Little Mexican Suite for Winds: Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble

Little Mexican Suite for Winds Nubia Jaime Donjuan (b. 1984)
World Premiere
1. Ahuehuete (Montezuma Cypress)
2. Mezquite (Mesquite); Nathaniel Chen ’25, oboe
3. Ayacahuite (Mexican White Pine)
4. Sahuaro (Cactus)
5. Cacalosúchil (Plumeria Rubra); Jacob Wesley Dell ’22, tenor saxophone
6. Ceiba (Sacred tree of the Maya)

Note from Nubia Jaime Donjuan:
Ever since I was a child, I have been very interested in traditional Mexican Music. It has always captured my attention. I used to really get excited to hear a danzón or a son jarocho, and, fortunately, that interest has become a fundamental part of my artistic work. Most of my works contain a national, and often regional root. As is well-known, Mexican music has many branches, ranging from danzón to mariachi.

When Dr. Messier approached me, I was immediately overcome by the urge to compose a Suite for Symphonic Band inspired by popular Mexican genres. Almost naturally, the themes for each movement began to appear, and in a short time I had developed them all. It was clear to me that each should be different. I did not want to repeat any genre. Music chooses the composer and takes its own course and as expected, these movements were connecting with each other, one appearing in another as reminiscences of the past, as light brushstrokes, on occasions hidden and at times very exposed.

Little Mexican Suite for Winds is based on traditional Mexican musical genres that are very popular in my country, and is inspired by species of Mexican trees that have each touched my life in some way and are embedded in my memory.

Ahuehuete: The giant. Inspired by the most emblematic tree in Santa María del Tule, in Oaxaca. Full of colors, textures and vitality, it denotes fascination with the famous Árbol del Tule.

Mezquite: From a hot and dry climate, and needing help from no one, it silently awaits the rain. One lives in the courtyard of my house, and makes my days cooler and my nights more pleasant. It provides me with bird song and comforts me after a long day. So simple and noble that it gave me a “polka sonorense.”

Ayacahuite: The Mexican pine. Large and powerfully green, full of brown cones. It came to dance a soft waltz and to sing a “son jaliciense.”

Sahuaro: The cactus. Very tall and full of water, with thorns and of unparalleled green. A forest of sahuaros lies midway between my city and the nearby bay and, since I was little, they have captured my attention. Without any doubt, this movement had to be a “danzón,” my favorite genre of all time.

Cacalosúchil: With elongated, large, shiny green leaves. Its flowers can be white, yellow or pink, and its fruit is a large pod that sounds like a “maraca.” My parents planted one when I was little, and I grew up collecting flowers and percussion instruments thanks to this generous provider of shade and color. With a tenor saxophone soloist and percussion that reminded me of this tree’s pod, I developed an ode to the Huapango.

Ceiba: From a tropical climate, with a wide and rough trunk and peculiar, well-defined leaves. It totally inspired me to create a delicious Cha-Cha-Chá, which, with time, inevitably led me to the traditional Mambo.

Spring 2022 • Spaulding Auditorium • Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth

Music Mexico Symposium 2022
An interdisciplinary two-day event on the past and future of Mexican repertoire. Musicians, performers and scholars will contextualize the musical traditions of Mexico from before the revolution to the present day, and will discuss the representation of Mexican music in education and the industry today. These themes and more will be explored through presentation, discussion and performance, including an opening concert featuring new and classic works from the repertoire of Mexican concert music as well as a Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble concert premiering exciting new works for winds.

View the Playbill and Artist Bios: https://bit.ly/3ylkhGD
Learn More about the Music Mexico Initiative: https://bit.ly/3IjuNCI

Learn more about the Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble: http://bit.ly/wind-ensemble-dartmouth