Here’s an Open Ears video about the life and career of José Pablo Moncayo García, the Mexican composer of Huapango, and a leading figure in his country’s post- revolutionary musical nationalism movement. He studied at the National Conservatory of Mexico, and was asked by conductor Carlos Chávez to be a percussionist in the Mexico Symphony Orchestra (later known as the National Symphony Orchestra). In his own music, he used the idioms and rhythms of traditional folk music. After the success of Huapango in 1941, he studied composition with Aaron Copland at Tanglewood, and met Leonard Bernstein and Lukas Foss. Moncayo was named Assistant Conductor of the Mexico Symphony Orchestra in 1945, and the next year, its Artistic Director. He died just before his 46th birthday, in 1958, having written 40 works in various genres: ballet, choral, opera, film, chamber music, as well as symphonic pieces. As he said: “Our music must first be deeply Mexican in order to become universal.”
articles / Open Ears
Open Ears: Jose Moncayo
Written by:
The Classical Team
Published on 09.16.2025
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