Rafael Méndez (March 26, 1906 – September 15, 1981) was a

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

virtuoso A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'' or , "virtuous", Late Latin ''virtuosus'', Latin ''virtus'', "virtue", "excellence" or "skill") is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as ...

solo

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standar ...

er. He is known as the " Heifetz of the Trumpet."

Early life

Méndez was born in Jiquilpan,

Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo (; Purépecha: ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of ...

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

to a musical family. As a child, he performed as a

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a so ...

ist for guerrilla leader

Pancho Villa Francisco "Pancho" Villa (, Orozco rebelled in March 1912, both for Madero's continuing failure to enact land reform and because he felt insufficiently rewarded for his role in bringing the new president to power. At the request of Madero's c ...

, becoming a favorite musician of his and required to remain with Villa's camp.

Career

Before music

Méndez emigrated to the US, first settling in Gary,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

, at age 20 and worked in

steel mill A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-fi ...

s. He moved to

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and sta ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

and worked at a

Buick Buick () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American marques of automobiles, and was the company that established General ...

automotive plant as he established his musical career.

In music

From 1950 to 1975, Méndez was a full-time soloist. At his peak he performed about 125 concerts per year. He was also very active as a recording artist. By 1940, he was in Hollywood, leading the brass section of

M-G-M Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

's studio orchestra. He contributed to the films ''

Flying Down to Rio ''Flying Down to Rio'' is a 1933 American pre-Code RKO musical film famous for being the first screen pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, although Dolores del Río and Gene Raymond received top billing and the leading roles. Among ...

'' and '' Hondo'', among others. Méndez was legendary for his tone, range, technique and unparalleled double tonguing. His playing was characterized by a brilliant tone, wide

vibrato Vibrato (Italian, from past participle of " vibrare", to vibrate) is a musical effect consisting of a regular, pulsating change of pitch. It is used to add expression to vocal and instrumental music. Vibrato is typically characterised in terms o ...

and clean, rapid articulation. His repertoire was a mixture of classical, popular,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

, and Mexican

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

. He contributed many arrangements and original compositions to the trumpet repertoire. His ''Scherzo in D minor'' is often heard in recitals, and has been recorded by David Hickman. He is regarded as the popularizer of "La Virgen de la Macarena", commonly known as "the

bullfighter A bullfighter (or matador) is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter and describe all the performers in the activity ...

's song", to US audiences. Perhaps his most significant if not famous single recording, " Moto Perpetuo", was written in the nineteenth century by

Niccolò Paganini Niccolò (or Nicolò) Paganini (; 27 October 178227 May 1840) was an Italian violinist and composer. He was the most celebrated violin virtuoso of his time, and left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique. His 24 Caprices f ...

for violin and features Mendez

double-tonguing Tonguing is a technique used with wind instruments to enunciate notes using the tongue on the palate or the reed or mouthpiece. A silent "tee" is made when the tongue strikes the reed or roof of the mouth causing a slight breach in the air ...

continuously for over 4 minutes while

circular breathing Circular breathing is a technique used by players of some wind instruments to produce a continuous tone without interruption. It is accomplished by breathing through the nose while simultaneously pushing air through the mouth using air stor ...

to give the illusion that he is not taking a natural breath while playing.

Personal life

Rafael Méndez married Amor Rodriguez after meeting her in Detroit. They had twin sons, both now surgeons; Dr. Rafael G. Méndez, Jr. and Dr. Robert Méndez, and five grandchildren. Méndez suffered from serious

asthma Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, c ...

-related problems by the late 1950s which caused increasing difficulty performing at his level of performance. After an injury at a baseball game in Mexico in 1967 caused additional deterioration, he retired from performing in 1975, but continued to compose and arrange. He died at his home in Encino,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

on September 15, 1981.

Honors, awards and legacy

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in t ...

's music building houses the Rafael Méndez Library which was dedicated and opened on June 11, 1993. The library holds 300 manuscripts and almost 700 compositions and arrangements by Méndez, as well as hundreds of images, articles and recordings. It also has an online counterpart. In 2006, the

Los Angeles Opera The Los Angeles Opera is an American opera company in Los Angeles, California. It is the fourth-largest opera company in the United States. The company's home base is the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, part of the Los Angeles Music Center. Leadersh ...

paid tribute to Rafael Mendez by performing a work based on his life. A reviewer in ''

The Los Angeles Times ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

'' believed that Mendez "has been called the greatest trumpet player of all time."

Discography

*''Concerto for Méndez'' *''Love and Inspiration'' *''Magnificent Méndez'' *''Méndez in Madrid'' *''Méndez Plays Arban' *''Rafael Méndez & Laurindo Almeida Together'' *''Rafael Méndez (unplayed 4 disc set)'' *''Rafael Méndez and His Orchestra' *''The Magic Trumpet of Rafael Méndez'' *''The Majestic Sound of Rafael Méndez'' *''The Singing Trumpet'' *''The Trumpet Virtuosity of Rafael Méndez'' *'' Trumpet Extraordinary'' (1957) *''Trumpet Showcase'' *''Trumpet Solos Extraordinary'' *''Trumpet Spectacular''

References

External links

Rafael Méndez Online Library
at

with free

mp3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Orig ...

sound clips * * * *
Rafael Méndez recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The DAHR provides some of these original recordings, free of charge, via audio streaming, along with ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mendez, Rafael 1906 births 1981 deaths Mexican artists Mexican composers Mexican male composers Mexican music arrangers People from Jiquilpan, Michoacán Musicians from Michoacán Mexican trumpeters Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) 20th-century composers 20th-century trumpeters 20th-century male musicians Decca Records artists