Symphony No. 5 (Chávez)

Symphony No. 5, also called Sinfonía para cuerdas (Symphony for Strings) is a composition for string orchestra by Carlos Chávez, composed in 1953.

Izler Solomon (in 1948), who made the first recording of Chávez's Fifth Symphony

History

The Fifth Symphony was commissioned on 24 September 1952 by the Koussevitsky Music Foundation, and was sketched in July and August 1953. Chávez composed all of it during the month of September, while he was living in Acapulco, completing the fair copy of the score the following month. The score is dedicated to the memory of Serge and Natalie Koussevitsky. It was premiered in Royce Hall, Los Angeles, by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, conducted by the composer, on either 1 December (García Morillo 1960, 164) or 10 December 1953 (Orbón 1987c, 80).

Instrumentation

The work is scored for a conventional string orchestra of violins I and II, violas, cellos, and double basses.

Analysis

The Symphony is in three movements:

  1. Allegro molto moderato
  2. Molto lento
  3. Allegro con brio

In contrast to the Romantic character of the Fourth Symphony, Chávez here adopts a neoclassical orientation. This is especially pronounced in the last movement, whose contrapuntal textures lend it a decidedly baroque character (Orbón 1987c, 73). The first movement is in 12/8 time and in a sort of E minor tonality. The style of the movement resembles the opening of the Allegro of the Third Symphony, though of course without the powerful effect of a large orchestra (García Morillo 1960, 166).

Discography
  • Carlos Chávez, Sinfonía No. 5 for String Orchestra; Paul Ben-Haim: Concerto for Strings, Op  40. The M-G-M String Orchestra; Izler Solomon, cond. LP recording (monaural). MGM E 3423. Los Angeles: MGM Records (a division of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc.), [1957].
  • The Six Symphonies of Carlos Chávez . Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México; Carlos Chávez, cond. 3-LP set (stereo). CBS Masterworks 32 31 0002 (32 11 0020, 32 11 0022, 32 11 0024). New York: CBS, 1967.
  • The Six Symphonies of Carlos Chávez. London Symphony Orchestra; Eduardo Mata, cond. 3-LP set (stereo). Vox Cum Laude 3D-VCL 9032. New York: Moss Music Group, 1983. Reissued on 2-CD set as Carlos Chávez: The Complete Symphonies. VoxBox2 CDX 5061. Hauppauge, NY: Moss Music Group, 1992.
  • Blas Galindo, Sones de Mariachi; Silvestre Revueltas, Sensemayá; José Pablo Moncayo, Amatzinac; Salvador Contreras, Corridos; Carlos Chávez: Symphony No. 5. Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México; Coro Nacional de México; Enrique Arturo Diemecke, cond. Elena Durán, flute; María Luisa Tamez, soprano. CD recording, 1 sound disc: digital, stereo, 4¾ in. Sony Classical CDEC 471000. [Mexico City]: Sony Music Entertainment Mexico, 1994.

References
  • Copland, Aaron. 1967. Letter to Carlos Chávez (28 July). "The Aaron Copland Collection ca. 1900–1990". The Library of Congress: American Memory website (Accessed 30 June 2012).
  • García Morillo, Roberto. 1960. Carlos Chávez: Vida y obra. Tierra Firme. México: Fondo de Cultura Económica. ISBN 968-16-0222-6.
  • Orbón, Julián. 1987a. "Las sinfonías de Carlos Chávez." (part 1) Pauta: Cuadernos de teoría y crítica musical 6, no. 21 (January–March): 63–75. Reprinted as "Las sinfonías de Carlos Chávez" in: Julián Orbón. En la esencia de los estilos y otros ensayos, foreword by Julio Estrada, 148–58. Madrid: Editorial Colibrí, 2000. ISBN 84-923550-4-2.
  • Orbón, Julián. 1987b. "Las sinfonías de Carlos Chávez." (part 2). Pauta: Cuadernos de teoría y crítica musical 6, no. 22 (April–June): 81–91.
  • Orbón, Julián. 1987c. "Las sinfonías de Carlos Chávez." (part 3). Pauta: Cuadernos de teoría y crítica musical 6, no. 23 (July–September): 67–80.
  • Orbón, Julián. 2015. "Carlos Chávez's Symphonies", translated, introduced, and annotated by Leonora Saavedra. In Carlos Chávez and His World, edited by Leonora Saavedra, 62–75. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2015. ISBN 978-0-691-16947-7 (cloth); ISBN 978-0-691-16948-4. Translated from the Spanish liner notes for Chávez: The Complete Symphonies, London Symphony Orchestra, Eduardo Mata (cond.). Peerless Records, 1982.
  • Parker, Robert L. 1983. Carlos Chávez, Mexico's Modern-Day Orpheus. Twayne's Music Series. Boston: Twayne Publishers. ISBN 0-8057-9455-7.
  • Parker, Robert. 2001. "Chávez (y Ramírez), Carlos (Antonio de Padua)". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers.

Further reading
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