Revueltas was born in
Santiago Papasquiaro in
Durango, and studied at the
National Conservatory in Mexico City,
St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas, and the
Chicago College of Music. He gave violin recitals and in 1929 was invited by
Carlos Chávez to become assistant conductor of the
National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico, a post he held until 1935. He and Chávez did much to promote contemporary Mexican music. It was around this time that Revueltas began to compose in earnest. He began his first film score,
Redes, in 1934, a commission which resulted in Revueltas and Chávez falling out. Chávez had originally expected to write the score, but political changes led to him losing his job in the
Ministry of Education, which was behind the film project.[1] Revueltas left Chávez's orchestra in 1935 to be the principal conductor of a newly created and short-lived rival orchestra, the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional.[citation needed]
He was part of a
family of artists, a number of whom were also famous and recognized in Mexico: his brother
Fermín (1901–1935) and sister Consuelo (born before 1908, died before 1999) were painters, sister
Rosaura (ca. 1909–1996) was an actress and dancer, and younger brother
José Revueltas (1914–1976) was a noted writer. His daughter from his first marriage to Jules Klarecy (née Hlavacek), Romano Carmen (later Montoya and Peers), enjoyed a successful career as a dancer, taught ballet and
flamenco in New York, and died on November 13, 1995, at age 73, in Athens, Greece. She is survived by three sons, and two kindred creative female heirs in
Oceanside, California. His daughter from his second marriage, Eugenia (born November 15, 1934), is an
essayist. His nephew Román Revueltas Retes, son of José, is a violinist, journalist, painter and conductor of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Aguascalientes (OSA).[citation needed]
He appeared briefly as a bar piano player in the movie ¡Vámonos con Pancho Villa! (Let's Go with Pancho Villa, Mexico, 1935), for which he composed the music. When shooting breaks out in the bar while he is playing "
La Cucaracha", he holds up a sign reading "Se suplica no tirarle al pianista" ("Please don't shoot the pianist").[6]
Music
Chamber works
El afilador, 1924
Batik, 1926
Four Little Pieces for two violins and cello, 1929
Clark, Walter Aaron (1999). "The Music of Latin America". In Julio López-Arias; Gladys Varona-Lacey (eds.). Latin America: An Interdisciplinary Approach (3rd ed.). New York: P. Lang. pp. 233–253.
ISBN9780820434797.
Contreras Soto, Eduardo (2000). Silvestre Revueltas: Baile, duelo y son. Ríos y Raíces. México, D. F.: Teoría y Práctia del Arte.
ISBN978-970-35-0436-7.
Estrada, Julio (Autumn–Winter 1982). "Raíces y Tradición en la Música Nueva de México y de América Latina". Latin American Music Review / Revista de Música Latinoamericana. 3 (2): 188–206.
doi:
10.2307/780136.
JSTOR780136.
Hernández, Juan de Dios (2009). Nationalism and Musical Architecture in the Symphonic Music of Silvestre Revueltas (
DMA). Tucson: University of Arizona.
Hess, Carol A (Autumn–Winter 1997). "Silvestre Revueltas in Republican Spain: Music as Political Utterance". Latin American Music Review. 18 (2): 278–296.
doi:
10.2307/780398.
JSTORi231926. (subscription required)
Hoag, Charles K. (Autumn 1987). "Sensemayá: A Chant for Killing a Snake". Latin American Music Review / Revista de Música Latinoamericana. 8 (2): 172–184.
doi:
10.2307/780097.
JSTOR780097.
Morris, Mark (1996). A Guide to 20th-century Composers. London: Methuen.
ISBN9780413456014.
Palencia Alonso, Héctor. 2000.
"Voces magistrales: Silvestre Revueltas"[dead link]. In Conservatorianos: Revista de información, reflexión y divulgación culturales 6 (November–December): 25–29 (Archive from 2 November 2011, accessed 2 July 2014).
Velazco, Jorge (Autumn–Winter 1986). "The Original Version of Janitzio, by Silvestre Revueltas". Latin American Music Review / Revista de Música Latinoamericana. 7 (2): 341–346.
doi:
10.2307/780220.
JSTOR780220.
Further reading
Avila, Jacqueline A. 2007."The Influence of the Cinematic in the Music of Silvestre Revueltas". DMA thesis. University of California (Riverside).
Barnard Baca, Roberto. 2008. "The String Quartets of Silvestre Revueltas." DMA diss. New York: CUNY GC.
Barnard Baca, Roberto. 2008. "Análisis de transformaciones en el cuarteto núm. 1 de Revueltas". Artículo. Guadalajara, Mexico[full citation needed]
Dean, Jack Lee. 1992. "Silvestre Revueltas: A Discussion of the Background and Influences Affecting His Compositional Style". Ph.D thesis. University of Texas at Austin.
Espinosa, Sergio. 2001. "Silvestre Revuelta's Film for Redes". Ph.D. diss. University of Iowa.
Fanning, Richard. 2006. "The Rhetorical Use of the Trumpet in the Music of Silvestre Revueltas, An Introduction". DM document. Indiana University.
Garland, Peter. 1991. In Search of Silvestre Revueltas. Essays 1978–1990. Soundings Press.
Hyslop, J. R. 1982. "An Analysis of Silvestre Revueltas's Sensemayá". DMA thesis. Bloomington: University of Indiana.
Kaufman, Christopher. 1991. "Sensemayá: The Layer Procedures of Silvestre Revueltas". DMA thesis. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University.
Kolb Neuhaus, Roberto. 1998. Silvestre Revueltas. Catálogo de sus obras. Coyoacán, D.F.: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Escuela Nacional de Música.
ISBN968-36-6909-3
Kolb Neuhaus, Roberto, and José Wolffer (eds.). 2007. Silvestre Revueltas: sonidos en rebelión. México: UNAM, Escuela Nacional de Música.
ISBN970-32-3172-1
Leclair, Charmaine Francoise. 1995. "The Solo and Chamber Music of Silvestre Revueltas." Ph.D. diss. Eugene: University of Oregon.
Moreno Rivas, Yolanda. 1995. Rostros del Nacionalismo en la música mexicana: un ensayo de interpretación, 2nd edition. [México, D.F.]: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Escuela Nacional de Música.
ISBN968-36-4556-9
Porrit, Peter. 1983. "Nationalism in Twentieth Century Mexican Music". DMA thesis. Berkeley: University of California.
Revueltas, Silvestre. 1989. Silvestre Revueltas por él mismo: apuntes autobiográficos, diarios, correspondencia y otros escritos de un gran músico, compiled by Rosaura Revueltas. México, D.F.: Ediciones Era.
ISBN968-411-287-4
Sanchez-Gutierrez, Carlos Daniel. 1996. ¨The Cooked and the Raw: Syncretism in the Music of Silvestre Revueltas". Ph.D. thesis. Princeton: Princeton University.
Teibler-Vondrak, Antonia. 2011. Silvestre Revueltas: Musik für Bühne und Film'. Wien: Böhlau Verlag.
ISBN9783205787679
Vondrak, Antonia. 2000. "Silvestre Revueltas (1899–1940)". DMA thesis. University of Vienna.
Wilson-Spinalle, Katheleen L. 1983. "Selected Solo Songs of Carlos Chávez and Silvestre Revueltas. DMA thesis. University of Arizona.
Zohn-Muldoon, Ricardo. 1998. "The Song of the Snake: Silvestre Revueltas' Sensemayá." Latin American Music Review / Revista de Música Latinoamericana 19, no. 2 (Autumn): 133–159.