National Symphony Orchestra

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Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional
Background information
Origin	Mexico City, Mexico
Genres	Classical
Occupations	Symphony orchestra
Years active	•1881-1913 (as Conservatory Orchestra) •1915-1924 (as National Symphony) •1928-1937 (as Mexico Symphony Orchestra) •1949-present
Website	Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional
Members
Music Director Carlos Miguel Prieto First Concertmaster Luis Samuel Saloma Second Concertmaster Erika Dobosiewicz
Former members
Founder Carlos Chávez

The National Symphony Orchestra (Mexico) (OSN) (Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional) is the most important classical music and symphonic ensemble in Mexico^[1]. With its origins traced back as 1881, it's the second oldest symphony orchestra in the American continent along with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It performs regularly in the Grand Hall of the Palace of Fine Arts (Palacio de Bellas Artes) in Mexico City.

The National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico, as a branch of the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, was created by presidential decree by Miguel Alemán on 18 July 1947, under the name of National Conservatory Symphony Orchestra.^[2] Another decree in April 25, 1949 changed the name of the ensemble to National Symphony Orchestra (Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional or OSN), first, to emphasize its professional character–it had the best musicians in the country–and avoid confusing it with a student ensemble, despite that fact that from the very beginning Chávez considered the orchestra a national symphony, linked in some aspects to the most important music education institution, the National Conservatory; and second, Chávez wanted to highlight that “a National Symphony, by definition, is a State institution,” and the government had recognized the need to support an institution of public interest.^[2] Before this, however, there was a predecessor orchestra known as the Symphony Orchestra of Mexico (September 2, 1928-March 8, 1949), a non profit organization founded and conducted by Mexican composer, conductor, teacher, journalist and visionary arts leader Carlos Chávez. On 1 August 1947 Chávez appointed Blas Galindo as the new director of the National Conservatory, official seat of the new orchestra. Chávez reports that the National Symphony Orchestra gave its first official performance on 30 October 1947 at the Palace of Fine Arts, under the baton of Eduardo Hernández Moncada, its first music and artistic director.^[3]

History of the Orchestra

The social context that Mexico was living during the beginnings of the 20th century made the task of creating an orchestra difficult, so there were several attempts to form a national symphony orchestra.

First period

The orchestra has its roots back in 1881, when Alfredo Bablot, director of the Music Conservatory (founded July 1, 1866) initiated the Conservatory Orchestra. When Bablot died, he was replaced by Carlos J. Menéses. In 1902 the orchestra had little support from the government of Porfirio Díaz, but it suspended its activities in 1913, two years after Díaz's fall, because of the general instability in the country during the Mexican Revolution.

Second and third period

After Gen. Venustiano Carranza, took over the national government's seat back to Mexico City in 1915, the orchestra took the name of National Symphony, and depended from the Bellas Artes bureau, and its director during this period was Jesús Acuña, followed by composer Manuel M. Ponce but he declined and the orchestra suspended the concert seasons. Later, composer Julián Carrillo, who was a very important figure in music history worldwide, was appointed as the Music Conservatory director, and took up the project for an orchestra again, and depended from the Conservatory, but because of lack of financial support from the government, the orchestra again finished its activities in 1924.

Mexican Symphony Orchestra

In 1928, the Mexican Symphony Orchestra was created, but the name changed shortly to Symphony Orchestra of Mexico (Orquesta Sinfónica de México) . This orchestra is more related to the current orchestra. Carlos Chávez was appointed as its first conductor, but it lacked of any financial support, besides that the orchestra wasn't being well administrated by the city's musician syndicate of that time. While Chávez conducted the orchestra, it meaning a flourishing period for the orchestral music in the country.

A private patronage was established and the orchestra could give its first concert. The date was September 2, 1928, and the place, the Iris Theatre. With 103 musicians on stage, the programme included Debussy´s Ibéria Suite, Tello's Sonata Tragica, Tchaikovsky´s Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor with Vilma Erenyi as soloist, and Strauss´ Don Juan. Although the orchestra received financial support from the government, this was considered as a private one, nor official, like it is constituted today. This is the most important point to consider the nature of this musical organization at the present time.

Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas, who was second in charge as assistant conductor, left the orchestra in 1935 to be the principal conductor of a newly-created and short-lived National Symphony Orchestra that depended from the National Music Conservatory, but it closed in 1937 when Revueltas resigned.

Creation of the INBA and establishment of the current orchestra

On November 23, 1946, president Miguel Alemán proposed the creation of the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature (Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura), known by the acronym INBA, and was formally opened in 1 January 1947, as a branch of the Secretaría de Educación Pública, (SEP) (Secretariat of Public Education). The first head of the INBA was Carlos Chávez, who created a new orchestra for the Conservatory (thus because the conservatory depended on the INBA administration). On January 19, 1949, Chávez resigned his job as conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of Mexico, to spend more of his time composing and directing the INBA, but the orchestra didn't disappear, because Chávez succeeded in making the government recognize a national ensemble (working on this issue, since he was appointed as head of the INBA), so the actual organization known as National Symphony Orchestra of México was established, and Eduardo Hernández Moncada was designated its first conductor in 1947, José Pablo Moncayo replaced him in 1949.

The orchestra from its creation to the present day

Moncayo was latter replaced by Luis Herrera de la Fuente in 1954 to 1972 and in this period the orchestra had very important tours nationwide and worldwide, especially in Europe. In 1973, Chávez returned to conduct the orchestra, but resigned in the first month, due to internal conflicts with the orchestra members, this resulting in a new form of artistic administration formed by some of the musicians and representatives from the INBA, called co-government, that stated that no principal conductor was going to be consider, instead of that just having host conductors for its seasons, and considered a Mexican assistant director to attend off-season affairs.

After this form of administration, the orchestra accepted to have again a conductor and in 1979 and the new appointed was Sergio Cárdenas who served until 1984, after him Jose Guadalupe Flores from 1985 to 1986, followed by Francisco Savín form 1986 to 1988 and after him, from 1989 to 1990 Luis Herrera de la Fuente returned. Participation in national festivals, music workshops, conferences, band concerts and chamber music concerts were offered by the orchestra during these years.

On May 1990, Enrique Arturo Diemecke was appointed as new conductor and he revived the tradition of touring that was promoted by Herrera de la Fuente during his first term and thus traveling to Portugal and Spain festival in 1992 and a tour within Mexico and United States in 1999 and 2002. During his direction, the orchestra encouraged the soundtracks concerts that consists on playing music from films like the Mexican "Redes", music by Aaron Copland or West Side Story from Leonard Bernstein and several others. Didactic concerts for kids, concerts with worldwide renowned soloists like Jorge Federico Osorio, Frederica von Stade and violin virtuoso Itzhak Perlman were held by the orchestra in these years and in 2002 the orchestra was nominated for Latin Grammy award for Best Classical Album . In 2003 the orchestra celebrated its 75th Anniversary with a concert in Mexico's National Auditorium performing the Ludwig van Beethoven´s Symphony No. 9 (Choral), Op. 125 with an almost sold out locations. On November 2006 after 16 years of continuous works, Diemecke left the orchestra.

The new orchestra's musical director, Carlos Miguel Prieto, named at the end of 2007, has launched the orchestra on a new era, aiming to place it on a par with the world's leading ensembles. In early 2008 he led it on its first European tour in years, culminating with an acclaimed^{[citation needed]} concert at Amsterdam's renown Concertgebouw Hall. Also in 2008 the orchestra is celebrating its 80th Anniversary

Discography

1993 "Moncayo, Revueltas, Chavez" recorded at the Sala Nezahualcóyotl (Nezahualcóyotl Concert Hall).

2002 - "Los Conciertos para violín y piano de Carlos Chávez" live at the Palacio de Bellas Artes (Nominated for Latin Grammy).

2004 - "Sonidos de un espacio en Libertad" .

External links

• Official Website (Spanish) With information on history, members, full discography, tickets, season concerts and contact.

Notes

Carlos Chávez, “La Sinfónica Nacional,” Nuestra Música 18 (Año 5, 1950): 119-120.

References

• Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional (2004) "Sonidos de un Espacio en Libertad", Ed. Océano.
• Moreno Rivas, Yolanda. 1989. Rostros del nacionalismo en la música mexicana: Un Ensayo de Interpretación (Faces of the Mexican Nationalism: An Essay of Interpretation). Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Económica.
• Moreno Rivas, Yolanda. La composición en México en el siglo XX (Composition in Mexico in the Twentieth Century). Mexico City: Consejo Nacional Para la Cultura y Las Artes/ Cultura Contemporánea, 1994.
• Parker, Robert. 1983. Carlos Chávez, Mexico’s Modern-day Orpheus. Boston, Mass.: Twayne Publishers. ISBN 0805794557
• Parker, Robert L. 1987. "Copland and Chávez: Brothers-in-Arms". American Music 5, no. 4 (Winter): 433–44.
• Pulido, Esperanza. 1978a. "Los nuevos directores de orquesta: 1948" (The new orchestra conductors). Heterofonía 11, no. 5 (September-October): 4.
• Pulido, Esperanza. 1978b. "Las orquestas sinfónicas de México: 1948" (The Mexican Symphony Orchestras: 1948). Heterofonía 11, no. 5 (September-October): 5.
• Pulido, Esperanza. 1978c. "La Sinfónica Nacional: México en la cultura (18 de Mayo de 1958)" (The National Symphony: Mexico in the Culture [May 18, 1958]). Heterofonía 11, no. 5 (September-October): 8.
• Pulido, Esperanza. 1978d. "Veinte años después" (Twenty Years After). Heterofonía 11, no. 5 (September-October): 9.

• Torres-Chibras, Armando Ramon. 2002. "José Pablo Moncayo, Mexican Composer and Conductor: A Survey of His Life with a Historical Perspective of His Time." DMA diss., University of Missouri, Kansas City. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms International. ISBN 0-493-66937-X
• Torres-Chibrás, Armando. Sinfonietta. Notes for the Performance Program of the University of Missouri-Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, Kansas City, 26 November 1996.
• Weinstock, Herbert 1940. Mexican Art. Notes for concerts arranged by Carlos Chávez as part of the exhibition "Twenty Centuries of Mexican Art" (May). New York: The Museum of Modern Art.
• Zepeda Moreno, José Kamuel. 2005. Vida y obra de José Pablo Moncayo. Guadalajara, Jalisco, México : Gobierno de Jalisco, Secretaría de Cultura.