Musically, the nation of Mexico offers many enriching ideas, from daring tonalities to new percussion instruments like those seen in Carlos Chávez’s piece Xochipilli. Carlos Chávez is known as one of Mexico’s most famous composers and helped establish the identity of Mexican classical music during the turn of the century. In his listening response to the early chamber works of Chávez, Nick Baker mentions the commissions Chávez received that served to promote Mexican nationalism. Mr. Baker first offers the idea of nationalism in Chávez’s music, but then takes his characterization further. He categorizes Chávez as Universalist, explaining this idea as music beyond nationalism and European traditions. While Mr. Baker’s observations are well thought out and well-informed, the idea of Chávez’s music as beyond nationalism and European ideas is somewhat incomprehensible. I do not see this piece as beyond European music as there are definite elements of Western genres and forms like the fugue. It is also impossible to see Xochipilli as beyond nationalism, as nationalism could be construed as the defining feature of the piece. From Chávez’s use of native percussion to the choice of subject matter, the work is supremely Mexican. It is also useful, when classifying the work as Universalist, to consider what the early twentieth century listener would have thought of this work. In the context of previously available music at that, even a knowledgeable audience member would see this work as something out of the ordinary.

Despite its unique and perhaps otherworldly qualities, Xochipilli does carry some of the familiarities of European composition. The first movement, Allegro Animato, reveals a distinctly familiar shape as it progresses. While the piccolo melody bustles along, the first two percussion instruments enter one after another with the same material, creating a fugue beneath the primary material. There are also multiple examples of imitation throughout the entire piece. While the overall character and tonality of the piece has departed from European ideas, Chávez has not abandoned some of the forms and thoughts of previous generations.

Even with these compositional ideas in place, Chávez overwhelmingly concentrates on showcasing Mexican music and history. In his response, Mr. Baker visits on the extensive research of the history of Mexico and Aztec people that Carlos Chávez conducted while composing this piece. Mr. Baker mentions that the composer “recreated what he thought could be the sounds of an Aztec festival or ritual.” An excellent indicator of that in the actual music is Chávez’s use of angular scales and melodies in all of the parts, even the percussion. It is not very difficult to picture an Aztec temple when listening to the opening melody in the piccolo or the primitive rhythms in the percussion. Mr. Baker uses the phrase “ritualistically repetitive,” which I think is a wonderful way to evoke both the character of Chávez’s music and the history that inspired it. Although the influence of Pre-Columbian art and architecture is also present in this piece, Chávez chose to concentrate more specifically on the Aztec tribe. This much is apparent from the title alone, as Xochipilli was the Aztec god of song (among other things). Here, the phrase “ritualistically repetitive” becomes especially evocative as the Aztecs were known for their custom of sacrificing those they conquered.

From the culture that inspired this piece, to the shifting scales and tonalities, and to the varied instrumentation, the music of Carlos Chávez is original and engaging to today’s listener. To a listener from the 1940s, the music would be no less engaging, although they would surely find Chávez’s composition to be quite exotic. Carlos Chávez was someone who approached composition from a different perspective and painstakingly researched that which he found inspiring and worthy of his compositional skills. As Mr. Baker notes in his response to these works, “Chávez created a style that was inspired by things that came before him but that was all his own.” I think that is an excellent way to look at the uniqueness and charisma that Carlos Chávez brought from Mexico to the world of classical music.