"Music that makes one think is intolerable, excruciating. There are people who like it; as to myself, I adore music that puts me to sleep". So Revueltas on one much-quoted occasion. Many readers would no doubt gladly have suggested a long list of music for his adored repertory. I certainly would have done myself; but the long list concerned would include none of Revueltas's own music, which would seem to me to be proof against successful inclusion. It is always colourful, almost always lively, and whether in dancing or more lyrical vein adored, in turn, by the Mexican people; understandably, for its idioms are largely those of Mexican folk-music raised to a higher, symphonic degree.

Try Janitzio, for example. Janitzio is a fishing village which has, like much of Mexico, been taken over by the tourists. To the hotels and postcards Revueltas has added his grain of sand (his words, not mine); and in the upshot if you ever have the luck to get to Mexico, and know this record, you will be hard put to it to leave Janitzio off the itinerary. No doubt to get there you will need to take some of the Caminos which offer Revueltas another title, and another excuse for one of those Latin fiestas which certainly inhibit the sleep he was so ardently recommending. Curiously, Me Itinerarios themselves inhabit a slightly different world; a new note of seriousness enters the music at this point, from which it may or may not be thought to benefit. Perhaps the variety of Redes will appeal more; this was originally a film score (The Wave) which will quite certainly have illuminated the soundtrack of any serious film in 1935 over and above the call of precedent. Finally Sensemayd, which exploits colour rather than variety; a pretty fixed rhythm is expounded by the orchestra to the extent of some six minutes.

But it is a captivating rhythm, and the New Philharmonia's exposition is splendid. I will not pose as an expert on the true Mexican sound, if there is such a thing; only observe that if a true Mexican sound is any noticeable improvement on this particular variety of true London sound then it will be worth going to Mexico to hear it. The colour, the attack, and especially the warmth of the orchestra are very well caught by the quality of recording.

-- Gramophone [5/1978, reviewing the New Philharmonia performances of Sensemayá, Redes, Caminos, Itinerarios, and Janitzio]

I would agree that the Homenaje to the murdered poet Lorca was one of [Revueltas'] most significant achievements—a long trumpet-led lament curiously interspersed with vivid dance-like episodes ''like El Salon Mexico on mescal'', as Page remarks about the last of the enjoyably pungent (but also lyrical) Alcancias (perhaps ''expansive bullets'' though, bewilderingly enough, it can also mean ''piggy-banks'' or ''brothel keepers''!). These latter pieces are brilliantly played by the London Sinfonietta, which then sobers up for the austere Planos, which the composer described as ''functional architecture''. Ocho x rondo is a scherzo (with a gentler central section) for octet, perhaps more immediately striking is a Toccata from the same year (1933), which demands (and gets) virtuoso playing from a chamber group. Revueltas's best-known work, the snake-killing ritual Sensemaya, is taken by Mata at the same deliberate pace he adopted with the Bolivar Orchestra of Venezuela (Dorian, 11/93) but sounds more decorous at the hands of the New Philharmonia.

There is, however, nothing sedate, except, very properly, in the evocative and beautiful third movement (''Night in Yucatan''), about the performance by the Jalapa (or Xalapa) Symphony under Fuente (whose Sensemaya for Pickwick was reviewed in 12/93) of the four-movement suite drawn from the music for the film La noche de los Mayas: its finale, with an orgy of manic percussion and brass would almost rouse the dead (which presumably was the scene it accompanied). A fascinating disc.

-- Lionel Salter, Gramophone [2/1995]

Revueltas, S.: Noche De Los Mayas (La) / Itinerarios / Venta

Revueltas, S.: Homenaje A Federico Garcia Lorca / Redes / Mu

Classical Music

In reviewing Naxos' former, relatively uninteresting recording of La Coronela (with the Aguascalientes Symphony Orchestra led by Enrique Barrios), I wrote "And as for Gisèle Ben-Dor's superb recording with the similarly fine Santa Barbara Symphony on Koch, about two seconds into the opening number (Los Privilegiados) it's clear that her swifter tempos, punchier accents, tighter rhythm, and superior wind soloists guarantee a more idiomatic Revueltas experience." Well, here she is now on Naxos. Yes, the work is not great Revueltas; it was left extremely incomplete at his death and assembled editorially from a variety of sources, but this performance (originally released on Koch) makes the best possible case for it. The shorter couplings, vintage Revueltas indeed, are fabulously played and conducted as well, so if you're a fan of this composer, frustrated to date by the unavailability of this major release, take heart and snap this up without delay.

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Sensemayá • La noche de los Mayas • La coronela

Silvestre Revueltas was born in Santiago Papasquiaro, Durango, a small town in the north of Mexico. As a child, he showed great interest in music, his early artistic bent apparent by 1906. When his family moved to Mexico City, he entered the National Conservatory of Music, studying the violin with José Rocabruna and composition with Rafael J. Tello.

In 1917 he moved to the United States to study at St Edward College in San Antonio, Texas, and later in Chicago, remaining there until 1924. After a rather long concert tour in Mexico and in the United States, he returned to his home country, where he remained from 1929 onwards. In 1929 Carlos Chávez offered him the position of assistant conductor of the Orquesta Sinfónica de México, which he held until 1936. Working together they were able to do much to promote Mexican music, offering a rich repertoire including works by the most outstanding and prominent names of the period. At the same time Revueltas began a very successful career as a prolific composer, activity which brought Cuauhnahuc (Cuernavaca) (1930), Esquinas (Corners) (1931), Ventanas (Windows) and Colorines (Coloured Beads) (1932), Janitzio (1933), Caminos (Roads) (1934), Homenaje a Federico García Lorca (Hommage to Federico García Lorca) (1936), Itinerarios (Routes) (1937) and Sensemayá (1938). This series of works constitutes a vivid example of his extraordinary contribution to the form of the national Mexican symphonic poem, with compositions that show his originality and freshness of inspiration, together with his technical mastery.