doubling piccolo)
  • 1 oboe
  • 2 clarinets
  • 1 bassoon
  • 4 horns
  • 1 trumpet
  • 1 trombone
  • 1 tuba
  • timpani
  • percussion (tamtam, bass drum, cymbals, indian drum, maracas, güiro, xylophone)
  • strings

Limantour

In 1959, Mexican conductor José Yves Limantour made a four-movement suite from La noche de los Mayas. In this version, Limantour "took every imaginable liberty", including the addition of a concluding, extended "improvisation" of exotic percussion instruments which is largely responsible for the music's success with audiences, who erroneously believe it to have been composed by Revueltas himself.[1]

  1. "Noche de los mayas", molto sostenuto
  2. "Noche de jaranas", scherzo
  3. "Noche de Yucatán", andante espressivo
  4. "Noche de encantamiento", tema y variaciones

It was premiered on 30 January 1961 by the Guadalajara Symphony Orchestra. It is scored for larger forces than Hindemith's version.[3]

  • 2 flutes (both doubling piccolo)
  • 2 oboes
  • 2 clarinets (both doubling E♭ clarinet)
  • 1 bass clarinet
  • 2 bassoons
  • 4 horns
  • 3 trumpet
  • 2 trombones
  • 1 tuba
  • 1 piano
  • timpani
  • percussion (12 players: bongos, conga, metal rattle (sonajes), güiro, 2 tom-toms, teponaxtles, bass drum (huehuetl), caracol, snare drum, tenor drum, Indian drum, suspended cymbal, tamtam, xylophone)
  • strings

(Limantour's manuscript specifies 14 percussionists, but includes amongst them the timpani and piano.)[1]

Aware of the fact that Limantour's score specifies a percussion "improvisation" in the finale, more recent conductors such as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Enrique Diemecke, and Gustavo Dudamel have ignored Limantour's written-out version and substituted their own "improvisations", often to better effect.[1]

Ballet

Music by Revueltas has been used by Amalia Hernández for a ballet called "Los Mayas" about Mayan culture.[4]

Recordings

A suite from the score was recorded by RCA with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa, conducted by Luis Herrera de la Fuente.[5]

The version by Hindemith was recorded by the Tempus Fugit Orquesta conducted by Christian Gohmer, and released by Quindecim Records in 2014.[6]

The version by José Limantour was recorded by the Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel and released on Deutsche Grammophon in 2010.[7] Earlier, in 1959, Limantour had himself recorded his arrangement, conducting the Orquesta Sinfónica de Guadalajara. This was made around the time Limantour's arrangement was first performed.[8]

References
  1. Kolb Neuhaus, Roberto (October 2014). "La noche de los mayas: crónica de una performance de otredad exótica" (PDF). Trans – Revista Transcultural de Música (in Spanish) (18): 2–27. ISSN 1697-0101. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  2. Talavera, Juan Carlos (24 March 2014). "Graban y publican la versión sinfónica de "La noche de los mayas"". www.excelsior.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  3. Freed, Richard. "La noche de los Mayas". The Kennedy Center.
  4. "Los Mayas / The Mayans / Les Mayas / Die Mayas." Artes De México, no. 88/89, 1967, pp. 93–100. Citation on p. 93. JSTOR 24314275 (subscription required).
  5. Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa, Luis Herrera de la Fuente – La noche de los mayas – RCA Victor – MRS 021 (1980 vinyl) at Discogs, in 1994 released on compact disc by Catalyst Records, 09026-62672-2
  6. Silvestre Revueltas: La noche de los Mayas: versión de Paul Hindemith; Juan Trigos: Concierto no. 2 (Hispano): para guitarra y orquesta, Raúl Zambrano (guitar), Tempus Fugit Orquesta, Christian Gohmer (cond.); recorded at Sony Music, Mexico City 10–12 June 2013. CD recording. Quindecim CDQP239. Mexico: Quindecim Recordings, 2014.
  7. Rite: Stravinsky/Revueltas. Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, Gustavo Dudamel (cond.) CD recording. Deutsche Grammophon 0289 477 8775 4.
  8. Silvestre Revueltas, Musica para charlar; La noche de los Mayas. Orquesta Sinfónica de Guadalajara; José Yves Limantour (cond.). Musart MCD 3022 (LP). Mexico City: Discos Musart.
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