Silencio en Juárez

Over the past few years, my music has been largely focused on the concept of identity. I have been exploring what it means to be a Mexican classical music composer in the twenty-first century. This CD exemplifies my quest to establish a new synthesis of classical contemporary music and Mexican popular and folk music. The works in the album address issues that are sensitive in my native country and speak about themes of universal interest — aspiring to communicate deeply with listeners worldwide.

On November 23, 2010, fifteen teenagers were brutally murdered at a birthday party in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. The inspiration for Silencio en Juárez (Silence in Juárez) came from this tragic event. The first movement, “Madre Dolorosa” (“Sorrowful Mother”), is written from the perspective of one of the mothers who lost her child in the massacre. The movement is a musical portrait of the Stabat Mater Dolorosa Catholic hymn that meditates on the suffering of Mary during Jesus Christ’s crucifixion.

The second movement is a sarcastic setting of a corrido, a traditional genre from northern Mexico that is driven by an accordion-based polka and praises local drug criminals. “Corrido” musically portrays a recollection of memories from one of the witnesses to the killings. A folk tune is interlaced among flashbacks of gunshots and desperate cries for help.

“Liturgia” (“Liturgy”), the third movement, evokes a Catholic mass. The introductory church bells in the piano lead to the priest’s recitation of the Eucharistic Prayer, heard in the opening violoncello line. Afterward, the clarinet, violin, and violoncello each offer eulogies to the victims of the tragedy.

The finale, “La Injusticia” (“The Injustice”), is a crude reflection of the reality that Mexico is facing. Acts of violence are regular occurrences throughout the country, while citizens pray for a season of peace. Toward the end of the movement, the victims are lovingly remembered in a lyrical and nostalgic passage. This music eventually transports us back to reality, a reality assuring us that if murders continue at this rate, there will be nothing left but an eternal Silence in Juárez.

La más Remota Prehistoria (The Most Remote Prehistory) is a song cycle, with poetry by Darío Carrillo, that deals with emotional rupture. The narrator in the poems makes a pilgrimage to a canyon where he had spent time with his lost love. Each of the four songs represent a different stage in his grieving process.

The narrator compares the river that flows at the bottom of the canyon to the stream of love that emanated in the relationship. The erupting volcano embodies the outburst of rage caused by its dissolution. His passionate feelings slowly fossilize, making the relationship feel as if it belongs to a prehistoric time.

The term “mestizo” is traditionally used to classify a person of mixed-race descent. The majority of Mexicans are mestizos of Spanish and indigenous heritage. Ángel Mestizo (Mestizo Angel), a concerto for harp and chamber orchestra, is an imaginary journey of the harp’s migration to Mexico during the Spanish conquest and its evolution to become one of the most iconic instruments in the country.

The concerto is cast in four movements. The first movement, “La Conquista” (“The Conquest”), narrates the onset of the Spanish conquest of Mexico. The movement is driven by sounds of gunshots and galloping horses. Historians believe the Spaniards first brought the harp to Veracruz, a major port on the Gulf of Mexico. “Veracruz,” the second movement, depicts the harp’s arrival in this beautiful city.

The word “criollo” was first coined to label a person of Spanish ancestry born in Mexico. The third movement, “Cadenza Criolla,” is scored for solo harp. The cadenza incorporates thematic ideas from the previous movements and outlines the evolution of the harp in Mexico. What had been an exclusively European instrument was slowly appropriated by Mexican musicians and eventually became a folk instrument.

The finale, “Son Jarocho,” celebrates the mestizo culture that predominates in modern Mexico. The son jarocho is a regional folk music style that originated in Veracruz as the indigenous and Spanish communities mixed. A diatonic harp, the arpa jarocha, is one of the main instruments in this genre. “Son Jarocho” revolves around a festive theme that is introduced by a solo violin in the opening of the movement. The concerto concludes in an uplifting tone praising the product of the blending of the Spanish and indigenous people: the mestizo angels.