Today we dip into a complexity of characters who reflect both the triumphs and tragedies of Latin America, specifically Mexico. Some of these characters stand one foot in tragedy, the other in triumph. Do we know these characters as historic figures, fancies of imagination, or flesh and blood of the complex society which is today's Mexico?
Pianist Ana Cervantes is a bundle of energy. In 2006 she commissioned 23 composers from five countries and three generations to compose a short piece for piano solo inspired by the work of landmark Mexican writer Juan Rulfo. In 2011 Ana was at it again, asking 16 composers from five countries to contribute to "Canto de la Monarca."
"As with any commissioning project, it's a good thing to have a sort of central axis," Cervantes explained. "I knew that it had to be rooted in Mexico... I wanted it to have to do with women, and had to have something central to do with the Monarch butterfly, with the Monarca, which is so emblematic of Mexico, and there's all sorts of mythology and and identity stuff around the Monarch butterfly that those are just a few of the parameters that sprang up... as I designed the project."
The American composer Jack Fortner chose as his muse the young Malinche. It is hard to imagine a more complex character in both the lore and history of Mexico.
"Well, Malinche is part of the daily fabric of this country in so many ways, the whole idea of mestizaje, the whole the language thing. So many people in this country are multilingual. She was multilingual, I mean," said Cervantes.
Then there's quetzalpapalotl, which rears its head, or, should we say, spreads its wings from deep within Mexican mythology,
"This idea of the butterfly-bird combination into which metamorphosed women who die in childbirth and warriors who die on their field of battle. Even there, the idea of mestizaje in a certain way enters, because Horacio [Uribe's] piece, as you may recall, ends with four-part harmony, but with an occasional chromatic note thrown in. So there's another, you know, like what Carlos Chávez said about imagined Aztec music... it's more about us than it is about about its possible inspiration," said Cervantes.
Gabriela Ortiz contributed to Anna's "Canto de la Monarca" her Preludio y Estudio No. 3, based upon a literary character, Jesusa Palancares.
"I was reading at that time this book 'Hasta no verte, Jesus mío,'" said Ortize.
"It's about an invisible woman, Jesusa Palancares. She was like many other women in Mexico that have to survive in a very difficult conditions or coming from indigenous population in the countryside, coming to the city to... try to get a better life, and having all these, you know, difficulties. So I really respect them a lot."
We will hear more from Ana Cervantes and Gabriela Ortiz on tomorrow's final episode of Momentos Musicales. I'm James Baker.
PLAYLIST:
Piazzolla: Sunny's Game
Ana Cervantes
Amor de la Danza
Ana Cervantes & John Baker Productions
Jack Fortner: Retrato de Malitzin
Ana Cervantes
Canto de la Monarca: Mujeres en Mexico
Quindecim QP238
Horacio Uribe: El viaje nocturno de Quetzalpapalotl
Ana Cervantes
Canto de la Monarca: Mujeres en Mexico
Quindecim QP238
Gabriela Ortiz: Preludio y Estudio No. 3
Ana Cervantes
Canto de la Monarca: Mujeres en Mexico
Quindecim QP238
