Polymodal Diatonicism in José Pablo Moncayo’s Tierra de Temporal

By

Luis A. Sánchez, B.A.

A Thesis

In

Music Theory

Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

MASTER OF MUSIC

Approved

David Forrest Chair of Committee

Matthew Santa

Lauryn Salazar

Mark Sheridan Dean of the Graduate School

May 2018

Copyright 2018, Luis Sánchez

Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to thank my advisor and committee chairman, Dr. David Forrest. His encouragement, dedication, suggestions, and overall support helped develop and shape this paper. I would also like to extend my thanks to Dr. Lauryn Salazar for accepting to be on my committee, and who has encouraged me to continue writing about Moncayo through an ethnomusicological approach. A huge thank you to Dr. Matthew Santa, whose suggestions and edits were of great help, and for being a part of my committee.

I would like to thank my friends and colleagues from Texas Tech University for their overall encouragement and support. To my close friends from back home, thank you for lending a listening ear, and for your friendship.

I also wish to thank my mother, Margarita Sánchez, for her support and love, and my father, José Luis Sánchez, whose love for music has been an inspiration to me. I am also grateful to the rest of my family, whose continual encouragement has pushed me to never give up.

Finally, I am indebted and wholly appreciative to my partner, Dr. Ross Ipsen, who has acted as a pillar of comfort, strength, and encouragement throughout this whole process.

ii Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...... ii

ABSTRACT ...... iv

LIST OF FIGURES ...... v

I – INTRODUCTION...... 1

A Brief History of José Pablo Moncayo’s Life ...... 3 Mexican Musical Nationalism and use of Indigenous Characteristics ...... 11

II – METHODOLOGY ...... 19

Bartok’s Polymodal Chromaticism ...... 19 Moncayo’s Polymodal Diatonicism ...... 22 The Graph ...... 24

III – ANALYSIS...... 30

The A Section ...... 30 The B Section ...... 41 Return of the A Section (A’) ...... 46

IV – CONCLUSION...... 51

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 56

iii Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

ABSTRACT

In this paper, I aim to expand the analytical research on José Moncayo's music by engaging in a piece that is regarded by some authors as Moncayo's masterpiece, Tierra de Temporal. Moncayo implements pandiatonicism through the use of polymodality, a technique referred to by his mentor, Carlos Chávez, in a 1924 lecture at the national Autonomous University of México entitled "La Musica

Azteca." Pandiatonicism is a characteristic found in pieces that are considered a part of Mexican Nationalism. Béla Bartók coined the term Polymodal Chromaticism which he defined as the simultaneous use of different modes with the same tonic.

Adapting Bartók's term, this paper will use the term Polymodal Diatonicism to describe music that makes simultaneous use of different modes within the same diatonic collection. The main purpose of this research will be to expand our understanding of Moncayo's music, and to explore the use of Polymodal

Diatonicism.

iv Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

LIST OF FIGURES

1.1a Tierra de Temporal, mm. 4-11 ...... 10

1.1b Lever du Jour, mm. 10-15 ...... 10

1.2 Pregúntale a las Estrellas ...... 15

1.3 Characteristics in Mexican Musical Nationalism ...... 17

2.1 Example of polymodal chromaticism ...... 20

2.2a Fourteen Bagatelles, Op. 6, No. 1 – Original ...... 21

2.2b Fourteen Bagatelles, Op. 6, No.1 – Recomposed ...... 21

2.3 Muros Verdes, mm. 73-84 ...... 24

2.4 Thematic Group I, mm. 1-17 graphically represented ...... 25

2.5 The Five Anhemitonic Pentatonic Modes...... 29

3.1 Score and graph of mm. 22-33 ...... 32

3.2a Measures 33-38 ...... 34

3.2b Graph of mm. 34-42 ...... 34

3.3 Tierra de Temporal, theme from TGII, mm. 62-82 ...... 35

3.4a Measures 1-7...... 36

3.4b Graph of mm. 1-17 ...... 37

3.5a Theme from TGI, mm. 4-7...... 37

3.5b Measures 8-11 ...... 38

3.5c Measures 12-17 ...... 38

3.6 Measures 16-19, the first cadence ...... 39

3.7a Measures 46-50 ...... 40

3.7b Measures 51-55 ...... 41

v Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

3.8a Measures 141-149 ...... 42

3.8b Graph of mm. 141-151 ...... 42

3.9 Themes from TGIII and TGIV combined, mm. 280-288 ...... 43

3.10a Measures 164-171 ...... 44

3.10b Measures 172-178...... 45

3.11 Measures 225-233 ...... 46

3.12a Thematic Group II, mm. 63-128 ...... 47

3.12b Thematic Group II’, mm. 296-366 ...... 47

3.13 Graph of mm. 395-405 ...... 48

3.14 Measures 406 to ending ...... 49

4.1 Graph of the A Section ...... 51

4.2 Graph of the B Section ...... 53

4.3 Graph of the A’ Section ...... 54

vi Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

José Pablo Moncayo is known as one of Mexico’s nationalist composers. In fact, the end of the nationalist period is often assigned to the date of his death

(1958). He is widely known by his most famous work, Huapango, in which he showcases the popular music of the state of Veracruz. Unfortunately, most of his other music remains largely unexplored, and while a few analyses exist, the literature lacks a comprehensive analysis of his work.1 This paper aims to expand the analytical research on Moncayo’s music by engaging in a piece that is regarded by some authors as Moncayo’s masterpiece, Tierra de Temporal.2 This piece, roughly translated to “Land of Seasonal Rain,” implements many of the traits associated with

Mexican Nationalism, including pandiatonicism and use of pentatonic scales.

Moncayo’s pandiatonicism is created through the use of polymodality, a concept referred to by Moncayo’s mentor, Carlos Chávez, in a 1924 lecture at the National

Autonomous University of Mexico entitled “La Música Azteca (Aztec Music).”

For those whose ears have become conditioned by long familiarity with the European diatonic system, the “polymodality” of indigenous music inevitably sounds as if it were “polytonality.” It seems evident that either the aborigines

1 A few analyses exist where Moncayo’s music is discussed, including Tonatiuh García Jiménez’ performance dissertation titled Between Assimilation and Resistance of Western Musical Culture: Traces of Nationalism on José Pablo Moncayo’s Viola Sonata and Guillermo Hernandez’ dissertation titled Part I: Two pieces for orchestra: “Los Niños Heroes” and “El Porfiriato.” Part II: Two composers, Blas Galindo and Jose Pablo Moncayo: An analysis of two works written during the height of Mexican Nationalism. The piece discussed in the Moncayo section is his Huapango. 2 This opinion is held by José Antonio Alcaraz, a Moncayo scholar who wrote La Obra de José Pablo Moncayo, and by Armando Ramon Torres-Chibras, in his biography of Moncayo, José Pablo Moncayo, Mexican Composer and Conductor: A Survey of his Life with a Historical Perspective of His Time.

1 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

possessed an aural predisposition, or that an ingrained habit of listening was developed among them, which we today do not possess. They were thus enabled to integrate into meaningful wholes the disparate planes of sound that (in the European way of thinking) clashed in their music.”3

The “disparate planes of sound” and polymodality described by Chávez can be interpreted as a process of stratifying modal scales that were not meant to be heard individually, but as a complete amalgamation of sound. This process of stratification was evidently taught by Chávez in his composition workshop at the Mexican conservatory, as noted by one of his pupils, Blas Galindo:

The program – to describe it briefly – included the creation of solo melodies, from the simplest ones to those conceived in the scale of twelve tones. Therefore, the plan adjusted, in outline, to the historical evolving process of the melody. After this first stage of studies, the assignment consisted of superimposing two melodies. Subsequently, three, four, etc., until acquiring, as a result of such lineal superimpositions, the harmonic sense of verticality and the awareness of form, the latter determined by cadenced rests.4

Moncayo implements a similar process in Tierra de Temporal. His process of stratification, which involves the superimposition of modal diatonic scales, is a form of polymodality not yet examined. This paper will use the term “polymodal diatonicism” to describe music that makes simultaneous use of different modes within the same diatonic collection. I will therefore explore the use polymodal diatonicism in Moncayo’s piece as a means for creating a pandiatonic sound and examine the oscillation of conflict and unification as a result of stratification and synthesis of different modes.

3 Stevenson, Robert. Music in Aztec & Inca Territory. Berkeley, CA: University of California (1976): 16. 4 Galindo, Blas. “Compositores de mi Generación,” Nuestra Música 10 (Year 3, April 1948): 74.

2 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

Moncayo’s Huapango follows a different process of composition and does not employ polymodal diatonicism. Huapango was composed as a result of a trip to the

Mexican state of Veracruz, where Moncayo transcribed some of the popular music heard there. He was told by his first composition instructor, Eduardo Hernandez

Moncada, to “expose the music first in the same way you heard it and develop it later according to your own thought.”5

Chapter One describes Moncayo’s early life up to his early death, elaborating on his time at the Conservatory, his relationship with Carlos Chávez and his time as a composer and conductor of Mexico’s top orchestras. Chapter One continues by describing the Mexican musical nationalist traits found in the music of Moncayo and his contemporaries during and after the Mexican Revolution. Chapter Two details the methodology taken to analyze Tierra de Temporal. In Chapter Three, I analyze

Tierra beginning with sections that display stratification and conflict, then unified sections, and then sections that are ambiguous. Chapter Four continues with a review of the theory presented in Chapter Three and concludes with a proposal for future research.

A Brief History of José Pablo Moncayo’s Life

José Pablo Moncayo was born on June 29th, 1912 in Guadalajara, Jalisco to

Francisco Moncayo Casillas and Juana García López. Moncayo was one of nine

5 Alcaraz, Jose Antonio. La Obra De Jose Pablo Moncayo. Diffusion Cultural / UNAM (1975): 10.

3 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018 children, as reported by his daughter, Clara Elena. In 1918, Moncayo’s family decided to move to Mexico City when Moncayo was six years old.

Moncayo’s first instructor in music was his brother, Francisco. Not much information is known as to when exactly Moncayo started lessons with his brother, or what kind of lessons were being taught to him. In 1926 at the age of 14, Moncayo began piano lessons with Eduardo Hernandez Moncada. At that time, Hernandez

Moncada was a pianist-conductor of a small orchestra that accompanied silent films played at the best theatre in the city, Olimpia Movie Theater. Around the same time,

Moncayo began to compose, resulting in two pieces with humorous titles: Romanza de las flores de calabaza (Romance of the Pumpkin Flowers) and Fantasia Intocable

(Unplayable Fantasy). He attributes these titles to Debussy, being quoted as saying,

“If Debussy wrote to the maiden with linen-hair (La fille aux cheveux de lin), why should I not write for the pumpkin flowers?”6

The year 1928 served as the formal beginning of Mexican Nationalism, with the birth of the Orquesta Nacional de Mexico (OSM) headed by Chávez. It is speculated by Torres-Chibras that Moncayo could have had his first taste of musical nationalism from sitting in the audience while watching his brother Francisco and his instructor Hernandez Moncada rehearse with the orchestra.7

6 Ibid. 7 Torres-Chibras, Armando Ramon. Jose Pablo Moncayo, Mexican Composer and Conductor: A Survey of His Life with a Historical Perspective of His Time. University of Missouri-Kansas City (2002): 82.

4 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

The Conservatory

The following year for Moncayo is marked with an achievement and a family crisis. At Hernandez Moncada’s request, Moncayo applied to the National

Conservatory of Mexico, and was accepted. Unfortunately, soon after, Moncayo’s father passed away. Moncayo’s older brothers Francisco and Alfonso took the responsibility of taking care of the family financially. In order to finance his own education at the conservatory, Moncayo began to play jazz piano at local venues in

Mexico City.

At the conservatory, Candelario Huízar taught harmony, counterpoint, and analysis. Sight reading was taught by Vicente T. Mendoza and Gerónimo Baqueiro

Foster, while music history was taught by Ernesto Enríquez. Hernandez Moncada was the associate conductor of the conservatory chorale, and at different periods also taught piano, harmony, sight reading, and opera ensembles. José Rolón, a renown composer and lecturer in harmony, counterpoint, and fugue at the time, studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger and Paul Dukas. It is unknown what courses

Moncayo enrolled in at the conservatory, but sources point out that he did take private composition lessons with Huízar.8

Moncayo and his fellow classmates urged Chávez to start a formal composition class, with Chávez as the main instructor. It was not until 1931 that such a class was initiated, first called the Class of Musical Creation but later changed to the Composition Workshop. Chávez took many pupils for this class, including

8 Ibid., 86.

5 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018 fellow colleagues Vicente T. Mendoza, Candelario Huízar, and Silvestre Revueltas

(who had at Chávez’ request taken the position of violin instructor). There were many younger students that also took the class, but only four at the end were able to make it to the final examination: Moncayo, Salvador Contreras, Daniel Ayala, and

Blas Galindo. Galindo describes the training received in class:

We used no text. All the students worked untiringly, writing melodies in all the diatonic modes, in a melodic scale of twelve tones, and in all of the pentatonic scales. Hundreds of melodies were written, but not merely as exercises on paper. We had instruments in the classroom, and the melodies were played on them, and found to be adequate or inadequate to the resources of the specific instruments. The result is that the young boys in particular now write melodies with amazingly acute instrumental feeling.9

The conservatory also held a Research Academy who was evidently charged with the collection and cataloguing of indigenous music; this collection had a direct effect in Chávez’ composition class. These indigenous melodies were arranged and performed by an ensemble created by Chávez called the Orquesta Mexicana, complete with modern and indigenous instruments. The intent was to plant the seeds of nationalism by giving the students “a living comprehension of the musical tradition of their own country.”10

Life as a Conductor and Composer

Moncayo’s career took off in 1940 both as a composer and a conductor. The following year, Chávez tasked both Moncayo and Galindo to travel to Veracruz and

Alvarado in order to research the local folk music and create arrangements for

9 Parker, Robert. Carlos Chávez: Mexico’s Modern-day Orpheus, 10-11. 10 Ibid., 11.

6 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018 orchestra. Moncayo’s research culminated in the writing of Huapango, his most famous piece. Unfortunately, Huapango’s popularity has overshadowed the rest of

Moncayo’s work.

The following year, with a scholarship from the Rockefeller Foundation, both

Moncayo and Galindo were able to study in the United States at the Berkshire Music

Institute (now named the Tanglewood Music Center). While at Berkshire, Moncayo was acquainted with other fellow composers and conductors such as Leonard

Bernstein and Lukas Foss. He might have also met Paul Hindemith, Alberto

Ginastera, and Edgar Varèse.11 There Moncayo was able to complete Sinfonia, his first symphony, which he began to write before heading to Berkshire. He also completed another major work, Llano grande (Large Plain) for chamber orchestra, where it was premiered on August 21st, 1942, during the Berkshire Music Festival. It is speculated that he composed this piece while attending Copland’s composition course.12 His Sinfonia would not be premiered until September 1st, 1944, two years after his time at Berkshire.

His conducting opportunities did not develop until 1944 when he was asked to conduct his Huapango with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Repertorio. Later on, still a member of the percussion section of the OSM, Chávez allowed Moncayo to guest conduct the OSM. He was formally appointed the Assistant Conductor of the OSM in

11 Torres-Chibras quotes Blas Galindo and his experiences at Berkshire. Galindo mentions that he met Hindemith, Ginastera, and Varèse while at Berkshire. Since Moncayo and Galindo were good friends, it is not too much of a stretch to assume that Moncayo might have met these composers as well. 12 Torres-Chibras, Armando Ramon. 150.

7 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

1945, and in that same year he premiered another one of his orchestral pieces with the OSM, Sinfonietta.

Because of his recent conducting successes, Moncayo was promoted to

Artistic Director of the OSM the following year (1946) by recommendation of

Chávez. As a director, Moncayo was able to acquaint himself deeply with the music he was going to later conduct and was perhaps influenced by the music he conducted. It is noted that one of Moncayo’s favorite pieces to conduct was

Stravinsky’s Firebird. During his time as the Artistic Director, Moncayo kept composing, but it appears he was quite occupied as the Artistic Director since he did not produce many compositions. In 1948, Moncayo left the OSM, perhaps burdened by the duties expected of him as the Artistic Director. The year before, the

Department of Fine Arts created the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional (OSN). Most members of the OSM were also members of OSN, including Moncayo. The last performance of the OSM was on June 21st, 1948 (Moncayo had left the orchestra before February of that same year).

At the premiere of the OSN’s first concert, Hernandez Moncada, conducted the orchestra and held the position of Artistic Director. Due to some internal problems soon afterwards, Hernandez Moncada stepped down from his position. In

1949, at Chávez’ request as the head of the Department of Fine Arts, Moncayo was appointed as the Artistic Director of the orchestra. This same year marked the 100th anniversary of Frédéric Chopin’s death; in celebration, concerts, lectures, and a composition contest were organized by a national committee. Moncayo composed

Tierra de Temporal for this contest and submitted it anonymously since he was

8 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018 currently the director of the OSN who would eventually premiere each of the selected winning pieces under his baton. Tierra de Temporal was picked as one of three winning compositions, along with Miguel Bernal Jiménez’ Tres cartas a México

(Three Letters to Mexico) and Joaquín Gutiérrez Heraz’ Divertimento in C.13

José Antonio Alcaraz, who was a pupil of Moncayo’s at the conservatory, refers to Tierra de Temporal as Moncayo’s masterpiece. He goes on to recount that

Tierra de Temporal could have been named “Ravel’s Forgotten Pages” because the intro to Tierra de Temporal was reminiscent to the opening from the third act from

Daphnis et Chloé, Lever du jour (Daybreak). He went on to say that he personally believes it to be an homage to Ravel because Moncayo had a great admiration of the

French composer. He quotes Moncayo as saying, “I care very little if it is similar or not to Ravel’s melody, what matters is the music that I wrote with it.”14 Instead of feeling a sense of pride and accomplishment from being compared to a well-known

European composer, Moncayo rejects this notion outright, and instead asserts his own autonomy. It would be peculiar for Moncayo to submit a piece paying homage to Ravel to a competition revolving around the commemoration of Chopin’s death.

Therefore, although there are some resemblances to Ravel’s intro, it is hard to say that this was specifically an homage to Ravel.

13 Ibid., 175. 14 Alcaraz, Jose Antonio. La Obra De Jose Pablo Moncayo. Diffusion Cultural / UNAM, 1975, 13.

9 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

Figure 1.1a: Tierra de Temporal, mms. 4-11

Figure 1.1b: Lever du Jour, mms. 10-15

Comparing the main melody from the intro of Tierra de Temporal, and the melody from Lever du Jour, both shown in Figure 1.1, showcase a few similarities.

3 Superficially, both melodies are in 4, and share a 2-sharp key signature. A descending fourth motive is found in both melodies, followed by a gradual ascension to the higher register. Moncayo’s melody is ambiguous tonally, while an emphasis on E and B is heard throughout Ravel’s melody, leading up to the climax on B and F♯ in measure 15, indicating B as the tonic of this passage. Rhythmically, Moncayo’s differs from Ravel’s piece. Each measure in Moncayo’s piece differs from the previous measure and the measure that follows. Ravel’s melody reveals the same rhythm in each measure up until measure 15. Moncayo’s m. 10 is also almost identical to Ravel’s mm. 11 and 13. The similarities between both pieces start and stop there, therefore making comparisons between Ravel’s and Moncayo’s style of melody nebulous.

Moncayo continued to conduct and compose in the following years. He gained some international attention with the premier of Zapata (1953) in Romania,

10 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018 a ballet choreographed by Guillermo Arriaga using the music from Tierra de

Temporal. The following year, Moncayo was replaced by Luis Herrera de la Fuente as the Music Director of the OSN for unknown reasons. On the other hand, Moncayo married his sweetheart Clara Elena Rodríguez del Campo later in that same year.

Moncayo’s final years are marked with some successes and sadness. After his dismissal as the director of the OSN, Moncayo was able to support his wife and two daughters (both born during the last four years of his life) by teaching at the

National Conservatory where he taught orchestral and choral conducting, harmony, and composition. During this time, he composed the ballet Tierra; sadly, he was unable to attend its premiere as it was after his death. Despite being able to support his family through teaching, the transition from leading the most important orchestra in the country to teaching at the conservatory likely stressed Moncayo financially. Moncayo started to exhibit symptoms of an illness due to the stress that would later take his life. He was able to write one last piece titled Pequeño Nocturno

(Little Nocturne) for solo piano on March 19th, 1958. He died only a couple of months later in his home on June 16th, thirteen days before his forty-sixth birthday.15

Mexican Musical Nationalism and use of Indigenous Characteristics

Various scholars consider Moncayo one of the nationalist figures in Mexican music, along with Chávez, Revueltas, and Manuel Ponce. His composition, Tierra de

15 Torres-Chibras, Armando Ramon. 204.

11 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

Temporal has also been called an exemplary piece of the nationalist thought. This said, a review of the traits of nationalism found in music during this period is essential to understand Tierra’s relationship to the nationalist style.

The rise of nationalism in Mexico began right after the start of the Mexican

Revolution of 1910. A construction of a Mexican national identity was sought out by the government in an effort to unite people of all social and ethnic classes.

Previously, the contributions of the middle and the lower classes were ignored. The appointment of José Vasconcelos as the head of the newly created Ministry of Public

Education in 1920 was an important step into sponsoring the nationalist sentiment.

He headed a project whose main goal was the following:

One of the purposes of the [Ministry of Public Education] is to strengthen the ties of nationality, because only then the Mexican homeland will be truly constituted. With this laudable aim, it is giving a great impulse to cultural aesthetics, which will make the beauty of our own soil be known and felt; which will cultivate the emerging Mexican music; which will make out poets and novelists sing our beauties; that architect cultivate indigenous styles in which they will find hitherto unknown beautiful motifs; that instead of being inspired by the masterworks of foreign artists, our painters will find inspiration upon the sublime and majestic creations of our exuberant nature; that the conceptions of art will have application in the industries, and finally, that the joys that music, painting, poetry, drama, provide will not be an exclusive privilege of a few, but heritage of all.16

The Ministry’s goal recognized a need for the Mexican people to unite and look back to their pre-Hispanic roots for inspiration and, in a way, reject the

Western influence. This nationalist project and mentality was distributed through the various arts. In the visual arts, this sentiment manifested in the form of the

Muralist movement. The three most known artists of the time, Diego Rivera, José

16 Pufleau, Luis Velasco. “Nationalism, Authoritarianism and Cultural Construction: Carlos Chávez and Mexican Music (1921-1952).” Music and Politics 6, no. 2 (2013), 3.

12 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros, were commissioned by Vasconcelos to create murals in public spaces, making art accessible to all, not just the educated and high-class. This made murals an ideal way of sharing the nationalist ideas with the people. The Olmec people of southern Mexico were the first to depict art through murals, and this eventually spread and became a tradition in pre-Hispanic Mexico.

The return to these traditions in public spaces was the goal of the nationalist movement. Notably, although there was a fascination with pre-Hispanic culture, the present-day indigenous communities were still approached with disdain. Mexico, according to Vasconcelos, would be unified if every single Mexican – the poor, the rich, white, mestizos, and the indigenous – were educated and exposed to art based on the Iberian culture.17 This is summarized in Vasconcelos’ essay La Raza Cosmica

(The Cosmic Race) published in 1924, which proclaimed that the mestizos of Mexico were the product of the amalgamation of the four races – the European, Asian,

African, and Indian – and were therefore the fifth and “cosmic” race.18 The ultimate goal of this fifth race and Mexico in general, was the unification of the entire populace into a “homogenous, Western-style, Hispanic-based, mixed-race culture.”19

The creation of this fifth race therefore came at the cost of assimilating every single culture into one.

Nationalism has been defined as “exalting one nation above all others and placing primary emphasis on promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to

17 Saavedra, Leonora. Of Selves and Others: Historiography, Ideology, and the Politics of Modern Mexican Music. University of Pittsburgh. PhD Diss., 2001, 59. 18 Ibid. 19 Ibid., 60-61.

13 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018 those of other nations.” The logical question then asked by Mexican composers was

“What constitutes the Mexican sound?” Other countries who had created a national sound first began by researching their region’s folk-music and then integrating various elements of their folk-music into a composition, such is the case of Béla

Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, Antonín Dvořák, and Ralph Vaughn Williams. Composers integrated folk songs, dances, and rhythms, often using their music to portray a country’s landscapes or subject matter that was specific to their country’s history in the form of operas and ballets.

“‘Muros Verdes’ and the Creation of a New Musical Space” by Ricardo

Miranda-Pérez is an article that accounts for Chávez’s thoughts on music and details the characteristics he regards as nationalistic music. Additionally, his paper also features vague language that this paper will attempt to address. His article describes the Mexican Nationalist style as implementing the following: constant change of time signatures, use of repetition in the form of an ostinato, and pandiatonicism.20

Moreover, he mentions a few composers and pieces that feature elements of the

Mexican Nationalistic style but provides no examples in the form of musical notation to further support his claim. Miranda-Pérez does state exactly where in the scores these nationalist characteristics are derived, but he leaves it to the reader to find these examples in scores that are difficult to obtain, especially of composers that are not as well-known in the classical musical canon. It is also not clear if all or some of

20 Miranda-Perez, Ricardo. ““Muros Verdes” and the Creation of New Musical Space.” Latin American Music Review / Review de Musica Latinoamericana 11, no. 2 (1990): 281.

14 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018 these characteristics must be present in a score in order to label the style as nationalistic.

Figure 1.2 – Pregúntale a las Estrellas21

A few additional characteristics can be gathered from Mexican popular folk music, such as Pregúntale a las Estrellas (see Figure 1.2). The piano accompaniment in the first three measures showcases three things: an ostinato bass pattern, a three- against-two rhythmic pattern, and a preference for tonic and dominant chord progressions. Once the soloist begins to sing, the piano further accompanies the voice in parallel thirds or sixths. The rhythm in the bass is derived from the popular

21 This particular folk melody was gathered by ethnomusicologist Eleanor Hague, with pianist Edward Kilenyi adding the piano accompaniment.

15 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018 contradanza or habanera folk rhythm. Although the contradanza is not native to

Mexico, it is a popular rhythm found in many folk music from Mexico.

Chávez is probably the most important figure in Mexican musical nationalism. Through his political affiliations, Chávez gained the directorship of the

National Conservatory of Music, and the Music Director of the OSM. In these positions, Chávez had direct influence and control over what music was played through the symphony orchestra, and what direction music should take through the conservatory. His idea of nationalism was similar to that of the muralists: a revitalization of the indigenous culture. Through different means, Chávez studied the music of the Aztec people and sought to incorporate their music into large

Western forms, while also creating a primitive, modern aesthetic.

In his lecture, La Música Azteca, Chávez expressed the direction Mexican music should head towards, or essentially go back to. The music of the indigenous people of Mexico is described by Chávez as the quintessential Mexican sound. He depicts music of the Aztec people as having the following characteristics: a minor- quality sound, monotony, use of pentatonic scales lacking the semitone, simultaneous sounding of different pentatonic melodies, and two or more rhythms the beats of which never coincide.22 It is important to note that his findings are essentially conjecture, as no known Aztec music was ever preserved. His research was based on excavated instruments, Spanish codices, and by studying the music of

22 Stevenson, Robert. Music in Aztec & Inca Territory. Berkeley, CA: University of California (1976): 16-17.

16 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018 other indigenous Mexican people. All the characteristics mentioned have been summarized and categorized in Figure 1.3.

Characteristics as found in Nationalist Mexican Music

Characteristics in Mexican folk music Aztec Characteristics

Constant change of time signatures Minor-quality sound

Ostinato Monotony

Pandiatonicism Anhemitonic Pentatonic scales

3 against 2/vice versa polyrhythm Polyrhythm

Melodies in parallel thirds/sixths Simultaneous sounding of different pentatonic melodies Tonic to dominant-seventh chord progressions

Figure 1.3: Characteristics in Mexican Musical Nationalism

Concluding Remarks

Many scholars have concluded that Moncayo’s Tierra de Temporal is without any doubt his masterpiece. Moncayo was known to enjoy walks outdoors and explore the Mexican scenery and landscapes, and therefore, attempted to describe the scenery through his compositions. Moncayo composed other pieces titled after certain locations, but why is Tierra de Temporal his masterpiece? According to

Armando Torres-Chibras, it is more than the description of a barren landscape that

Moncayo has musically described. He eloquently summarizes his thoughts on the orchestral piece in Moncayo’s biography:

17 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

It is a musical picture of a bucolic, idealized landscape of Mexico that depicts the opposite face of modern Mexico: the profound Mexico, immutable, everlasting, enduring and monolithic, like the inscrutable, wrinkled faces of the old women going to the village church or the rugged, course hands of the hungry peasants breaking their ground with ancestral ploughs. Tierra de Temporal has beautiful moments of poetry, nostalgic evocation of the mestizo soul, in which the impressionist orchestral colors are combined with Mexican rhythms and idioms. In Tierra de Temporal, Moncayo is not the contemporary of all men, not even of the contemporary musicians who were producing trendy works of total serialism or electronics; here is the expression of the other Mexico beyond the modernity of Mexico City, the country that reveals its real face, with its social, economic, cultural and technological backwardness, but proud of its traditions, or its simplicity, of its eternal and serene melancholy.23

23 Torres-Chibras, Armando Ramon. 177.

18 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

CHAPTER II

METHODOLOGY

This chapter will take a comprehensive look at the different uses of polymodalism from the perspective of Béla Bartók and José P. Moncayo.

Additionally, I will discuss the methodology that will be used to analyze Tierra de

Temporal.

Bartók’s Polymodal Chromaticism

To point the essential difference between atonality, polytonality, and polymodality, in a final word on this subject, we may say that atonal music offers no fundamental tone at all, polytonality offers – or is supposed to offer-- several of them, and polymodality offers a single one. Therefore our music, I mean the new Hungarian art music, is always based on a single fundamental tone, in its sections as well as in its whole… Polymodality is to be found especially in my works…24

This quote asserts that, for Bartók, much of his own music is in fact not atonal or polytonal, but polymodal. He further proceeds to define polymodalism as a having two or more church modes that are superimposed that share the same tonic.

Further along in his lecture, he defines two forms of polymodality. Restricted polymodality refers to the use of modal scales that share the same tonic, but are found in different voices, facilitating the identification of the modal scales used. The chosen modal scales are not restricted to a particular voice, as Bartók notes that the scales are free to move to a different voice, but the voices always remain separate.

The second form of polymodality is termed by Benjamin Suchoff as a composite

24 Bartók, Béla, and Benjamin Suchoff. Béla Bartók Essays. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press (1993): 370-371.

19 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018 polymodality, referring to scales made up two or more parent modal scales, such as the Lydian-Mixolydian scale, which is a diatonic major scale with a raised 4th and a lowered 7th.25

In his Harvard lectures, Bartók coined the term “polymodal chromaticism” which he defined as the simultaneous use of different modes sharing the same tonic, such as C Lydian and C Phrygian, whose combination results in all twelve chromatic pitches (seen in Figure 2.1).26 Through its use, Bartók was able to use all twelve pitches in a functional manner, with a defined pitch center, and without the need to resolve the chromaticism.

C Lydian C Phrygian

Composite of C Lydian and C Phrygian

Figure 2.1: Example of polymodal chromaticism

25 Suchoff, Benjamin. Bartok’s Mikrokosmos: Genesis, Pedagogy, and Style. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press (2004): 117. 26 Ibid.

20 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

An example of his polymodal chromaticism is found in his Bagatelle, Op.6 No.

1. As shown in Figure 2.2a, Bartók assigns each staff to its own key signature, limiting each hand with pitches solely found within their designated signatures.

Bartók describes the mode of this particular Bagatelle as a Phrygian-colored C-

Major scale.27 In Figure 2.2b, I rewrote this section with no key signature, and enharmonically respelled the right-hand to demonstrate their relationship to a C-

Phrygian scale. I highlighted the notes that belong to a C-Phrygian scale in red boxes, and the notes that belong to a C-Lydian scale in blue boxes. Notes C and G belong to both scales and are therefore not highlighted. This combination of scales creates a composite polymodal scale or a C-Phrygian-Lydian scale.

Figure 2.2a: Fourteen Bagatelles, Op. 6, No. 1 – Original

Figure 2.2b: Fourteen Bagatelles, Op. 6, No.1 - Recomposed

27 Bartók, Béla, and Benjamin Suchoff. Béla Bartók Essays. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press (1993): 432-33.

21 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

Moncayo’s Polymodal Diatonicism

In contrast to Bartók’s polymodal chromaticism, whose goal was to create a chromatic texture while maintaining a tonal center, Moncayo’s polymodal diatonicism creates a pandiatonic texture. Pandiatonicism in itself is a troublesome term. First coined by Nicolas Slonimsky and defined as “all seven degrees of the diatonic scale used freely in democratic equality.”28 It was later observed that

Slonimsky himself did not like the term and preferred a professor’s definition: “C- major that sounds like hell.”29 The New Harvard Dictionary of Music’s defines pandiatonicism as “such music, including some associated with neoclassicism, often employ[ing] dissonant diatonic harmonies such as added sixth, seventh, and ninth chords.”30 This definition is insufficient and lacking, as mentioned by James

Woodward in his dissertation, where he sets out to define pandiatonicism properly, and identify techniques in order to recreate a pandiatonic sound.31 One aim of this paper is to add polymodal diatonicism to the techniques listed under the pandiatonic criteria started by Woodward, as well as begin to expand our understanding of Moncayo’s music.

Moncayo’s polymodal diatonicism is based on a layering of different modes within the same diatonic collection. This example (Figure 2.3) of polymodal diatonicism is taken from Moncayo’s solo piano piece titled Muros Verdes (Green

28 Slonimsky, Nicolas. Nicolas Slonimsky: The First Hundred Years. New York: Schirmer Books (1994): 358. 29 Woodward, James Charles. A System for Creating Pandiatonic Music. Arizona State University. PhD diss. (2009): 2. 30 Randel, Don Michael, ed., The New Harvard Dictionary of Music (Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1986): 605. 31 Woodward, James Charles. 2.

22 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

Walls). The left hand or lower stratum plays only three notes: A, B, and C, with a strong emphasis on A. Distinguishing a tonal focus within a stratum is aided by the salience conditions provided by Fred Lerdahl. Salient pitches can be identified by the following:

1. Attacked within the region 2. In a relatively strong metrical position 3. Relatively loud 4. Relatively prominent timbrally 5. In an extreme (high or low) registral position 6. Relatively dense 7. Relatively long in duration 8. Relatively important motivically 9. Next to a relatively large grouping boundary 10. Parallel to a choice made elsewhere in the analysis32

The right hand is comprised of notes from a pentatonic scale (D E A G B), with an emphasis on D, as seen in the melodic cadence in measure 84 (which is the last measure of this example). This type of polymodalism muddles a sense of tonic, and therefore creates a pandiatonic sound.

32 Lerdahl, Fred. “Atonal prolongational structure.” Contemporary Music Review. 4 (1989): 65-87

23 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

Figure 2.3: Muros Verdes, mm. 73-84

The Graph

Stratification and Form

In order to identify the strata in Moncayo’s Tierra de Temporal, this paper will use Philip Rupprecht’s process of strata identification. Rupprecht defines tonal stratification as “a division of tonal activities into recognizably independent textural regions, strata.” He goes on by implementing rules in order to identify stratification in music: “a tonal stratum requires for its definition both a specific registral location and a recognizable functional independence from tonal activities elsewhere in the complete texture.”33 To capture this process of stratification, I created a graph to help visualize each stratum (see Figure 2.4). The left column is subdivided into eight rows, each supplying various information.

33 Rupprecht, Philip. “Tonal Stratification and Uncertainty in Britten’s Music.” Journal of Music Theory 40, no. 2 (1996): 311.

24 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

Section A Thematic Material Thematic Group I Measure 1-7 8-11 12-17 18-21 22-25 26-34

Upper Stratum F#P AM ED F#P AM BA

Middle Stratum AM ED F#P

Lower Stratum DI ED DI ED Collection 2# Key Signature 2#

Figure 2.4: Thematic Group I, mm. 1-34 graphically represented

The first row indicates the larger sections of this piece. The second row gives us the thematic material per section. The third row further subdivides the thematic material in each section by measure numbers. The fourth, fifth, and sixth row display each stratum, divided by register. In order to describe the scalar organization in Ralph Vaughn Williams’ Five Variants of “Dives and Lazarus,” Ian

Bates creates a graphical representation that displays the relationship between the modes in every single key.34 He also provides an outline of the piece itself, detailing each section and the principal diatonic tonalities used and the key signatures of those tonalities in each section. The labels in rows 4, 5, and 6 of Figure 2.4 use a similar type of representation in order to analyze Tierra de Temporal, detailing when exactly, by measure, a principal diatonic mode is used. The capital letter

34 Bates, Ian. “Vaughan Williams’s Five Variants of “Dives and Lazarus”: A Study of the Composer’s Approach to Diatonic Organization.” Music Theory Spectrum 34, no. 1 (2012): 35

25 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018 indicates the tonal emphasis, while the subscript denotes the diatonic mode. For example, the F# with a subscript P, would indicate F# Phrygian. The seventh row denotes the collection of pitches for a particular section. “2#” indicates pitches found in a 2-sharp key signature. And finally, the eighth row features the actual printed key signature in the score.

Diatonic Organization in Tierra de Temporal

The movement between tonal foci is facilitated by a fixed-domain diatonic relationship. Ian Bates refers to three diatonic domains that facilitate this movement: key signature, scale type, and tonic.35 For example, movement between

A-Mixolydian to A-Phrygian is facilitated by a fixed-tonic relationship. Movement from A-Mixolydian to E-Mixolydian is made possible by a fixed-scale-type relationship. In the previous example, the A-Mixolydian scale would employ a 2- sharp key signature, while the E-Mixolydian scale would employ a 3-sharp key signature. Although the same scale-type was retained, the tonic and key signature changed. This relationship can be summarized by a formulaic expression: if x is retained, then y and z will change, with x representing one of the three domains, and y and z representing the other two.

Key signatures in Tierra de Temporal do not necessarily reflect the collection of pitches used by Moncayo. Additionally, because of the stratification and tonal ambiguity of each stratum, this paper will adapt a different terminology for the

35 Ibid., 36.

26 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018 domain types. I will use pitch collection instead of key signature, scale type will remain the same, and tonal emphasis or focus will replace tonic. Therefore, in mm.

1-34 in Figure 2.4, the pitch collection remains as the fixed-domain, allowing

Moncayo to change tonal emphasis and scale-types at will.

Moncayo’s Pentatonicism

As discussed in Chapter 1, a characteristic typically found in Mexican musical nationalism is the use of pentatonic scales that lack the semitone. Carlos Chávez offers the following on that subject:

The Aztecs showed a predilection for those intervals, which we call the minor third and the perfect fifth; the use of other intervals was rare. This type of interval preference, which must undoubtedly be taken to indicate a deep-seated and intuitive yearning for the minor, found appropriate expression in modal melodies, which entirely lacked the semitone. [The pentatonic series, which lacks the semitone was the type of five-note scale used by most aboriginal American tribes]. Aztec melodies might begin or end in any degree of the five- note series. [...]. Since the fourth and seventh degrees of the major diatonic scale (as we know it) were completely absent for this music, all the harmonic implications of our all-important leading tone were banished from Aztec melody.

Since Moncayo’s use of pentatonic melodies might center on any degree in the pentatonic scale, the graph will differentiate between the different rotations of the pentatonic scale, labeling them as five distinct pentatonic modes. This paper will follow the guide started by Annie G. Gilchrist where she describes each of the pentatonic modes found within Gaelic folk music. She designates each mode simply by naming them Mode 1, Mode 2, etc.36 In her analysis, she designates Mode 1 as

36 Gilchrist, Annie G. “Note on the Modal System of Gaelic Tunes” Journal of the Folk-Song Society, Vol. 4, No. 16 (Dec. 1911): 150-153

27 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018 having the following set of ordered intervals: major 2nd (M2), minor 3rd (m3), M2,

M2, and a m3 to get back to the tonic. Steven Kostka and Dorothy Payne designate

Mode 1 as the major pentatonic scale (M2 M2 m3 M2 m3), and each subsequent mode as starting on a different scale degree of the pentatonic scale.37 I will designate each of the pentatonic modes based on their ordered set of intervals, as seen in

Figure 2.5.

Within the graph, I will use the shorthand “APen2” for example to designate the pentatonic modes used within the piece. “APen2” would be understood as the tonic being ‘A’, ‘Pen’ is understood to be short for pentatonic, and ‘2’ would indicate the pentatonic mode. Therefore, “APen2” would indicate the “A – B – D – E – G” pentatonic scale.

The graph is intended to clarify when the strata are separated and when they are unified. It also serves as a guide while listening to the piece, making it easier to follow the stratification and unification of each layer. The interplay between the stratification, synthesis, and divergence of sound reveals layers of expression and contribute to the overall form of the piece.

37 Kostka, Stefan M., Dorothy Payne, and Byron Almén. Tonal Harmony: With an Introduction to Post-Tonal Music. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill, (2017): 467.

28 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

Pentatonic Mode 1: M2 – M2 –m3 – M2 – m3

Pentatonic Mode 2: M2 – m3 – M2 – m3 – M2

Pentatonic Mode 3: m3 – M2 – m3 – M2 – M2

Pentatonic Mode 4: M2 – m3 – M2 – M2 – m3

Pentatonic Mode 5: m3 – M2 – M2 – m3 – M2

Figure 2.5: The Five Anhemitonic Pentatonic Modes

29 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

CHAPTER III

ANALYSIS

The overall form of Moncayo’s Tierra de Temporal is a large ABA’ format.

Within each large section lies two thematic groups separated by transitional material. I will begin the analysis portion of this chapter by identifying the unification and divergence of textural strata in the first A section. I will also pinpoint areas where the identification of modal scales is ambiguous. Subsequently, I will apply this same process to the B and A’ sections. This paper will use “tonal emphasis” or “tonal focus” as opposed to tonic, to further emphasize the difference between polymodality and polytonality. In addition, the use of tonal emphasis and focus further supports that the use polymodal diatonicism is essentially a compositional technique employed by Moncayo as a means for creating a pandiatonic sound. Hearing each individual tonal focus in the strata simultaneously would be admittedly difficult.

The A Section

The form of this section is a self-contained ternary form featuring two thematic groups separated by a transition. The final return of the main theme from the first thematic group marks the end of the A section and the beginning of the B section. Triadic harmony is rare, but when found, indicates significant arrival points.

These arrival points can signal a return to an older section or introduce entirely new sections.

30 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

This chapter will use a reduced score of Tierra de Temporal. This reduced score has been divided into three strata following the guidelines set by Rupprecht for strata identification. Moments of stratification and unification are visualized in the graph by either displaying the strata as two to three separate layers or merged together as one layer. I will analyze moments in the score where stratification and unification are clear as well as moments where strata and modal identity is ambiguous.

Stratification in the A Section

The music in measures 22 through 33 exemplifies a stratified texture, as seen in Figure 3.1. This section features three independent regions with specific registral locations. No accidentals are found in this section, and vertical triadic harmony is hard to find. Rhythmically, each stratum is independent and hardly shares the exact

3 rhythm, with a few exceptions. Although this section is in 4, a sense of the strong- medium-weak paradigm is not easily felt. The upper stratum features two tonal foci in this section: between mm. 22-25 there is an emphasis on A, while in the rest of this section there is an emphasis on B. The middle stratum also features two tonal foci: mm. 22-25 there is an emphasis on E, and then it shifts to an emphasis on F# for the remainder of the section. The lower stratum is transfixed on an E tonal emphasis throughout the entire section.

31 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

Section A Thematic Material Thematic Group I Measure 22-25 26-33

Upper Stratum AM BA

Middle Stratum ED F#P

Lower Stratum ED Collection 2# Key Signature 2#

Figure 3.1: Score and graph of mm. 22-33

32 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

Despite identifying two to three tonal foci, this section is not polytonal. The definition of polytonality is the simultaneous, superimposed presence of two or more distinct tonalities.38 Instead, Moncayo is using the collection of pitches found within a 2-sharp key signature. The superposed tonal foci and modes in this piece instead blend together to create a pandiatonic texture.

Unification in the A Section

In the A section, the unification of the strata is the eventual goal. As seen in

Figure 3.2a, measure 33 features a clear three-part stratification: the second beat of the measure features an E octave in the lower stratum, an F#-minor chord in the middle stratum in second inversion, and a B octave in the upper stratum. The dissonance created in this measure is resolved when we hear the bass descend to the A, and immediately ascend to the D in measure 34, suggesting a dominant-to- tonic resolution. The collection in measure 33 consists of a pentachord built on set class (02479), and more specifically, pitches from an EPen4 scale. The resolution in the following measure also consists of set class (02479) or pitches from a DPen2 scale.

The move from one pentatonic collection to a different pentatonic collection is best described using Bates’ fixed-diatonic domains. In this instance, the fixed-domain is the scale-type, the pentatonic scale. If we take E as the root of the pentachord in m.

33, and D as the tonal emphasis in the following measure, we can observe a change in both tonic and key signature. The pentatonicism beginning in measure 34 is

38 Whittall, Arnold. “Bitonality.” Oxford Music Online, 2001.

33 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018 observed for about 2 measures, until the introduction of B and F in the lower stratum in m. 35 and m. 36. As a whole, the graph represents these measures as having D as the tonal emphasis, and the mode as Dorian.

Measure 34 features our first instance of a synthesis of sound, created by a stack of perfect fifths with D acting as the tonal emphasis. This arrival point is marked by the first change in key signature (0-sharp) and covers a huge range in the orchestra, creating a noticeable textural difference in sound and color. As the graph indicates in Figure 3.2b, this section begins with D as the tonal focus, ascends to an E tonal focus, then diverges into two strata in measure 39.

Figure 3.2a: Measures 33-38

Section A Thematic Material Thematic Group I Measure 34-36 37-38 39-42 Upper Stratum C#D Middle Stratum DD EA

Lower Stratum G#A Collection 0# 4# 5# Key Signature 0#

Figure 3.2b: Graph of mm. 34-42

34 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

The stratification, synthesis, and divergence of sound create an ambivalent atmosphere, where a tonal center is difficult to identify. This ambivalence is contrasted by sections whose tonal center is easily heard. This tonality is showcased in the second thematic group of the A section, starting on measure 62. While the first thematic group starts with a stratified texture, synthesizes, then diverges again, the second thematic group starts off with a single layer of sound, diverges, then coalesces again into a single layer. This section features several hallmarks of

Mexican folk music: parallel thirds, bass ostinato, and syncopation. The continuous ostinato pattern underneath the melody at times clashes, creating temporal moments of dissonance. Nonetheless, the tonal center continues undisguised.

Figure 3.3: Tierra de Temporal, theme from TGII, mm. 62-82

35 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

Modal Ambiguity

Some sections of this piece do not offer enough information to verify the diatonic mode. For instance, at the beginning of the piece, the lower stratum begins with only two pitches: D and A. This drone continues for the first 11 measures of the piece. The graph displays the lower stratum as being in a D-Ionian mode, despite only having two pitches. This choice reflects the emphasis on D, the reinforcement of its fifth, and the key signature of the piece. With no third, the open fifth creates a sense of ambiguity to start the piece. The D and A drone is countered by the solo melody in the upper stratum, whose emphasis is on F# and C#. The tension created between the C# in the melody and the D in the bass creates an expectation for a resolution to an octave D, which Moncayo does not deliver. Instead, the melody returns to the F#. Because of the prevalence of F# and C#, the graph in Fig 3.4b labels the melody as F# Phrygian.

Figure 3.4a: Measures 1-7

36 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

Section A Thematic Material TGI Measure 1-7 8-11 12-17

Upper Stratum F#P AM ED

Middle Stratum AM

Lower Stratum DI ED Collection 2# Key Signature 2#

Figure 3.4b: Graph of mm. 1-17

Extracting and analyzing the theme and each of its sequences reveals each of their individual tonal foci. Without the harmony supplied by the lower stratum and by ignoring the key signature, which creates a bias for a D or B tonic, a listener would likely hear the melody in Fig. 3.5a in F# minor: F# is the highest sounding pitch, is in a metrically strong position, and is important motivically. The C# is long in duration and also important motivically. The F# and C# have a tonic and dominant relationship that is repeated in subsequent sequences.

Figure 3.5a: Theme from TGI, mm. 4-7

37 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

Only five notes are present in this theme, F# - C# - B – E - D. The integral lowered second (G) that produces the Phrygian sound is missing in the theme but is found in the middle strata. If we take F# as the “tonic” of this section, then all the missing diatonic pitches are found within the harmony, thus the Phrygian label. The same can be said for the tonal foci found in the other two strata.

Figure 3.5b: Measures 8-11

The same motive returns in the first sequence of the theme, this time with a focus on A and E. Although not an exact sequence, the falling fourth motive from the first theme is seen beginning this sequence.

Figure 3.5c: Measures 12-17

This theme appears three times in the A section, with each iteration of the theme gradually transforming. The second sequence begins with the falling fourth, but the B is held half a beat longer than the last two iterations. Pitches E and B become the foci in this sequence following the criteria mentioned previously.

38 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

Neither the theme or its subsequent sequences focus on D, even though we have a 2- sharp key signature and the lower stratum harmonizes the first two iterations of the theme with an open D and A chord. The last sequence cadences on an E supported by an A-major triad. This chord can be interpreted as a half cadence if D is taken as the tonic of this first subsection.

There is harmonic support to suggest D as the tonal center. I mentioned previously that at the start of the theme, a short-lived D major chord is sounded vertically. After the first three sequences, the end the first half of Thematic Group I

(hereafter TGI) reaches a cadence. The cadence is a half cadence, as seen in Figure

3.6. The upper stratum cadences on an E, the middle stratum on an A, and the lower stratum arpeggiates an A major triad, cadencing on an A and C# on the last beat of the measure. The first beat of measure 18 is a D major triad, before continuing on in their individual strata. These ephemeral moments of unification between the strata helps denote form and retain a sense of tonality.

Figure 3.6: Measures 16-19, the first cadence

39 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

Another example of stratified and tonal ambiguity is found in the transition between TGI and TGII. The transition begins by using pitches from an E pentatonic scale (EPen1) in the middle stratum. The piece diverges into three strata starting in m.

46 and going into m. 47, with a rhythmically active upper stratum, a less active middle stratum, and a drone B in the lower stratum. The middle stratum begins m.

6 46 to m. 50 with parallel 4 chords and continues m. 50 to m. 51 with parallel triads.

The combination of all three strata creates moments of dissonance where a tonal focus is hard to distinguish. The continuous arrival on D# suggests that pitch as the tonal focus of the upper stratum, but it is still ambiguous. The parallelism in the middle stratum avoids a focus on one single pitch.

Figure 3.7a: Measures 46-50

40 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

Figure 3.7b: Measures 51-55

The B Section

The B section is distinguished by a change to a swifter tempo and the return to the 2-sharp key signature. This section also features two thematic groups. A pentatonic scale is used in the first thematic group, while the second thematic group focuses on the Mixolydian scale. The end of the section is marked by the combination of both thematic groups.

Stratification in the B Section

The conflict between strata in this section is subtle, due to the composite of two pentatonic scales. The beginning of this section begins with stratification of

DPen1 and EPen2. Each pentatonic scale is separated by register; DPen1 is found in the lower stratum while EPen2 is found in the upper stratum. They are separated by the middle stratum, whose focus is on the D-Ionian scale. The middle and lower strata

41 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018 move on to A-Mixolydian starting in measure 148, while the upper stratum maintains its EPen2 usage.

Figure 3.8a: Measures 141-149

Section B Thematic Material TGIII Measure 141-147 148-151

Upper Stratum EPen2

Middle Stratum DI AM Lower Stratum DPen1 Collection 2# Key Signature 2#

Figure 3.8b: Graph of mm. 141-151

42 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

Moncayo ends the B section by combining the themes from TGIII and TGIV, each with their own tonal emphasis and scale-type. This combination is seen in measures 280-295, with TGIV in the middle stratum and TGIII in the upper stratum.

The pentatonic scale used in the upper stratum starting in measure 281 is APen2, while the middle stratum retains the G tonal emphasis from the second iteration of

TGIV. The chords in the lower stratum are built on triads and move by step in a parallel fashion before cadencing on a G-major triad.

Theme from TGIII

Theme from TGIV

TGIII

TGIV

Figure 3.9: Themes from TGIII and TGIV combined, mm. 280-288

43 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

Unification in the B Section

The culmination of TGIII cadences on a chord built on set class (0257), highlighted in Figure 3.10, similar to the polychord discussed earlier in TGI. This set class is a subset of the major pentatonic set class, (02479). Immediately after the cadence, each layer coalesces into a single layer sounding the same thematic material in octaves before diverging. The tonic heard and identified in this passage is A, and along with the key signature, this section is labeled as using the A-

Mixolydian scale. This section transitions by introducing a few accidentals (C♮ and

F♮) but avoids moving to a new tonality. After the transition Moncayo introduces

TGIV, with a unified stratum emphasizing A as the tonal focus. TGIV is distinguished as being the only thematic group without stratification.

Figure 3.10a: Measures 164-171

44 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

Figure 3.10b: Measures 172-178

The fourth theme of the piece fully realizes the Mixolydian scale, and does not change modes, only tonal emphasis. The change in tonal emphasis is facilitated by a fixed-scale domain. This particular theme begins on measure 187 and continues until measure 201, before progressing to TGIII. A transition introduces TGIV for a second time. The second iteration of TGIV emphasizes G within a 0# key signature.

It fully states the theme, then restates it in the dominant tonality (D), while maintaining the same scale type.

Modal Ambiguity

Most of the tonal ambiguity in the B section is found in the transitions between TGIII and TGIV. Measures 225-233 are shown in Figure 3.11, showing two strata. The upper stratum focuses on G and sounds the Mixolydian mode. The lower stratum is harder to decipher. I labeled mm. 225-229 as having an A focus in the lower stratum, due to the emphasis of the C and E in mm. 225-226, and the cadence

45 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018 on A and C in measure 229. The rest of the measures in the lower stratum feature major triads built on the following roots: E♭, F, D, and C. This is one of the few instances in the piece with clear triadic harmony, but the progression of chords is somewhat unorthodox. An attempt to label the chords vertically (including the pitches in the upper stratum) results in the following: E♭ - Fadd6 – D/F# – D/F# – C/E

– C/E – Fadd4. Moncayo uses chromaticism for the most part to distinguish the transitions between thematic groupings. The chromaticism used in the transitory areas cause its own form of conflict that is resolved in the pandiatonic areas.

Figure 3.11: Measures 225-233

Return of the A Section (A’)

The first A section began with TGI, a transition, TGII, and ended with a small recap of TGI. The A’ section differs in that it begins with TGII’, then TGI’. In the A section, TGII began with a melody stated in parallel thirds with a C tonal center. In the A’ section, TGII’ begins with a solo melody line, a counter melody line in the bassoon (middle stratum), and the familiar ostinato pattern in the bass, all with a G tonal center. TGII’ is altered by first beginning the section with a 1-sharp key signature, moves to a 0-sharp key signature and D tonal focus (an almost exact

46 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018 presentation of the middle section from TGII as seen in Figure 3.12a and 3.12b), and then moves to a 1-flat key signature with an F tonal focus. Instead of cadencing on an F major triad and finishing this section, TGII’ cadences on a C major triad in the same manner of TGII.

Section A Thematic Material TGII Measure 63-82 83-100 101-128

Upper Stratum DD

Middle Stratum CI CI CI Lower Stratum DD Collection 0# Key Signature 0#

Figure 3.12a: Thematic Group II, mm. 63-128

Section A’ Thematic Material TGII’ Measure 296-322 323-340 341-359 360-366

Upper Stratum DD

Middle Stratum GI CI FI CI Lower Stratum DD Collection 1# 0# 1♭ 0# Key Signature 1# 0# 1♭ 0#

Figure 3.12b: Thematic Group II’, mm. 296-366

47 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

A short transition introduces TGI’, scored in the same way it was presented in the A section after the piece’s first cadence. Interestingly, Moncayo keeps the 2- sharp key signature throughout the entire section and uses accidentals when the piece moves on to the 0-sharp, 4-sharp, 5-sharp, and 3-sharp pitch collections. This section concludes with an E-major triad, before moving on to a short transition.

The transition from the conclusion of TGI’ to the Coda utilizes two distinct pentatonic collections. It begins similarly to the first transition of the piece (mm. 43-

46), with chords drawn from the EPen1 scale. The graph indicates a 3-sharp collection, as D# is not a part of this scale. After exploring this pentatonic collection,

Moncayo modulates to EPen2, with the same tonic focus. A fixed-tonic-relationship facilitates this move, that is, the key signature (pitch collection) and scale type have changed as demonstrated in the Figure 3.13.

Section A’ Thematic Material Transition Measure 395-401 401-402 402-405 Upper Stratum

Middle Stratum EPen1 EPen2 AM Lower Stratum Collection 3# 2# Key Signature 2#

Figure 3.13: Graph of mm. 395-405

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The transition ends with an emphasis on A, which becomes the dominant for the emphasis on D in the middle and lower strings and brass in the coda. The coda restates the familiar theme from TGI before finally cadencing on a D-major triad to end the piece. Unlike every previous instance of the TGI melody, the last two measures of this final statement resolve the F# minor-sounding melody to D. The lower stratum sounds the scale degrees 1^ - 6^ - 5^ - 1^, which is reminiscent of a tonic – predominant – dominant – tonic bass line and harmonic progression. This is the first occasion of any instance of TGI ending with a unified section.

Section A’ Thematic Material TGI’ Measure 406-412 413-414

Upper Stratum F#P

Middle Stratum DI DI Lower Stratum Collection 2# Key Signature 2#

Figure 3.14: Measures 406 to ending

Concluding Remarks

I discussed in Chapter One that Moncayo fancied long walks outdoors and was inspired by the scenery. In this instance, Moncayo was inspired by a desolate land bereft of rain. I can envision that the moments of unification in the piece signify instances of rain fall and the appreciation of the earth. Moments of stratification could signify a time lapse without rain.

49 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018

The polymodal diatonicism used throughout the piece creates both a pandiatonic sound and an atmosphere where moments of dissonance are used freely. These moments of dissonance and tension add to the expression this piece is trying to convey, one of a barren land in need of rain.

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CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION

This chapter will review the graph of each section in its entirety. The graph has been modified in order to fit the margins of this paper. The measure row only indicates the beginning measure number that starts that particular section.

Additionally, unified sections have been highlighted in blue in juxtaposition to the stratified sections.

Section A

Thematic Material Thematic Group I Measure 1 8 12 18 22 26 34 37 39

Upper Stratum F#P AM ED F#P AM BA C#D Middle Stratum AM ED F#P DD EA

Lower Stratum DI ED DI ED G#A

Collection 2# 0# 4# 5# Key Signature 2# 0#

Section A

Thematic Material Transition TGII TGI Measure 43 46 50 51 54 58 63 83 101 129

Upper Stratum D#P DD EP

Middle Stratum EPen1 F#D D#P EP DD CI CI CI ? CI Lower Stratum BI DD

Collection 4# 5# 0# Key Signature 4# 0#

Figure 4.1: Graph of the A Section

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Unified sections are distributed moderately in the A section as seen in Figure

4.1 but are still dominated by stratified sections. The transition from TGI to TGII begins with a unified texture using pitches from an EPen1 scale before diverging into strata filled with chromaticism. The tonal emphasis and modes within the stratified section of the transition were difficult to identify due to the chromaticism. That said, the modes identified in the graph might not be accurate, and areas where a tonal focus or mode were indistinguishable contain a question mark.

Discussed briefly in Chapter Three, comparing the first instance of TGI to

TGII, we find a stratified texture introducing and ending TGI, with a concise unified texture in the center. TGII on the other hand begins and ends with a unified texture and features stratification at its center. The last iteration of TGI in the A section ends stratified. The main melody never cadences on a C major triad as implied by the lower two strata.

The B section (as seen in Figure 4.2) begins with TGIII and a complete stratified texture. Areas that have been darkened in the graph signify strata that are not present in the music. Although we did see momentary usage of a pentatonic scale in the transition from TGI to TGII, the scale becomes important melodically in

TGIII. Three different rotations of the scale are used in the first instance of TGIII, while only two rotations are used in the second instance.

Both transitions in the B section feature areas where tonal emphasis was difficult to identify. Moncayo uses these sections to add moments of chromaticism as a contrast to the pandiatonic thematic areas. The collection of pitches and the key signature conform to each other in the thematic areas, except for the endings of the

52 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018 first iteration of TGI in the A section and TGI’, while the collection of pitches and the key signature in the transitions of all major sections do not conform.

Section B

Thematic Material TGIII Transition TGIV Measure 136 141 148 152 158 169 172 179 187

Upper Stratum EPen2 BPen5 DPen1 AM Middle Stratum DI AM AM AM

Lower Stratum DPen1 AM DPen1 ?

Collection 2# Key Signature 2#

Section B

Thematic Material TGIII Transition TGIV Closing Measure 202 207 214 225 230 234 238 242 280

Upper Stratum CI DPen2 APen2 GM Middle Stratum CI DD EM GM GM GM Lower Stratum CPen1 AA ?

Collection 0# 3# 0# Key Signature 0#

Figure 4.2: Graph of the B section

As discussed in Chapter Three, the A’ section (as seen in Figure 4.3) begins with TGII instead of TGI. Because TGII features generous moments of unification, the entirety of the A’ section is dominated by unified sections. Therefore, the A’ section is a wonderful contrast to the first A section, not to mention that the A section

53 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018 begins and ends with stratification, while the A’ section begins and ends with unification.

Section A’

Thematic Material TGII’ Transition Measure 296 323 341 360 367

Upper Stratum DD

Middle Stratum GI CI FI CI EA

Lower Stratum DD

Collection 1# 0# 1♭ 0# 1# Key Signature 1# 0# 1♭ 0#

Section A’

Thematic Material TGI’ Transition TGI’ Measure 371 375 379 387 390 392 395 401 403 406 413

Upper Stratum F#P AM BA F#P EM Middle Stratum AM ED F#P DD EM EPen1 EPen2 AM DI DI Lower Stratum DI ED G#A

Collection 2# 0# 4# 5# 3# 2# Key Signature 2#

Figure 4.3: Graph of the A’ Section

In Summary

In this thesis, I explored Moncayo’s approach in regard to the layering of diatonic or pentatonic modal sounds in order to create a pandiatonic atmosphere. I

54 Texas Tech University, Luis Sánchez, May 2018 further explored the oscillation between unified and stratified textures, and how this adds to the overall expression the piece creates.

Future research will delve into the rest of Moncayo’s oeuvre and perhaps motivate others to further research this deserving composer. I will also explore the musical compositions of the Grupo de los Cuatro (Group of Four) who consists of

Moncayo, and Chávez’ three other pupils: Blas Galindo, Daniel Ayala, and Salvador

Contreras. In addition, I will further research polymodal diatonicism and its existence in other pandiatonic pieces.

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