music Archives - understand-culture

Songs for the Faith

In a letter to King Philip II dated June 23, 1558, the Franciscan friar Pedro de Gante described how he brought the Indians of Mexico to the Christian faith. Their worship of their gods, he wrote, “era cantar y bailar delante dellos” (was to sing and dance before them). So he “compuse metros muy solemnes sobre la Ley de Dios y de la fe” (composed very solemn verses on the Law of God and the faith).

He also gave them liveries to paint on their cloaks for the dances. At Christmas, he reported, so many came “que no cabían en el atrio” (that they did not fit in the churchyard).

The Trumpet in the Mariachi

At the end of 1940, according to an article in a journal of INAH, the radio station XEW pressed the Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán to add a trumpet: “se le ‘obliga’ al Mariachi Vargas a incluir la trompeta” (the Mariachi Vargas is “obliged” to include the trumpet).

The trumpet was not completely new. A recording of La Negra made in 1937 by the Mariachi Tapatío de José Marmolejo already had one. The article describes the result as the arrival of the trumpet as a canonical and indispensable instrument of the mariachi.

Compadre and Corona

Milenio writes that the accordion arrived in Mexico in the 19th century and that in Nuevo León it is used for genres from the polka to the cumbia. One line of the article reads: “El acordeón nos llega de la tradición centroeuropea desde el siglo XIX” (The accordion comes to us from the Central European tradition, since the 19th century).

Two accordion models of the maker Hohner carry Spanish names, Compadre and Corona. In 2024, a study of the Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez observed that these names “han incorporado palabras en nuestro idioma” (have taken words from our language). The author found no explanation for the choice.

Smuggling and Betrayal

Contrabando y traición, “smuggling and betrayal,” is the title song of a Los Tigres del Norte album, written by Ángel González. Sopitas dates the album to 1974, and Posta to 1973. The song tells of Emilio Varela and Camelia la Texana, a smuggling couple. Emilio wants to leave Camelia for his true love in San Francisco. Feeling betrayed, Camelia kills him and flees with the money.

Sopitas calls it one of the most important songs of the group’s career, a song that gave “un nuevo auge a los corridos mexicanos” (a new boom to Mexican corridos).

Learning by Ear

In 2011, UNESCO inscribed mariachi on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Its description states: “El aprendizaje de oído es el principal medio de transmisión de la música mariachi tradicional” (Learning by ear is the main means of transmitting traditional mariachi music). It adds that “las competencias técnicas se transmiten de padres a hijos” (technical skills are passed from parents to children).

Sing and Do Not Cry

Quirino Mendoza y Cortés composed Cielito lindo in 1882. Its chorus says: “Ay, ay, ay, ay, canta y no llores” (sing and do not cry). Excélsior notes that its first verse is very similar to an old Andalusian song.

Mexican fans sing it at sporting events. Vanguardia called it the most representative song of Mexico at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. According to Por Esto!, the phrase represents for many people “una forma de enfrentar las dificultades con optimismo” (a way to face difficulties with optimism).

The Topada

In the huapango of the Sierra Gorda, a topada is a “duelo poético-musical entre dos huapangueros” (a poetic and musical duel between two huapango musicians), each with his own group. México Desconocido describes one in Xichú between Guillermo Velázquez and Tobías Hernández. It began at midnight on December 31 and lasted until ten the next morning.

A study published in 2012 in UNAM’s Revista de Literaturas Populares describes the topada as “a complex system of improvisation and memory.”

Departure Melodies

In March 1989, departure melodies were introduced at JR Shinjuku and Shibuya stations in Tokyo. They replaced the loud bells that had rung before a train left.

A Great Success

When a customer enters a FamilyMart, a short chime plays. In January 2016, the news site Internet Watch reported that this chime had been given an official title: Daiseikyō, A Great Success.

Water Koto Cave

A suikinkutsu, water koto cave, is a jar with a hole in its base, buried upside down in a garden. Water drips into it, and the sound echoes inside the jar. Shinagawa City says its history is said to go back to the Edo period. Some sources credit its invention to the tea master and garden designer Kobori Enshū, but this too is only said.