3. Art of the Spanish Exile
Antonio Serna (1927 - 2011), Paso fúnebre, 1961, óleo sobre masonite, Colección Kaluz
Homenaje a Debussy, by Manuel de Falla (1876-1946)
La pajarera (canción mexicana),by Manuel M. Ponce (1882-1948)
Musician:
Antonio López Palacios, Guitar
Antonio López Palacios studied at the Escuela Superior de Música and the National Conservatory of Mexico with maestro Guillermo Flores Méndez. The National Endowment for Culture and the Artes in Mexico, awarded him a grant for his project The complete guitar music of Manuel M. Ponce. His most recent performances include tours in India, Croatia and Argentina, as well as participation in festivals: International Guitar Festival in Argentina, Saltillo Coahuila, International Guitar Festival in Taxco, Guerrero, and Guitarras sin Fronteras in Chihuahua. He participated in the commemorative concert for the 50th anniversary of the National Museum of Anthropology and History together with guitarist Jaime Márquez and cellists Yo-Yo Ma and Carlos Prieto.
About the Composers
Listening to Falla's "Homage to Debussy" in the light of these later events adds a new layer of meaning to the piece. Its melodic phrases, tinged with a gentle melancholy, seem to evoke the longing for an irretrievable past and the uncertainty of a future in distant lands. The work thus becomes an emotional bridge between Falla's admiration for Debussy and his own fate as an exile, reflecting the experience of so many Spanish artists who, like him, were forced to rebuild their lives far from home.
In short, Manuel de Falla's "Homage to Debussy" transcends its initial purpose to become a testimony to exile and nostalgia, an involuntary prelude to the intellectual and artistic diaspora that would mark the history of Spain and Latin America in the 20th century. His music, intimate and evocative, invites us to reflect on the human impact of conflict and the resilience of the creative spirit in the face of adversity.
Manuel M. Ponce has been considered "the Father of Mexican musical nationalism", a nostalgic and rural nationalism that grew up in the rocky lands of Zacatecas and Aguascalientes, among vineyards and mines. Ponce was an important reference for other younger founders of the early, pre-revolutionary Mexican nationalist movement. Prominent among them were his friends the 'National Poet' Ramón López Velarde (1888-1921) and the visual artist Saturnino Herrán (1887-1918).
Ponce was also a modernist aware of the European avant-garde of his time, a piano virtuoso, a compiler and creator of beloved Mexican songs, an educator, a public intellectual and the most important composer of guitar music of all time. His collaboration with guitarist Andrés Segovia, who introduced his instrument to the great concert halls of the 20th century, has overshadowed his other artistic contributions. Educated in Italy, France and Germany, he is an artist of many voices, modern and Mexican, innovative and rooted in the great European musical traditions of classicism and late romanticism.
Musical Curatorship
Benjamín Juárez Echenique, Professor of Latin American Studies, University of Massachusetts Boston. Professor Emeritus, Boston University. Corresponding Member, Mexican Academy of History.
URTEXT DIGITAL CLASSICS. Record Label
With 29 years of experience in the national and international markets and a catalog of nearly 400 titles, Urtext Digital Classics is the leading Mexican record label in Latin America for the production of concert, jazz, and traditional music recordings. It was founded in response to the need to produce phonograms of these musical genres in Mexico, with the highest audio quality standards. The label has received five Latin Grammy nominations and numerous highly favorable reviews. In recent years, it has ventured into producing audiovisual content about significant figures in the Mexican music world. Since 2020, the Urtext Festival, which brings together more than 150 musicians in various forms of expression, has been organized. As of 2023, the Kaluz Museum is the main host of the festival.
Since 2020, the label has been organizing the Urtext Festival, which brings together more than 150 musicians in different manifestations for three days at the end of November. This year the festival will be held at the Kaluz Museum.
