The XIX Century

The process of recovery of the high levels professionals that had reached the learned music at the beginning of the colonial period was necessarily slow, and it only ended up showing a truly satisfactory situation in the subsequent period to the fall of Maximiliano's ephemeral Empire.

The same effects of the armed fight and the subsequent anarchy, as well as the lack of local schools of music that you/they allowed to reach high levels professionals to those who wanted to develop its aptitudes in that land, drove to that practically the whole musical activity of more aspirations was confident to mere fan, among that that -for certain - the ladies that cultivated the song and the piano prevailed. (A res�duo of this one can observe until today in the numerous academies particular of song and piano", generally in charge of some teacher that easily discover to our surroundings, as well as in the musical educaci�m for the girls that the families fairly or suitable still consederan of good tone).

In that musical climate, of reduced technical and aesthetic demands, numerous European musicians of the tiniest quality could thrive that had been forced to emigrate from their native countries when being excluded there by the hard competition prevalent. On the other hand, the middle class and high of the recently freed Mexico they had the eyes put in the European countries -a those that, for obvious reasons, they tried to emulate - so that in their artistic living rooms the imitations, menial and in general untimely, of the worst excesses and affectations of the European romanticism were imposed.

It was natural that in a climate like the one described the production of meritorious works was the exception rather that the rule, what led to the adoption -in quite spontaneous and automatic form - of a pejorative contemporary attitude in front of the music of the Mexico of the XIX century. however, it was not maybe wronged to reexamine the romanticism musical Mexican and to rescue of the forgetfulness that part of their inheritance that was still sustained by their own musical merits in time of so different aesthetic orientation as ours.

The first observation that would be necessary to make to this respect is the that, apart from the torrent of living room pieces written for the piano that flooded Mexico, in an initial phase the main contribution -y, also, perhaps the most serious - of the Mexican composers to the musical literature of the time was carried out in the land of the opera. This way, it is possible to distinguish a first current frankly guided toward the imitation of the pattern operatic Italian of that time, inside which you/they stood out successively CenobioPaniagua(1821-1882), Melesio Morales (1838-1908) and a talented fan, the gynecologist Aniceto Ortega (1823-1875).

Paniagua wrote a music to the style of that of Donizzeti, and he/she obtained a resonant victory with its opera Catalina of Guise", but one of those ironies characteristic of our cultural atmosphere ruined its reputation: he/she was accused of plagiarizing, in fact in that work, an opera forgotten Italian -today - written in 1885, ten years after Catalina! (and it is that, also, the fact was also ignored that two carried out works according to the same manierismo, they necessarily had to look like each other to each other).

Melesio Morales vi� used for the first time with success their operas " Ildegonda " and " Cleopatra " in 1886 y1891, respectively. Especially the first one reported him fame and applauses. However, their work perhaps more significant, the opera of an act (divided in two scenes) " Anita ", written around 1903 that he/she refers to an episode that supposedly it happened soon after the battle of Puebla and it denotes the influence of the Italian verismo, it never arrived to the scenario -y he/she still continues without opening - as a consequence of the special ability developed by Morales to be made of enemies.

The Dr. Ortega presented in 1871 its " Guatemotzin ", to which denominated musical episode instead of opera. This work that he/she took like argumentational base an Aztec topic, was broadly taken place as indicative of the emergence of a national operismo. In fact their character is markedly italianizante, although it includes a part -the Dance Tlaxcalteca - in the one that one makes a splendid estilizaci�n of materials popular, so much pot what refers to the sonority of the orchestral group, like for that he/she makes to its rhythmic and melodic elements. This Dance that doesn't deserve the olvico in that has fallen, is the only section of this work that would justify in something the very exaggerated statement that it marks the beginning of the existence of a Mexican opera (same that, he/she has not been able to be carried out fully so far).

The composer Felipe Villanueva (1863-1893) who highlighted mainly as a fine music author for piano that contrasted notably with the production salonesca of doubtful pleasure of that time, it belongs to the following musical promotion that already acted in the middle of porfiriato. Their generation partners, Gustavo Campa (1863-1934) and Ricardo Castro (1864-1907), they represent a rupture to a certain extent with the tradition italianizante that reigned in the country, since -chords with the currents of the time that put on in relief in other fields - they introduced to the local musical atmosphere the characteristic elements of the French and German schools.

The most important in these composers was maybe Castro who -completely surrendered to the modalities of the late European romanticism - he/she left works very well carried out and to the height of their time, among those that not only reached successes of importance -y in the national environment - their Concert for Violoncello and it Orchestrates", their Concert for Piano", and their operas " Atzimba " and The Legend of the Rudel", this last one written on a libretto in French.

Certainly, Mexico didn't take place during the century XIX composers of the size of a Schumann, a Mendelssohn or a Liszt. And it is that the task of the national musicians belonging to a country that was -y in great measure continues being - marginal inside a certain cultural area, it consisted fundamentally on reimplantar a worthy professional level in the local musical production. It implied it, in first term, the necessary imitation and assimilation of the prevailing models in the big cultural metropolises of the moment. As they indicate the achievements and previously mentioned realizations, this was reached in satisfactory form in spite of the abundance of adverse environmental elements.

Without going by this phase, it was not possible to end up producing a music of concert of national character, endowed with an own and distinctive personality. Simply, the situation would not be mature for it. For that reason, neither the numerous living room pieces that were written, neither in works of more flights, as " Guatemotzin " or " Anita ", it was the national thing a constituent part -y for necessary ende - of the music; before well, it was an element unaware to the structure and the fundamental character of the same one that it was introduced in her more as an exotic condiment that for true aesthetic necessity. No Mexican composer was under conditions of truly attempting insuflar a national spirit to his music, the example of authors like Glinka, Smetana, or Grieg that acted in countries that were until that moment continuing equally excluded. However, it is a fact that you/they were ended up writing some compositions in the country that although they lacked originality, because they followed the European models faithfully, they resisted the comparison with the same ones.

In any event, these works represent the net result of the reception and assimilation of average and technical cietas of the European music of that time, with what you/they constitute one of the diverse elements that converge in today's music, and without those which this non pordr�a to be understood in their perspective and historical continuity. The Mexican teachers of the XIX century sat down the technical bases and they implanted the indispensable high professional level so that, under different social conditions, a genuinely national school of concert music could arise, for what you/they don't deserve our forgetfulness and if, on the other hand, our gratitude.