La Noche de los Mayas (The Night of the Mayas) I. La noche de los mayas
Silvestre RevueltasPiece Duration: 5:53
About this Piece
(Movement I. is 0:05-5:58)
Program Note: "Revueltas scored or contributed music to eight more films before he died in October 1940. One of the last of these was La noche de los mayas, adapted by the director Chano Urueta from a story by Antonio Mediz Bolio, who was born in the state of Yucatán and became an important advocate for Mayan culture.
In 1960 the composer and conductor José Yves Limantour arranged music from the 36 cues of Revueltas’ score into a four-movement suite. This suite has the shape of a symphony. The first movement opens as a powerful ritual, a brooding evocation of rooted history with a gently awakening middle section." - John Henken
Recommended Performance Video: Due to copyright issues, another performance of this piece, featuring Alondra de la Parra conducting the Orchestre de Paris, can only be viewed on YouTube. Click here to view it! (Movement I. is 0:24-7:00. Timestamps for this video are linked in the notable passage text, below)
Melody: This movement is rich in melodic content! In-between two sections featuring a chordal texture, several melodies are introduced. The first two are highlighted below.
Table of Contents:
I. La noche de los mayas
II. Noche de jaranas
III. Noche de Yucatán
IV. Noche de encantamiento
Notable Passages
Description:
The opening of La noche de los mayas features a stunning chordal texture. Listen to the homophonic texture, and how the instruments play in parallel motion!
(Note: The trombone is the only exception, here! It plays its own melody in response to the orchestra's grand homophonic phrases)
(Recommended Performance Video: 0:24-2:15)
Keywords: Chordal Texture , Chordal Texture - Harmony , Harmony - Misc. , Homophony , Parallel Motion
Description:
At Rehearsal 5, the strings and winds introduce the movement's first melody, a breathtaking passage in a minor tonality. Listen to the melody soar as an eighth note accompaniment pulses underneath!
(Recommended Performance Video: 2:16-3:54)
Keywords: Melody - Misc. , Minor Tonality
Description:
At Rehearsal 8, a second melody is introduced, this time in a major tonality! The percussion takes up the eighth note accompaniment underneath
(Recommended Performance Video: 3:53-4:35)
Keywords: Melody - Misc. , Major Tonality
Description:
At Rehearsal 13, the movement's opening chordal texture makes a grand return! The material begins in the strings, as the orchestra crescendos to the familiar opening material. The trombones are once again an exception to the rule, playing their own melody here!
(Recommended Performance Video: 5:50-6:54)
Keywords: Chordal Texture , Chordal Texture - Harmony , Harmony - Misc. , Homophony , Parallel Motion