La Noche de los Mayas (The Night of the Mayas) II. Noche de jaranas
Silvestre RevueltasPiece Duration: 5:20
About this Piece
(Movement II. is 5:58-11:18)
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 second movement is a dancing scherzo, genial rusticity interrupted by urban sass ('Jarana' indicates both uproarious partying and a type of Mexican dance.)" - 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 II. is 7:20-12:33. Timestamps for this video are linked in the notable passage text, below)
Articulation: This movement features staccato and accented articulations throughout. Several examples 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:
This movement starts off in a skipping Allegro! The meter is mixed, alternating between 5/8 and 6/8 time!
Look for these musical markings in the score:
- The tempo marking
- The time signature changes
- The staccato dots
(Recommended Performance Video: 7:20-8:05)
Keywords: Allegro , Mixed Meter , Staccato , Articulation - Misc.
Description:
At Rehearsal 10, the music shifts to 8/8 time! The measures are marked with dashed lines, which show the beat divisions (3+3+2 eighth notes).
(Recommended Performance Video: 9:43-10:26. Watch the conductor's beat pattern. She uses a three beat pattern, and the beat groups are 3+3+2!)
Keywords: Mixed Meter
Description:
At Rehearsal 8, listen for the hemiolas, which are played with biting accents! (The three-beat hemiolas are found in 6/8 measures, which usually contain two beats)
(Recommended Performance Video: 9:20-9:36)
Keywords: Hemiola , Accent , Articulation - Misc.
Description:
At Rehearsal 14, the accented hemiolas return, much higher in range!
(Recommended Performance Video: 10:26-10:40)
Keywords: Accent , Hemiola , Articulation - Misc.