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''Planos'' (Planes) is a
chamber-music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...
composition by the Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas, also slightly enlarged and scored for full orchestra and published under its alternate title, ''Danza geométrica'' (Geometric Dance). Both versions were composed in 1934, and the scores are both dedicated to the architect Ricardo Ortega.


History

From at least as early as 1926, the architect Ricardo Ortega had encouraged Revueltas to take his composing more seriously, and showed some of his early scores to
Edgard Varèse Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse (; also spelled Edgar; December 22, 1883 – November 6, 1965) was a French-born composer who spent the greater part of his career in the United States. Varèse's music emphasizes timbre and rhythm; he coined ...
. When, in 1934, Revueltas composed ''Planos'' with a structure clearly alluding to architectural models, he dedicated the score to his architect friend. Although Revueltas is often regarded as a Mexican nationalist with strong populist leanings, ''Planos'' contains no obvious reference to folklore. It is one of his purest musical works, in which the use of any folk-like musical elements is almost imperceptible. His references to geometry, though more programmatic than Varèse's, nevertheless indicate a kinship with the older composer's work in a shared overall linear character. Revueltas was certainly aware of Varèse's music and aesthetics in the 1920s, when the two composers had exchanged correspondence. The chamber-music version was completed in March 1934, and was reorchestrated in June of the same year for full orchestra. Revueltas described the work as


Instrumentation

The chamber version, published as ''Planos'', is scored for a nonet: B clarinet, B bass clarinet, bassoon, C trumpet, piano, 2 violins, cello, and double bass. This heterogenous scoring, reminiscent of provincial bands, resembles those of other Revueltas scores, such as '' Alcancías'' and '' Colorines '' (both from 1932), ''Toccata sin Fuga'' (1933), and the slightly later ''
Homenaje a Federico García Lorca ' (Homage to Federico García Lorca) is a work for chamber orchestra by the Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas. History On 19 August 1936, the Spanish poet Federico García Lorca was murdered by fascist militia forces. Outraged, along with ...
''. The large-orchestra version, published as ''Danza geométrica'', is scored for piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 E clarinets, 2 B clarinets, B bass clarinet, 3 bassoons (3rd doubling contrabassoon), 4 horns, 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, percussion (4 players: xylophone, glockenspiel, large and small tamtams, bass drum, slapstick, cymbal, large gong, tambourine, and tubular bells), 2 pianos, and strings. The larger ensemble seems to have required a temporal expansion as well. Two sections in the first half are extended and rewritten with newly added melodic material, the return of the opening material at the end is recast, and occasional motivic repetitions are added throughout.


Analysis

''Planos'' departs from the ternary A–B–A form Revueltas habitually employed in single-movement works. Instead, it is freely structured and through-composed. It is constructed in modular, mosaic fashion from six generating motives, each with several variant forms. These motives are manipulated and juxtaposed, resulting in their continual re-contextualization. The identity of each of these motivic groups is intensified by the use of particular timbres, intensities, articulations, registers, melodic contours, meters, rhythmic patterns, and durations. Revueltas combines them into a whole through the use of sequencing, double and triple superimposition, stretto, fragmentation, extension, and shadowing, united by a complex design of ostinatos and rhythmic planes. The resulting musical discourse is often both flowing and abrupt, "a faithful mirror of the daily battle within the conflicting imagery of his inner and outer worlds". When the influence of
Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...
on the orchestral version was suggested, the composer reacted:


Discography


Chamber version

* Silvestre Revueltas: '' Homenaje a Garcia Lorca''; ''Planos, a Geometric Dance''; ''Toccata sin fuga''; ''Two Little Serious Pieces''; ''Tres sonetos''. MGM Chamber Orchestra,
Carlos Surinach Carlos Lund (or Carles Suriñach)
i Wrokona (; March 6, 1915 – November 12, 1997) was a Spanish-born
, cond. LP recording, 1 sound disc: 33⅓ rpm, monaural; 12 in. MGM E 3496. Pan-American Music Series. .p. MGM Records, 1956. * ''Orquesta de la Universidad''. Eduardo Mata: ''Improvisaciones no. 2'', for 2 pianos and strings; Silvestre Revueltas: ''Planos''; ''Ocho por radio''; Rodolfo Halffter: ''Tres piezas para orquesta de cuerda''. Homero Valle, Jorge Suárez, pianos (in the 1st work); Orquesta de la Universidad; Eduardo Mata, conductor. LP recording, 1 audio disc: analog, 33⅓ rpm, 12 in., stereo. RCA Red Seal MRL/S-001. México, D.F. : RCA Red Seal, 1970. * ''Silvestre Revueltas: Musica de camara''. Revueltas: ''Alcancías''; ''El renacuajo paseador''; ''Ocho por radio''; ''Toccata sin fuga''; ''Planos''. London Sinfonietta, David Atherton, cond. Recorded November 1979, London. LP recording, 1 audio disc: analog, 33⅓ rpm, 12 in. stereo. RCA Victor MRS-019. Mexico, D.F.: RCA Victor, 1980. Reissued on ''Night of the Mayas: Music of Silvestre Revueltas''. CD recording, 1 audio disc: digital, 4¾ in., stereo. Catalyst 09026-62672-2. ew York Catalyst, 1994. * ''Homenaje a Revueltas''. Silvestre Revueltas: '' Sensemayá''; ''Ocho por radio''; ''Planos'' (chamber version); ''Caminando''; ''Este era un rey'' (arr. by Timothy McKeown); ''Hora de Junio''; ''El renacuajo paseador''; ''Pieza para doce instrumentos''; ''Homenaje a Frederico García Lorca'' (arr. by The Ebony Band); José Pomar: ''Preludio y fuga rítmicos''. Juan Carlos Tajes, reciter; Ebony Band, Amsterdam, Werner Herbers, cond.. Recorded November 2003, at Concert Hall, Tilburg, The Netherlands. SACD hybrid recording, 1 audio disc: digital, 4 ¾ in., multi-channel surround sound/stereo. Channel Classics CCS SA 21104. Herwijnen, Netherlands: Channel Classics, 2004.


Orchestral version

* ''Silvestre Revueltas: Música orquestal''. New Philharmonia Orchestra of London; Eduardo Mata, conductor. Recorded November 1975 in Walthamstrow, London. LP recording, 2 sound discs: analog, 33⅓ rpm, stereo, 12 in. RCA Red Seal MRSA-1. Mexico, D.F.: RCA Red Seal, 1976. Reissued on ''Silvestre Revueltas, Centennial Anthology 1899–1999: 15 Masterpieces''. CD recording, 2 audio discs: digital, 4¾ in., stereo. RCA Red Seal 09026-63548-2. New York: RCA Red Seal; México, D.F.: Conaculta, BMG, 1999.


References

Sources * * * * * *


Further reading

* Hoag, Charles. 2002. "Algunos aspectos de las melodías de Revueltas". In ''Diálogo de resplandores: Carlos Chávez y Silvestre Revueltas'', edited by Ricardo Miranda Pérez and Yael Bitrán, 109–117. México, D.F.: Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes (CONACULTA) (Dirección General de Publicaciones). . * Leclair, Charmaine Françoise. 1995. "The Solo and Chamber Music of Silvestre Revueltas". PhD diss. Eugene: University of Oregon. * Mayer-Serra, Otto. 1941. "Silvestre Revueltas and Musical Nationalism in Mexico". '' The Musical Quarterly'' 27, no. 2 (April): 123–145. * Revueltas, Silvestre. 1963. ''Planos (Planes) for Small Orchestra'' (score). New York: Southern Music Publishing. * Revueltas, Silvestre. 1964. ''Danza Geometrica for Large Orchestra'' (score). New York: Southern Music Publishing. * Ruppli, Michel, and Ed Novitsky. 1998. ''The MGM Labels: Additional Recordings''. Volume 3 of The MGM Labels: A Discography. Discographies: Association for Recorded Sound Collections Discographic Reference Series 75. Greenwood Press. . * Saavedra, Leonora. 2009. "Manuel M. Ponce's ''Chapultepec'' and the Conflicted Representations of a Contested Space". '' The Musical Quarterly'' 92, nos. 3–4 (Fall–Winter): 279–328. * Stevenson, Robert. 2001. "Revueltas, Silvestre". '' The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by
Stanley Sadie Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was an influential and prolific British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was publ ...
and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan.


External links

*, members of the UNM Symphony Orchestra, Jorge Pérez Gómez conducting {{Authority control Compositions by Silvestre Revueltas 1934 compositions Compositions for nonet Music dedicated to family or friends