大象传媒

Kate Molleson and Alejandro Madrid explore Silvestre Revueltas鈥檚 fiery friendship with fellow composer Carlos Chavez.

Silvestre Revueltas was a blazingly energetic and politically charged musician, a whirlwind of a composer who lived through a time of great political and creative upheaval in Mexico. The French writer Andr茅 Breton was stunned when he visited the country and found not one unified identity, but many strikingly different cultures existing side by side with all of their clashing values, creeds, and customs. This kaleidoscopic and sometimes jarring world is the musical universe of Revueltas, one of a generation of artists who, along with Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, tried to encompass a true sense of Mexican identity in their works after the country鈥檚 revolution. In his personal life Revueltas also lived a life of fiery extremes, before succumbing to an early death exasperated by alcoholism. Over the course of this week of programmes, Kate Molleson tries to shed some light on this forgotten composer, guiding us through the rhythms of Silvestre Revueltas鈥檚 colourful life with the help of Professor Alejandro Madrid of Harvard University. They track Revueltas鈥檚 moves from revolutionary Mexico, to prohibition-era America, to the trenches of the Spanish Civil War, and back to his homeland. Although most of Revueltas鈥檚 works date from the final decade of his short life, it is music which bursts with energy, colour, and humour. It is music which speaks with irony and passion about politics and people, about both the joys and hardships of life. It is music that speaks of Mexico.

In Tuesday鈥檚 episode, Kate and Alejandro explore Silvestre Revueltas鈥檚 fiery friendship with fellow composer Carlos Chavez which led him back from the USA to Mexico City in the 1920s to teach and conduct the National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico.

Colorines
English Chamber Orchestra
Gis猫le Ben-Dor, conductor

Batik
Orquestre Filharmonica de Moravia
Jorge Perez Gomez, conductor

Cuauhnahuac
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Enrique B谩tiz, conductor

String Quartet no 4 鈥淢usica der Feria鈥�
Matangi Quartet

Planos
脫nix Ensamble
Jos茅 Are谩n, conductor

Redes (Part 1 鈥淭he Child鈥檚 Funeral鈥�)
Orquesta Sinfonica de la Universidad de Guanajuato
Jose Luis Castillo, conductor

Produced by Sam Phillips for 大象传媒 Audio Wales & West