Alla en el rancho grande instrumental

Music Essay

Modern Mariachi and Música Norteña

Canción Ranchera In the 1930’s the Mexican media had very clear ideas about what kind of imagery they wanted to share with the public. The stereotype of the Mexican Ranchera emerged around this time. Durations became shorter and more uniform in order to fit into particular formats. Arrangements became standardized to fit with urban tastes and new compositions were written by composers who were not part of Traditional Mariachi but were still presented as ‘authentic’ and were supposed to evoke a rural, peasant ethos.

Canción Ranchera is a type of genre within the Mariachi tradition. It is not really rural, it derived from Teatro de Revista (Revue Theatre) tradition, an urban tradition from the early 20th century which became particularly popular during the 1920’s in Mexico. Teatro de Revista was a popular type of Mexican musical theatre from the early 20th century Mexico. The songs that were featured in Teatro de Revista were the forebears of the Canción Ranchera genre. Many stars of this tradition got their start in Teatre de Revista. One of the earliest stars was Lucha Reyes. She studied Bel Canto at some point and had spent time in California studying voice professionally.

Bel Canto - Translates as ‘Beautiful Singing’ in Italian. It is an operatic style of singing made popular in Europe during the 19th and early 20th century. It is Characterized by the use vibrato, long lyrical phrases and rubato (expressive push and pull of speed within a piece that is part of the phrasing)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6TXIQvgqIo
Musical Characteristics Traditional themes in rancheras are about love, patriotism or nature.

Rhythms can have a meter in 2/4, (in slow tempo: ranchera lenta and faster tempo ranchera polkeada), ¾ (ranchera valseada), or 4/4 (bolero ranchero). Songs are usually in a major key, and consist of an instrumental introduction, verse and refrain, instrumental section repeating the verse, and another verse and refrain, with a tag ending. Rancheras are also noted for the grito mexicano, a yell that is done at musical interludes within a song, either by the musicians and/or the listening audience.

The normal musical pattern of rancheras is a–b–a–b. Rancheras usually begin with an instrumental introduction (a). The first lyrical portion then begins (b), with instrumental adornments interrupting the lines in between. The instruments then repeat the theme again, and then the lyrics may either be repeated or begin a new set of words. One also finds the form a–b–a–b–c–b used, in which the intro (a) is played, followed by the verse (b). This form is repeated, and then a refrain (c) is added, ending with the verse.

Many rancheras were popularized by Mexican films. For instance, “Allá en el Rancho Grande” (Out at the Big Ranch), which voices the longing of a peasant worker for a young woman at the ranch where he used to live, was composed by Lorenzo Barcelata (1898–1943) for the film of the same name (1936).

The most popular ranchera composers include Lucha Reyes, Cuco Sánchez, Antonio Aguilar, Juan Gabriel and José Alfredo Jiménez, who composed many of the best-known rancheras, with compositions totaling more than 1000 songs, making him one of the most prolific songwriters in the history of western music.

Play 0:29-2:29

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N37LiX43Aa0&t=29
Jorge Negrete: Yo soy Mexicano Yo soy mexicano, mi tierra es bravía,

Palabra de macho que no hay otra tierra más linda

Y más brava, que la tierra mía

Yo soy mexicano y orgullo lo tengo,

Nací despreciando la vida y la muerte

Y si echo bravatas, también las sostengo

Mi orgullo es ser charro, valiente y braga'o,

Traer mi sobrero con plata borda'o,

Que naide me diga que soy un raja'o

Correr mi caballo, en pelo monta'o,

Pero más que todo seré enamora'o

Yo soy mexicano, muy atravesa'o

Yo soy mexicano, muy atravesa'o

Yo soy mexicano, por suerte mía,

La vida ha querido que por todas partes

Se me reconozca por mi valentía

Yo soy mexicano, de naide me fío

Y como Cuauhtémoc cuando estoy sufriendo,

Antes que rajarme, me aguanto y me río

Me gusta el sombrero, echado de la'o

Pistola que tenga cacha de pela'o,

Fumar en hojita tabaco pica'o,

Jugar a los gallos, saberme afama'o

Pero más que todo, ser enamora'o

Yo soy mexicano, muy atravesa'o

I am Mexican, my land is wild, Male word that there is no other land more beautiful And braver, than my land I am Mexican and I have pride, I was born despising life and death

And if I brag, I hold them too

My pride is being charro, brave and braga'o, Bring my hat with embroidered silver, Noon well tell me that I am a coward Run my horse, in the mountain But more than everything I will fall in love I am Mexican, very traverse

I am Mexican, very brave

I am Mexican, lucky me,

The life I wanted to have

everywhere

That I’m recognized for my

bravery

I am Mexican, but trust nobody

And I am like Cuauhtémoc

when I'm suffering,

Before I crack, I hold back and

laugh

I like the hat, thrown to the side

Gun that has a peel handle,

Smoking tobacco on a chopped

leaf,

Play with the roosters, and

know I am famous

But more than all, being in love

I am Mexican, very brave

Jorge Negrete: Yo soy Mexicano Jorge Negrete was a famous Ranchero singer, who appeared in three dozen films and recorded almost 200 songs during the 1930s, '40s, and early '50s, before dying at the height of his career. Born into a military family (his father earned the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Mexican Army during the revolution), Negrete initially followed in his father's footsteps, joining the army in 1928.

In addition to the military, Negrete was also interested in music; he studied voice with José Pierson and became a talented opera singer (at one time, New York's Metropolitan Opera House offered him a secondary position). He made 38 films in all and recorded several huge hits, including and the patriotic anthems "Mexico Lindo y Querido" and "Yo Soy Mexicano."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVinVgCrhQY
Mariachi

Mariachi refers to a rural music and dance tradition from Mexico’s western region. An ensemble typically consists of trumpet, violin, vihuela, guitar, and guitarrón.

Musicians wear the traje de charro, or suit of the Mexican cowboy, a style of dress associated with the rural western region.

While a number of music and dance genres (some with indigenous implications such as the jarabe), were part of pre-20th-century local repertories, the son jalisciense defined the tradition’s regional identity.

Cuarteto Coculense, a group from the area of Cocula in the state of Jalisco,

made the first mariachi sound recordings in 1908.

In Tecalitlán, an area southeast of Cocula, a different version of

the mariachi included two violins, guitarra de golpe, and harp. These instruments, the

guitarra de golpe and harp, were identified with Mariachi Vargas of the late 1890s through 1940.

During this time the trumpet would appear occasionally with the mariachi, however it would not be a regular member of the ensemble until 1941.

Jorge Negrete (1911–1953) and

Pedro Infante (1917–1957)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g -2OaXuBXY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g-2OaXuBXY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g-2OaXuBXY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g-2OaXuBXY
Contrast

1. Mariachi Reyes del Aserradero: Las Abajeñas 2. Cuarteto Coculense: Las Abajeñas

Abajeño: someone that it is native to coasts, valleys or lowlands.

● What’s the role of the violin? Melody or accompaniment? ● Which version has trumpets? ● What are the other instruments? ● What group takes a faster tempo and how that affects the character of the

music?

La Abajeña I like abajeñas, because they are tall Me gustan las abajeñas, por altas y presumidas They shower and look better and always faded Se bañan y se componen y siempre descoloridas Ladybug my soul, I told you Mariquita mi alma, Yo te lo decía Sooner or later my life must be mine Que tarde o temprano mi vida has de ser mía Ladybug my soul, I told you Mariquita mi alma, Yo te lo decía Sooner or later my life must be mine Que tarde o temprano mi vida has de ser mía I like the abajeñas who know the law of God Me gustan las abajeñas que saben la ley de Dios

What are they leaving their husbands for leaving with two others Qué largan a sus maridos, por irse con otros dos I like the abajeñas who know the law of God Me gustan las abajeñas que saben la ley de Dios What are they leaving their husbands for leaving with two others Qué largan a sus maridos, por irse con otros dos Let her go she'll come back Déjala que vaya, ella volverá If loves take my life, they will bring it Si amores la llevan mi vida, ellos la traeran Let her go she'll come back Déjala que vaya, ella volverá If loves take my life, Jealousy will bring it Si amores la llevan mi vida, Celos la traeran

Las Abajeñas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5R3NrqX_Uew https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz2c5SROz6A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5R3NrqX_Uew
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz2c5SROz6A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5R3NrqX_Uew
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz2c5SROz6A