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Silvestre Revueltas He was born in Santiago Papasquiaro in Durango, and studied at the National Conservatory in Mexico City, St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas and the Chicago College of Music. He gave violin recitals and in 1929 was invited by Carlos Chávez to become assistant conductor of the Mexico Symphony Orchestra, a post he held until 1935. He and Chávez did much to promote contemporary Mexican music. It was around this time that Revueltas began to compose in earnest. He was part of a family of artists, a number of whom were also famous and recognized in Mexico; his brother Fermín (1901–1935) and sister Consuelo (b. before 1908, d. before 1999) were painters, sister Rosaura (ca. 1909–1996) was an actress and dancer, younger brother José Revueltas (1914–1976), was a noted writer. The only one of his three daughters to survive infancy, Eugenia (born 15 November 1934), is an essayist. His nephew Román Revueltas Retes, son of José, is a violinist, journalist, and painter. He went to Spain and worked for the Republicans during the Spanish Civil War, but upon Francisco Franco's victory, returned to Mexico to teach. He earned little, and fell into poverty and alcoholism. He died in Mexico City on the day his ballet El renacuajo paseador, written four years earlier, was premièred. He wrote film music, chamber music, songs and a number of other works. Among his orchestral music are a number of symphonic poems with Sensemayá: Chant for the Killing of a Snake (1938), based on a poem by Nicolás Guillén, the most famous. His musical language is often tonal but more often post-tonal,reflecting a modernist approach influenced by Bartók, Schoenberg, Stravinsky and others.[citation needed] His music is often vigourous, rhythmically vital, and frequently has a distinctly Mexican flavour. He appeared briefly as a bar piano player in the movie ¡Vámonos con Pancho Villa! (Mexico, 1935), for which he composed the music, placing a sign over the piano saying Se suplica no tirarle al pianista (We beg you not to shoot at the pianist). Revueltas died of pneumonia (complicated by alcoholism) in Mexico City on October 5, 1940, at the age of 40. His remains are kept at the Rotonda de los Hombres Ilustres in Mexico City. A lot of trivial writings about his music have been produced, particularly in Mexico, where musicological rigour has often been lacking. Still, in the last ten years, these writings have improved, and have become less anecdotal and more serious in nature. Exceptions being the novelesque writings of Luis Jaime Cortez and the pop-journalism of Contreras. Even Peter Garland's analytical views are timid, lacking scholarly depth, although his historical writings are valuable. Music compositions Chamber Works Orchestral Works Ballets Film Scores Songs Piano |
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