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Composer and Pianist Manuel Ponce

Classical Music Dateline: December 8

Manuel Ponce, Mexican Pianist and Composer

Mexican pianist and composer Manuel Ponce was best known for his composition, Estrellita (Litte Star).


Manuel María Ponce Cuéllar (December 8, 1882 – April 24 1948) was a distinguished Mexican composer. His work as a composer, music educator and Mexican music enthusiast researcher, connected the concert scene with a usually forgotten tradition of popular song and Mexican folklore. Constant citation of harmonic and formal traits from traditional song within his works characterised some of his compositional periods.

An important group of Ponce's works were previously unknown to the public, as self-proclaimed heir Mr. Carlos Vásquez, Mexican piano performer and educator who studied with Ponce, kept most of the original manuscripts under his possession. Most of them were finally donated to the National School of Music (UNAM) in Mexico City, as an analytic catalogue of his works could still be published.


One of Ponce's melodies still heard today in various arrangements is "Estrellita" (1912), a beautiful and haunting music.



Video Credit:

Alfredo Kraus canta "Estrellita."  YouTube, uploaded by Alfredo Kraus "El Tenor."  Accessed  December 8, 2015.



Resources:
  • The Complete Companion to 20th Century Music by Norman Lebrecht. Simon & Schuster (2000).

  • The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music edited by Stanley Sadie. Macmillan (1994).

Image Credit

Manuel Ponce, Wikipedia Commons. Accessed 26 September 2011.  (This image is used to identify composer Manuel Ponce in this post. It is low-resolution in order not to affect the rights of the copyright holder. A free-licensed alternative is not possible to be made.)



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