Cal Performances Presents Cast Sunday, December 21, 2008, 3pm Mariachi Los Camperos Zellerbach Hall Violin Jesús “Chuy” Guzmán, Raúl Cuellar, Ismael Hernández, Jimmy Kyle Cuellar Fiesta Navidad Guitarrón Juan Jiménez Harp Sergio Alonso Vihuela Nati Cano Trumpet Javier Rodríguez, Ariel de la Rosa Dancers courtesy of Danza Teoctl, Miguel Díaz, Artistic Director. Fiesta Navidad Production Staff Lighting & Projection Design Matt O’Donnell Audio Design & House Engineer Gilberto “Gil” Morales Producer José Delgado Pleiades Management manages Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano. Call (323) 665-8040 for more information. Booking: Paul Bongiorno, Opus 3 Artists, tel. (212) 556-6804; [email protected], www.opus3artists.com. starring Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano Jesús “Chuy” Guzmán, Musical Director Nati Cano, Director This evening’s program will be announced from the stage. Cal Peroformances’ 2008–2009 season is sponsored by Wells Fargo Bank. 24 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 25 Program Notes Program Notes Fiesta Navidad they disprove a popular myth that emerged decades beginning in the 1930s. Movies with ranchero Today, the typical mariachi ensemble consists later claiming that the word mariachi derived from (country) themes, like Allá en el Rancho Grande of two trumpets, three violins, guitarrón, vihuela In Mexico, the month of December is filled with the French mariage. The French occupied Mexico (1936), Jalisco nunca pierde (1937) and Ay, Jalisco, and six-stringed guitar. Themariachi de lujo (deluxe a myriad of regional fiestas. Some trace their roots in the 1860s, and, as the story goes, the musicians no te rajes (1941), featured mariachis, and charro mariachi, like Mariachi Vargas and Los Camperos) to the customs of native Indians celebrating their performing for the French imperialists at weddings cantante (singing cowboy) film superstars like Jorge would typically have two trumpets, four or more various winter feast days. Later, Christian dei- (mariages) were given the name “mariachi.” The Negrete and Pedro Infante were accompanied by violins, harp, guitarrón, vihuela and six-string gui- ties replaced Indian deities and some celebrations term mariachi in all likelihood has its roots in one mariachis. Professional songwriters wrote new tar. The latter half of the 20th century saw some evolved into popular traditions. The best known of the Indian languages of the region, possibly in compositions in a música típica, pseudo folk music, further experimentation with other instruments, example is the Fiesta de La Posada, celebrated be- the now extinct language of the Coca people. In his vein, contributing in this way to shaping the media- flutes, for example, by mariachi arrangers, but no tween December 16 and 24. 1908 book Paisajes de Occidente, Enrique Barrios de driven images of rural people and themes. The era further lasting innovations in instrumentation La Posada began in the 16th century as a litur- los Ríos described festivities in the coastal region following the Revolution (1910–1917), particu- have occurred. gical event to celebrate the pilgrimage of Joseph and around Santiago Ixcuintla in the 1890s. He wrote larly the nationalistic regime of President Lázaro Mariachi repertoire also has evolved. The fast- Mary to Bethlehem. Processions were added in the of dance platforms (tarimas) called mariachis, Cárdenas (1934–1940), saw the crafting of images paced, syncopated son, once the main staple of 17th century to involve more people. Participants about one yard wide, two yards long and one-and- evoking national identity, with mariachi music the mariachi repertoire, became relegated to one begin the nine-day ceremony by asking for sym- a-half feet off the ground, placed between stands being one of the most prominent of those im- of many musical genres played by the mariachi. bolic lodging. The involvement of communities of the outdoor market in the town plaza: “All night ages. The radio, recording and cinema industries The canción ranchera, with its focus on the vocal serves to enrich the tradition, coloring the festivi- long, and even during the day, people danced lively continued their expansion in the 1940s, and the expression of a solo singer, came to dominate the ties with local and regional characteristics. jarabes to the sound of the harp, or of violin and presence of the mariachi in national life increased. song repertoire in the 1950s. The suavely inter- Organizing and preparing the celebration is vihuela [guitar], or of violin, snare drum, cymbals The advent of television in the 1950s further cen- preted, romantic bolero, popular in Mexico since passed from father to son. Families and friends and bass drum, in a deafening quartet.” tralized the creation and diffusion of culture. The the 1920s, has been a major category of mariachi decide on a schedule of homes to be visited. The Twentieth-century Mexico was a time of enor- mariachi, through its adaptation to these revolu- song since the late 1950s. The huapango, inspired hosts and guests recreate Joseph and Mary’s search mous population growth and urbanization. From tionary changes and its inclusion in the products of by the distinctive rhythms, complex violin playing for lodging through song. The guests gather out- 1900 to 2000, Mexico’s population increased eight- popular culture, was able to maintain an identity and falsetto vocal ornaments of the regional folk side the home to request a place to stay and the fold to around 100 million people, and the popula- connected to its rural origins and to the joys, pas- huapango of the Huastecan region in northeastern host’s answer, first by refusing and then welcoming tion of greater Mexico City increased by a factor of sions and problems of everyday people. Mexico, also is an important vehicle of mariachi them, signaling the start of the evening’s fiesta. 40, to over 20 million people, more than a fifth of Over time, urban growth and the electronic song. Polkas, pasodobles, waltzes, schottisches, melo- Mariachi Los Camperos opens with the tradi- Mexico’s inhabitants. People from the rural areas, media drove a transformation of the rural ma- dies from regional Mexican and Latin American tional petition for lodging (Posada), but the real fiesta musicians included, flocked to the cities in search riachi, evolving from ensembles of three to five folk music traditions, zarzuela and opera overtures, begins when the curtain raises and the journey is led of opportunity and the conveniences of urban life. musicians emanating from small towns in Jalisco and other forms have been arranged for mariachi. by mariachi master Natividad Cano. In 1905, the four-member mariachi led by Justo and surrounding states, to larger groups of eight More recently, cumbias and merengues from the Villa of the town of Cocula outside of Guadalajara or more musicians based primarily in large cit- Latin Caribbean, as well as North American rap traveled to Mexico City to perform for the birthday ies. Local mariachi instrumentation, particularly music, have been taken up by the mariachi. Mariachi Origins of President Porfirio Díaz, considered to be the first the “lowlands” (Bajío) style with guitarrón (large performance by a mariachi in the capital. Many bass guitar), guitarra de golpe (five-stringed, flat- Daniel Sheehy, Director and Curator, In 1852, Cosme Santa Anna, a priest in Rosamorada other mariachis followed. Growth of the electronic backed guitar) or vihuela (five-stringed guitar with Smithsonian Folkways Recordings parish of the west Mexican community of Santiago media and the commercialization of music also a round, spined back), and violins melded with the Ixcuintla, wrote to the archbishop in Guadalajara marked the 20th century. In the period 1908– “highlands” style that preferred the large harp over to complain of “mariachis”—entertainment with 1909, “all three major American phonograph com- the guitarrón. A single trumpet was added to the The Instruments of Mariachi music, drinking, gambling and loud talk by “men panies—Columbia, Edison and Victor—recorded ensemble in the 1940s, and during the 1950s, two on foot and on horseback”—that occurred on the Cuarteto Coculense in Mexico City.” Cuarteto trumpets became more the standard. From the The original mariachi came from rural Western Holy Saturday in the town plaza in front of the Coculense was the name given to Villa’s group. mid 1950s to the present, the preeminent model for Mexico, primarily the states of Jalisco, Colima, church. This is the first known written record Thanks to Chris Strachwitz and his Arhoolie re- modern mariachi groups has been Mariachi Vargas Michoacan, Nayarit and Sinaloa. The first groups of the word “mariachi” connected to music and cord label, many of these and other early mariachi de Tecalitlán. Originating in 1898 in the town of were string-based ensembles, making the term merrymaking. In 1859, the cleric Ignacio Aguilar recordings are available today. Tecalitlán, Jalisco, the group relocated to Mexico mariachi “band” inappropriate as bands, by defi- wrote that in Tlalchapa, Guerrero he heard a music Radio and cinema brought mariachi music City in the 1930s, and, under the leadership of the nition, emphasize brass and woodwinds. The first called “Mariache, comprised of large harps, violins into the lives of Mexicans in all corners of the na- late Silvestre Vargas (1901–1985), achieved great mariachi instrumentation consisted primarily of and bass drum played without rest.” These histori- tion. The powerful station XEW broadcast ma- success, appearing in over 200 films and making violins and the diatonic harp—a non-pedal and cal references are important to historians, because riachi music throughout the Republic and beyond countless recordings with RCA Victor of Mexico. therefore non-chromatic instrument. The harp 26 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 27 Program Notes About the Artists provided rhythmic and harmonic support while used four or five gut strings; eventually the instru- Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano has a recording as a guest artist with the prestigious the violins played the melodic lines.