The purpose of this study is to explore neoclassical elements present in Krenek’s George Washington Variations. By identifying the stylistic features associated with the eighteenth and twentieth centuries, the study will examine Krenek’s application of his neoclassical tendencies. Key neoclassical elements include musical form and structure, key relationships, melody and harmony, and chromaticism. Since at this time there is little research on Krenek’s piano works, and none on the George Washington Variations, the result of this examination provides pianists and instructors with historically constructive information about Krenek’s musical style, as well as a deeper understanding of Krenek’s Neoclassicism in his George Washington Variations.

The Concierto Romántico for Piano and Orchestra is one of Manuel M. Ponce's outstanding compositional accomplishments from his Romantic period, reflecting both the state of Mexican music at the turn of the 20th century, and his early nationalist tendencies. However, it remains the only concerto in Ponce's output in need of a more comprehensive analysis. This treatise focuses on a global investigative that examines descriptive and analytic references to the work, as well as a comparison and clarification of the existing score sources. An analytical and stylistic musical study using conventional theoretical techniques leads to a musicological interpretation of the work's extra-musical meaning, based on close assessments of Ponce's compositional practice and social principles.

The Revolution of 1910 in Mexico marked a great political and social upheaval. At the same time a recasting of Mexico's music occurred. Modern Mexican music is a unique combination of the influence inherited from Europe and the indigenous music of the country. This work attempts to trace the development of that combination. Chapter I gives a background of music in Mexico through Pre-Cortesian times, the colonial period and the operatic nineteenth century. Chapter II deals with the men who shaped present day music in Mexico. Chapter III is an analysis of selected twentieth century piano works. The analysis shows the tendencies of ten Mexican composers in their use of melody and rhythm. It includes a discussion of harmonic structure and tonality. The composers whose works were chosen for consideration in the analysis range from Manuel M. Ponce, considered the father of modern Mexican music, to Carlos Chavez, recognized as the outstanding exponent of music in Mexico today.

In this bibliography an attempt has been made to furnish references to teachers that may assist them to develop in the students: (1) an attitude of friendly interest which will help to link the Americas in mutual respect and to promote a better understanding of problems to be met; (2) to gain an understanding and appreciation of the background of South American culture of today; (3) to become familiar with the folk music as well as the concert, both vocal and instrumental.

The Piano Sonatas of Rodolfo Halffter (b. 1900, Madrid, Spain) represent an important body of literature not widely known nor understood for their historical importance and Spanish heritage. The entire development of Halffter's compositional style, which embraces three periods of composition, may be traced through these sonatas. The modes of composition may be seen not to be separate and distinct but as having inter—relationships which therefore affect the outcome of Halffter's final dodecaphonic technique. The culmination of his serial method is found in the Tercera Sonata, op. 30. At first glance, this work appears to be a radical departure from the former styles. However, a more in-depth study reveals this sonata to be the logical outgrowth of earlier compositional techniques, thereby blending diverse, eclectic elements into a unique and homogenous application, all Halffter's own. Forced to flee his native country in 1939, Halffter became the first composer in Mexico to use twelve-tone techniques. Together with Carlos Chavez, he exerted great influence on the present generation's group of Mexican composers. Halffter today remains a crucial link in the continuation of the Spanish tradition as exemplified by his former mentor, Manuel de Falla. A brief explanation of Falla s theory of resonance …

One of the most recognized icons of Mexico is the mariachi moderno tradition, which in the global popular imaginary, is associated with nostalgic, humorous, and emotional songs of love, heartache, death, drinking, and place. Inseparably fused to tequila and the historic charro figure, mariachi moderno completes a symbolic trinity of hetero-nationalist culture, conveyed within a popular imaginary of authentic mexicanidad (Mexican-ness). For mariachis and aficionados in Mexico, performative hypermasculine machismo acts as a perceptual baseline, structuring modes of feeling that signify an experience of authentic nationalist musicality This process is musically constructed in an incorporation of bodily movement, instruments, sound timbres, and symbolic clothing, simultaneously gestured with a heavy male-accent fusing an experience that feels genuinely Mexican. This reflexive signification is a consequence of the lived experience, shared dispositions, and competencies learned in the habitus, constituting real and imagined notions of hetero-nationalist culture. I refer to this musical semiosis as mariachismo, a neologism describing an intersubjective experience of machismo-infused mariachi subjectivity, ritualized through repeated gestures of sound, lyric, and corporeality. The semiotic power of mariachismo is most potent for subjects enculturated to Mexico's hetero-nationalist culture, shaped by popular imaginaries operationalizing gender and mexicanidad, connecting the two, making them feel unquestioned, …