Mariachi
Mariachi is a genre of regional Mexican music dating back to at least the 18th century, evolving over time in the countryside of various regions of western Mexico. The usual mariachi group today consists of as many as eight violins, two trumpets and at least one guitar, including a high-pitched Mexican Vihuela and an acoustic bass guitar called a guitarrón, and all players take turns singing lead and doing backup vocals.
During the 19th- and 20th-century migrations from rural areas into Guadalajara, along with the Mexican government's promotion of national culture, mariachi came to be recognized as a distinctly Mexican son mexicano. Modifications of the music include influences from other music, such as polkas and waltzes, the addition of trumpets, and the use of charro outfits by mariachi musicians. The musical style began to take on national prominence in the first half of the 20th century, with its promotion at presidential inaugurations and on the radio in the 1920s. In 2011, UNESCO recognized mariachi as an Intangible Cultural Heritage; it joins six other entries on the Mexican list.
Song genres performed by mariachi ensembles include rancheras, corridos, cumbias, boleros, ballads, sones, huapangos, jarabes, danzones, joropos, pasodobles, marches, polkas, waltzes and chotís. Most song lyrics are about machismo, love, betrayal, death, politics, revolutionary heroes, and country life.
Name
The origin of the word is disputed, but prominent theories attribute it to deep roots. One states that it comes from the name of the wood used to make the dance platform. Another states that mariachi comes from the indigenous name of a tree called pilla or cirimo; yet another states that it came from an image locally called María H.It is possible to use the terms mariachi and ranchera interchangeably. Although they have different meanings, one can describe mariachi music as ranchera music and vice versa. Mariachi refers to a Mexican folk music tradition within a larger genre called ranchera music. Mariachi refers to many things: a certain body of repertoire, a musical style, a robust singing style, a solo singer or performer in a charro suit, and/ or an ensemble.
The oldest references to mariachi documented are more than 100 certificates of baptisms, burials and marriages in which the Mariachi ranch appears, between 1832 and 1850. It was located near the river Santiago, in Nayarit.
The word mariachi was once thought to have derived from the French word mariage, dating from the French intervention in Mexico in the 1860s, related to the music's appearance at weddings. This was a common explanation on record jackets and travel brochures but was disproven with the appearance of documents that showed that the word existed before this invasion: In 1981, a letter written by Catholic priest Cosme Santa Ana to the archbishop in 1852 was discovered in the archives of a church, where he complains about the noise as well as the drinking and gambling antics of the "mariachis," long before the French occupation. Cora indians that might have come from the state Jalisco in Mexico had a similar word that was used to describe a type of wood used for mariachi instruments.
Origins
Prior to the arrival of the Spanish, indigenous music in Mexico was played with rattles, drums, flutes, and conch-shell horns as part of religious celebrations. The Spanish introduced violins, guitars, harps, brass instruments, and woodwinds, which mostly replaced native instruments. The Europeans introduced their instruments to use during Mass, but they were quickly adapted to secular events. Indigenous and mestizo peoples learned to play and make these instruments, often giving them modified shapes and tunings.In addition to instruments, the Spanish introduced the concept of musical ensembles—which, in the colonial period, generally consisted of two violins, a harp, and various guitars. These groups were based upon mestizaje culture and gave rise to a number of folk musical styles in Mexico.
One of these folk musical styles was the son. This music featured string instruments. Son music divided into various regional varieties; the variety popular in the Jalisco area was called son jalisciense, whose best known song, also referred to as "the mariachi national anthem," is "La Negra". Modern mariachi music developed from this son style, with mariachi as an alternative name for son jalisciense. Early mariachi players did not look like those of today; they played only string instruments such as guitars and harps and dressed in typical peasant clothing: white pants and shirts with huarache sandals. Those who could play the son jalisciense/mariachi music could find work at haciendas at a higher rate than those who could not.
File:La Orquesta Típica de la Ciudad de México.png|thumb|left|alt=Mariachi band playing at the Tenampa in Mexico City|The Orquestra Típica Mexicana led by Carlo Curti in Columbus, Ohio, 1885
The distinction of mariachi from the older son jalisciense occurred slowly sometime during the 19th century. The music originated in the center-west of Mexico. Most claims for its origin lie in the state of Jalisco but neighboring states of Colima, Nayarit, and Michoacán have also claimed it.
Most sources agree that the modern mariachi originated in the town of Cocula, Jalisco, during the 19th century, where the genre evolved from the older son jalisciense and became culturally centered in Jalisco by the late 1800s. Cocula, known as the "Cuna Mundial del Mariachi", commemorates this heritage with a plaza arch bearing that title.
The song “De Cocula es el Mariachi," composed by Manuel Esperón and Ernesto Cortázar and popularized by Jorge Negrete, further reinforced Cocula’s association with the genre. The Museo de Cocula es el Mariachi, inaugurated on 31 December 2000 in the historic Casa de los Juzgados, exhibits instruments, costumes, and photographs documenting the evolution of mariachi and its role as a symbol of Mexican cultural identity.
Mariachi singing was not always part of the church. In 1848, Bishop Cosme wrote a letter to Spain complaining of the mariachis making too much noise outside his church, clarifying that mariachi did not originate in the church. Today, however, mariachi is an important part of Catholic services for life events and holidays from funerals to weddings, including celebrations of the Virgin of Guadalupe on December 12th of each year.
The distinction between son and modern mariachi comes from the modification of the music. By the end of the nineteenth century, the European art music tradition was firmly transplanted to Mexico, with opera, salon music, waltzes, and more written and performed both by Europeans and Mexicans in the country. One variety was the salon orchestras called orquestas típicas that performed in more rural settings, notably in traje de charro outfits. This use of the traje de charro outfit was repeated with urban mariachi in the 1920s.
The traje de charro outfit is widely considered to be one of the two major changes that occurred during the Golden Age, the other being the introduction of trumpets. The traje de charro outfit was also used in the national Orquestra Típica Mexicana, organized in 1884 by Carlo Curti, and touring the United States and Mexico as part of a presentation of nationalism for the Mexican president Porfirio Diaz. Curti's Orquestra Típica Mexicana has been called the "predecessor of the mariachi bands". Traje de charro is heavily inspired by cowboys and features very symbolic sombreros, tight fitting pants, ruffled shirts, and jackets with heavy embroidery and embellishments throughout all the pieces.
After the Mexican Revolution, many haciendas had to let workers go, including mariachis. Groups began to wander and play for a fee, which obliged them to incorporate other music into their repertoires, including waltzes and polkas. It also required them to play in public venues. From the late 19th century to the 1930s, mariachi groups were semi-professional.
In the early 20th-century United States, record companies began actively recording rural music in other parts of the world. One of these was a recording called Cuarteto Coculense by Columbia, Edison and Victor in 1908 and 1909, recognized as one of the "first" mariachi recordings. The music also gained attention in Mexico City when a wealthy hacienda family brought an early mariachi from Cocula to play for President Porfirio Díaz in 1905.
Modern development
The common perception of the music and look of mariachi developed in the 20th century, as the music was transformed from a regional rural folk music to an urban phenomenon that came to represent Mexico.The music was first introduced to Mexico City in 1905. During this time, many farm workers moved to the city, including those from Jalisco, which settled around Plaza Garibaldi. These mariachi musicians developed new practices, such as performances in plazas and restaurants. However, it also continued its more traditional venues such as serenades, and performances at major family events.
During this time, the Mexican government was heavily involved in cultural promotion as a way to create a unified Mexican identity after the end of the Mexican Revolution. One of these efforts was the promotion of mariachi as an international symbol of Mexican identity, first with radio and sound recordings and later with films.
Mexico built a nationwide radio broadcasting network in the 1920s such as XEB and XEW, which began broadcasting mariachi music as a media production, rather than as a music for social events. This music was already being modified in part due to the advent of sound recording. For example, most son jaliscense songs were longer than the standard three-and-a-half minutes of the then-standard 78 rpm record, forcing the shortening of tunes. Around the same time, the popularity of jazz and Cuban music introduced the trumpet into mariachi, pushing the violins into a secondary role, and in some cases, replacing the harp.
Trumpets gained popularity when mariachi was commercialized in the 1930s and was played for wealthy people. But this is how they got to hear the trumpet more in the ensembles and it became a regular thing. Wealthier people had the ability to record music, hire the best players, and purchase new, high-quality instruments, which caused the sound to evolve and showcased it to the world.
The most prized of the mariachis remained those from the state of Jalisco, particularly the areas of Cocula and Tecalitlán. They represented Mexico to the people during the Independence Day celebrations in Mexico City in 1933 as well as during Lázaro Cárdenas' election campaign in 1936.
The charro tradition was strong in Jalisco, especially in a region called Los Altos. After the Revolution, the charreada became a national sport in Mexico and rings were constructed specifically for them, followed by professional charro associations. With the breakup of the large haciendas, charros were no longer economically necessary but were used as a cultural ideal, especially by the film industry in the mid-20th century. The first charro movies date from the 1920s, but the first to sing mariachi was Tito Guízar in Allá en el Rancho Grande in 1936. The character was played by Jorge Negrete in films such as ¡Ay, Jalisco... no te rajes! and ¡Así se quiere en Jalisco! The main characters used his ability to sing mariachi as a way to show strength, virility, and aesthetic beauty. Its use in film also made the music popular and a symbol of ethnic pride for Mexican Americans in the United States.
However, these films also promoted a negative perception of mariachi music. During the early 20th century, mariachi was seen as lower class, and belonging in bars. Films from this period associated the charros and mariachi music with machismo, womanizing and drinking, especially of tequila. This perception would change in the latter half of the 20th century, but the music remains strongly associated with tequila.
Mariachi music and musicians became more professional with more formal training starting in the late 1940s and early 1950s, principally due to the success of a major mariachi by the name of Mariachi Vargas. Their appearance in many films, backing many singing stars, and their hiring of formal musicians prompted other mariachis to do the same. The group also expanded, adding trumpets, violins and even a classical guitar to become a kind of orchestra, keeping the traditional son/mariachi base while integrating new musical ideas and styles. Arrangers like Rubén Fuentes incorporated classical influence. One other innovation, in contrast to the machismo of the style, were the first female mariachi performers, Lola Beltrán and Lucha Villa. One night Mariachi Vargas put Beltrán on stage when she was a teenager. Her versions of "Cucurrucucu Paloma" and "Tres Dias" are now considered classics.
Many of the traditional sounds of Cocula were lost as mariachi groups incorporated other musical styles that were popular on the radio. New influences have come into the tradition from the Mexican American community in the United States. In both countries, however, the learning of traditional pieces and repertory is still stressed to form a base.
The International Mariachi Festival in Guadalajara is an annual ten-day event that attracts more than 500 mariachis, who perform in concert halls and city streets. Past performers include Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán, Mariachi los Camperos and Mariachi América de Jesús Rodríguez de Hijar.
In Mexico City, the center of mariachi music remains Garibaldi Plaza. Mariachi musicians fill the plaza to solicit gigs, from individual songs for passers-by to being hired for events such as weddings and baptisms. They even stand on Eje Central in front of the plaza to flag down passing cars. In 2010, the government renovated the plaza to make it more tourist-friendly, adding new paving, gardens, police, security cameras, painted facades, and a museum dedicated to mariachi and tequila. Although mariachis can be hired in Mexico City over the phone or on the internet, many people still prefer to come to the plaza, hear the musicians and haggle over the price. About 2,500 mariachis hold union cards to work in the plaza, but as many as 4,000 may circulate through on a busy weekend.