Redes (soundtrack)

Redes is a film score by Silvestre Revueltas for the 1936 eponymous film directed by Fred Zinnemann and Emilio Gómez Muriel. Redes means "nets" in Spanish. It was the composer's first film score, begun in 1934, when he visited the film crew on location in Alvarado, Veracruz. The film concerns the efforts of exploited fishermen to unite. In the US it was issued as The Wave.

Concert versions

The music is scored for symphony orchestra and was recorded by the Symphony Orchestra of Mexico.
Revueltas arranged a concert version which he premiered in 1936, the same year as the film was released. However, in concert performance the music is usually heard in an arrangement by Erich Kleiber, made in the 1940s after the composer's death. Kleiber's version is in two parts and lasts about 16 minutes.

Part I
*The Fisherman
*The Child’s Funeral
*Setting Out to Fish
Part II
*The Fight
*The Return of the Fishermen with Their Dead Friend

Critical reception

In his New York Times review, Aaron Copland commented that the music of Revueltas is "above all vibrant and colorful". He regarded this score to possess "many of the qualities characteristic of Revueltas's art". He added:

Recordings

The complete score has been recorded by the PostClassical Ensemble conducted by Angel Gil-Ordoñez for a version of the film released on DVD by Naxos in 2016. A CD of music from the score by the same performers without narration or dialogue was issued in 2022, paired with Copland's The City.