Mexico City

August 23, 1931

For Ángela Acevedo

November 20, 1931, Arbeu Theater, Symphony Orchestra of Mexico, Cond. Silvestre Revueltas.

Aprox. 17’

Picc, 2fl, 2ob, eh, cl[E♭], 2cl[B♭], 2bn / 4cor, 4tpt, 3tbn, tba / timp, perc / hp / female voice (vocalization without text) / strings

The autograph, two incomplete draft scores, and several sketches have been preserved, including a note on the score’s flyleaf.

Corners. Of all the streets and all the neighborhoods. The listener will probably have a hard time imagining that he is on a street corner; so would I. With the right attitude, one can imagine anything: streets, alleys, squares, plazas. It would be amusing to find in this music the sounds of horns, streetcars, buses, and so forth. Unfortunately, there is none of that (at least, that is what I naïvely believe), but rather the noise, or silence, the internal traffic of the souls I see passing by close to me. Certain experts in music are able to find in it [a] given form—binary, ternary, lied. This has not been my intent. The traffic I spoke of is multiform and with no obvious cohesion. It is subject to the rhythms of life, not to the distance from one side of the street to the other. From a technical musical perspective, I cannot comment, because I’m not interested in that. Certain people of good humor say I have technique; others of bad humor say I don’t. They know best. (Text published in the program for the corresponding concert.)

Anonymous, “Avisos a tiempo,” EL Universal Gráfico (November 23, 1931). G[erónimo] Baqueiro Foster, “Crónicas musicales: El cuarto concierto de la Orquesta Sinfónica de México.” Excélsior (November 24, 1931).
Mariscal. “Una buena obra mexicana estrenada por la Orquesta Sinfónica.” El Universal Gráfico (November 21, 1931).
S.X.S. “Criticando música.” El Universal Gráfico (November 29, 1931).

Unpublished