Search - Silvestre Revueltas, Carlos Prieto, Carlos Miguel Prieto :: Revueltas 2

The music of Silvestre Revueltas (1899-1940) has steadily become better known outside of Mexico in recent years. Born in Durango, he studied violin and composition at the National Conservatory in Mexico City, and in Austin, Texas, and Chicago. At the invitation of Carlos Chávez, he became assistant conductor of the Mexico Symphony Orchestra in 1929 and began to compose prolifically.He wrote orchestral, vocal, chamber, and film music. His most famous work is the tone poem Sensemayá (1938). His music is vigorously rhythmic and has a strong Mexican flavor. La Noche de los Mayas ("The Night of the Mayas") was written for a 1939 film directed by Chano Urueta early in his career, when he still had artistic aspirations (in the 1960s he became better known for such cheap thrillers as The Brainiac and The Blue Demon vs. the Infernal Brains). The suite of four movements for concert use was arranged and edited by José Ives Limantour and first played by the Guadalajara Symphony Orchestra in 1960. Three other characteristic orchestral pieces fill out this CD. Carlos Miguel Prieto, one of the most dynamic and interesting young conductors in recent years, is music director of Mexico's oldest orchestra, the Xalapa Symphony Orchestra. He is also associate conductor of the Houston Symphony and music director of the Huntsville Symphony in Alabama.