''La noche de los mayas'' is a

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...

by the Mexican composer

Silvestre Revueltas Silvestre Revueltas Sánchez (December 31, 1899 – October 5, 1940) was a Mexican composer of classical music, a violinist and a conductor. Life Revueltas was born in Santiago Papasquiaro in Durango, and studied at the National Conservatory ...

for the 1939 film of the same name, which relates to Mexico's

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, ...

heritage. Revueltas's score consists of 36 sequences without any organic relation to one another, composed to be easily fitted to an already-edited film. The work is best known in the symphonic suite extracted by the Mexican conductor , whose arrangement extensively alters Revueltas' original score.

Concert suites

Since Revueltas' death in 1940, the film score has been arranged for performance in the concert hall.

Hindemith

In 1946 the German composer

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ' ...

made a visit to Mexico where he met

Rosaura Revueltas Rosaura Revueltas Sánchez (August 6, 1910 – April 30, 1996) was a Mexican actress of screen and stage, and a dancer, author and teacher. Early life Rosaura Revueltas was born in Lerdo, Durango, Mexico to the famously artistic Revueltas famil ...

, sister of Silvestre. This led to his concert arrangement in two movements. Hindemith's version calls for a small orchestra consisting of: *2 flutes (both doubling piccolo) *1 oboe *2 clarinets *1 bassoon *4 horns *1 trumpet *1 trombone *1 tuba *timpani *percussion (tamtam, bass drum, cymbals, indian drum, maracas, güiro, xylophone) *strings

Limantour

In 1959, Mexican conductor José Yves Limantour made a four-movement suite from ''La noche de los Mayas''. In this version, Limantour "took every imaginable liberty", including the addition of a concluding, extended "improvisation" of exotic percussion instruments which is largely responsible for the music's success with audiences, who erroneously believe it to have been composed by Revueltas himself. # "Noche de los mayas", molto sostenuto # "Noche de jaranas", scherzo # "Noche de Yucatán", andante espressivo # "Noche de encantamiento", tema y variaciones It was premiered on 30 January 1961 by the Guadalajara Symphony Orchestra. It is scored for larger forces than Hindemith's version. *2 flutes (both doubling piccolo) *2 oboes *2 clarinets (both doubling E clarinet) *1 bass clarinet *2 bassoons *4 horns *3 trumpet *2 trombones *1 tuba *1 piano *timpani *percussion (12 players: bongos, conga, metal rattle (sonajes), güiro, 2 tom-toms, teponaxtles, bass drum (huehuetl), caracol, snare drum, tenor drum, Indian drum, suspended cymbal, tamtam, xylophone) *strings (Limantour's manuscript specifies 14 percussionists, but includes amongst them the timpani and piano.) Aware of the fact that Limantour's score specifies a percussion "improvisation" in the finale, more recent conductors such as

Esa-Pekka Salonen Esa-Pekka Salonen (; born 30 June 1958) is a Finnish orchestral conductor and composer. He is principal conductor and artistic advisor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and music di ...

Enrique Diemecke Enrique Arturo Diemecke (born July 9, 1952) is a Mexican conductor, violinist and composer. He is currently the Artistic General Director of the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and music director of the Buenos Aires Philharmonic and the Flint Symp ...

, and

Gustavo Dudamel Gustavo Adolfo Dudamel Ramírez (born 26 January 1981) is a Venezuelan conductor and violinist who is the music director of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Paris Opera. Early life Dudamel was ...

have ignored Limantour's written-out version and substituted their own "improvisations", often to better effect.

Ballet

Music by Revueltas has been used by Amalia Hernández for a ballet called "Los Mayas" about

Mayan Mayan most commonly refers to: * Maya peoples, various indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Maya civilization, pre-Columbian culture of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Mayan languages, language family spoken ...

culture.

Recordings

A suite from the score was recorded by RCA with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa, conducted by

Luis Herrera de la Fuente Luis Herrera de la Fuente (April 25, 1916 – December 5, 2014) was a Mexican conductor, pianist, violinist, composer and writer of the 20th century. De la Fuente gained many recognitions and awards in Mexico and worldwide. He conducted the Orqu ...

. The version by Hindemith was recorded by the Tempus Fugit Orquesta conducted by Christian Gohmer, and released by Quindecim Records in 2014. The version by José Limantour was recorded by the Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar, conducted by

and released on Deutsche Grammophon in 2010. Earlier, in 1959, Limantour had himself recorded his arrangement, conducting the Orquesta Sinfónica de Guadalajara. This was made around the time Limantour's arrangement was first performed.Silvestre Revueltas, ''Musica para charlar''; ''La noche de los Mayas''. Orquesta Sinfónica de Guadalajara; José Yves Limantour (cond.). Musart MCD 3022 (LP). Mexico City: Discos Musart.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Noche de los mayas, La Compositions by Silvestre Revueltas Orchestral suites