El Saln Mxico

El Saln Mxico is a symphonic composition in one

movement by Aaron Copland, which uses Mexican folk
music extensively. Copland visited Mexico several times
in the 1930s. The four melodies of the piece are based
on sheet music he purchased during his visits.

upper-class music suggests formal European dancing of

the nineteenth century, ugly and even a bit sissied, anything but lyrical. The peasant music is far richer rhythmically and more powerful, with a suggestion of the preHispanic (Indian) in it. The works conclusion celebrates
this kind of music, not that of the well-to-do. Musically,
the work displays beautifully Coplands populism.

Analysis and history

Copland began the work in 1932 and completed it in

1936. The Mexico Symphony Orchestra gave the rst
performance under the direction of Carlos Chvez in
1937. The piece was premiered in the U.S. in 1938. Although Copland visited Mexico early in the 1930s, he
based this tone poem not on songs he heard there, but
rather on written sheet music for at least four Mexican
folk songs that he had obtained: El palo verde, La Jesusita, El mosco, and El malacate. The powerful refrain that appears in the piece three times stems from El
palo verde. Critics have variously described the piece as
containing two, three, or four parts, but many listeners
nd that it moves seamlessly from one theme to another
with no clear internal boundaries.

The work is a musical depiction of an imaginary dance

hall in Mexico City, which, its name implies, represents
the country of Mexico as Copland perceived it. The subtitle was A Popular Type Dance Hall in Mexico City.
Copland observed that he despaired of the ability to portray, or even understand, the complexity that is Mexico.
He continues to say that what he wrote, and what he knew
he was writing, was a portrayal of the visible Mexico,
to some extent the touristy Mexico. He chose dance as
the vehicle for his musical portrayal.

Although Copland wrote in his autobiography that he had

been taken to El Saln Mxico by Carlos Chvez, he
At least three arrangements of the piece exist in addition
also learned of it from a guidebook:
to the orchestral score. Copland adapted the work for the
1947 musical lm Fiesta, directed by Richard Thorpe for
Perhaps my piece might never have been
MGM. Leonard Bernstein created arrangements for solo
written if it hadn't been for the existence of the
piano and for two pianos, four-hands very shortly after
Saln Mxico. I remember reading about it for
the premiere. In addition, a piano transcription of the
the rst time in a tourist guide book: Harlemscore was made by conductor Arturo Toscanini in 1942,
type nightclub for the peepul [ sic in the source
when the Maestro included the music on an NBC broadquoted], grand Cuban orchestra. Three halls:
cast concert.
one for people dressed in your way, one for
In 2006, Paul Glickman and Tamarind King started work
people dressed in overalls but shod, and one for
on an animated short lm based on the Aaron Copland
the barefoot. When I got there, I also found a
score. In 2007 El Saln Mxico received a New Mexsign on the wall which said: Please don't throw
ico New Visions $20,000 work grant. In 2009 El Saln
lighted cigarette butts on the oor so the ladies
Mxico debuted at The Film Museum Theater in Santa
don't burn their feet.
Fe, New Mexico. The computer-animated short was acIn some inexplicable way, while milling
cepted into the following lm festivals: Rome Internaabout in those crowded halls, one really felt a
tional Film Festival (2009 winner, Sylvia Award for Best
live contact with the Mexican people the
Animation), Independents Film Festival (2009 winner,
atomic sense one sometimes gets in far-o
Best Independent Animation), Santa Fe Film Festival,
places, of suddenly knowing the essence of a
Kids First Film Festival, Santa Barbara International Film
people their humanity, their separate shy[1]
Festival, and the Tiburon International Film Festival. Adness, their dignity and unique charm.
ditionally, it was named Best of Fest as one of the best
The work contains three musical styles and goes through lms you've never seen of 2010.
the series of three twice, starting each time with the
upper-class music, passing through a more vigorous
working-class music, and ending with the foot-stomping
dance of the peasantry. Divisions between the sections
are clear, as if one had walked through a doorway. The
1

Recordings

Leonard Bernstein (for Columbia Records and Deutsche

Grammophon) and Copland (for Columbia Records)
himself conducted recordings of the work. Arturo
Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra performed
the music in a broadcast concert on March 14, 1942,
which was preserved on transcription discs; according to
biographer Mortimer Frank, Copland praised the performance in a radio interview. Other conductors who made
recordings of El Salon Mexico include Arthur Fiedler,
Eugene Ormandy, and Eduardo Mata.[2] Serge Koussevitsky, Boston Symphony Orch., recorded Nov. 1939 RCA
Victor Album M651, transferred to Pearl GEMM 9492.

References
Berger, A. (1990). Aaron Copland. New York: Da
Capo Press.
Pollack, H. (2000). Aaron Copland: The Life and
Work of an Uncommon Man. Chicago: University
of Illinois Press.
Smith, J. (1955). Aaron Copland, his work and contribution to American music. New York: Dutton.
Santa Fe New Mexican, September 1117, 2009
www.officialbestoffest.com

Sources

[1] <http://barbwired.com/barbweb/programs/copland_
salonmexico.html
[2] http://www.amazon.com/
Copland-Concerto-Clarinet-Orchestra-Connotations/
dp/B000001GES

External links
Video - Aaron Copland - El Saln Mxico - Suite
(10:19).

EXTERNAL LINKS

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

6.1

Text

El Saln Mxico Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Sal%C3%B3n_M%C3%A9xico?oldid=715157502 Contributors: Deb,

Deisenbe, JackofOz, La goutte de pluie, Japanese Searobin, Mel Etitis, Woohookitty, Drbogdan, Gurch, Gdrbot, Epolk, Badagnani, Piedras
grandes, CapitalR, Wspencer11, Andkore, Cydebot, Babylone, Magioladitis, DinoBot, Emeraude, Sallyrob, Wool Mintons, Addbot, Cote
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6.2

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