abstract: The popularity that regional Mexican music has achieved in the last years is impressive. The population increase of Mexican nationals in the United States and the availability to share information via web has increased the popularity of the musical genre, specially the subgenres of música norteña and banda. Regarless of the low economic class that is associated with the subgenres of música norteña and banda, nowadays they are a fundamental asset in the music industry, impart to the high volume of sales and popularity. However, even with a high index of popularity at a multinational level, the world of música grupera, how is categorized for subgenres of banda, música norteña, conjunto and duranguense, there is a low number of feminine artist that participate. The participation of women in the gupera world is very scarce, due to the patriarchal hegemony and machismo that spreads through the subgenres. Because of the low participation of women in the subgenres, they get classified the passive voice. The absence of a strong female representation has caused the expansion of a machista message though the songs implemented in the regional Mexican music. This phenomenon can be clearly appreciated in the songs "El carrito" (n.d.). "Disfruté engañarte" (2013), "La fory fay" (2013) and "Soy un desmadre" (2014). Using the ideology of power of Michel Foucault and complemented with the feminism of Hélène Cixious, the analysis and identification of the marginalized women in this examples can be reached. However, even though there are a low number of feminine artists that participate in the subgenres of música norteña and banda, their success has achieved the distortion of the hegemonic barrier imposed on society. Artist like Jenni Rivera and Los Horóscopos de Durango are some of the few artist that have distorted this socio and cultural hegemony that preexist in regional Mexican music. With the success of their songs, they have created a space of feminine expression against the machista message that marginalizes women, and opens new doors of opportunities for others. All this efforts have the intent to create equality of power in the sphere of regional Mexican music. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Spanish 2015

The purpose of this dissertation is to discover if Arturo Fuentes’ Primer Interludio incorporates a number of stylistic features typical of guitar music written by Mexican contemporaries from 1988 to 2003. These features include the use of complex musical notation, highly disjunct melodic contour, extended techniques, innovative timbres, rhythmic complexity, rapidly changing dynamics, atonality, percussive effects and repetitive rhythmic and/or melodic cells. As a point of departure a list of guitar works by representative Mexican composers was compiled. From this list the following works were chosen since they exemplify the stylistic trends I wish to highlight: Tres Instantáneas (1988) by Manuel Enríquez, Sonata (1992) and Elegía 2 (2000) by Hebert Vázquez, Haikus (2000) by Ana Lara, Sydolira (2000) by Gabriela Ortíz, and Impello (2003) by Francisco Javier González Compeán. By comparative analysis, I have associated certain stylistic features between these contemporary Mexican composers. I have been able to get a glimpse of some of the underlying stylistic unities found in these guitar compositions that seem rather separate. There are a number of stylistic features common to all of the composers discussed herein as well as few characteristics where only some of them converge. However, this research shows that Arturo Fuentes’ Primer Interludio is representative of several stylistic features commonly found in guitar music written by contemporary Mexican composers. There is a vast variety of Mexican guitar works created in recent years that remain unknown to today’s classical music world, academic community and general public. Mexico possesses a large repertoire of guitar works, music for solo guitar and guitar with a wide array of ensemble combinations from duets to large ensembles and guitar concertos. Many of these works would undoubtedly challenge a performer of the highest caliber. One of the purposes of this project is to promote contemporary Mexican classical guitar music. I hope to awake interest in this contemporary music style and encourage other musicians to include Mexican works in their concert repertoire.

Mexican composer Javier G. Compeán finished Sonata III, his most recent composition for solo guitar, in December 2015. Since the composition of his first such work in 2003, the composer has been experimenting with texture, register, dynamic range, extended techniques, harmonic possibilities, timbre, and form in his solo guitar music. In Sonata III, Compeán applied the experience he gained in previous compositions for guitar. This work represents the composer’s current style, in which he returns to a more traditional language but continues to experiment with the technical capabilities of the instrument. Sonata III is Compeán’s most ambitious guitar composition and one of the most important twenty-first century contributions to the Mexican guitar literature. This research focuses on the production of a performing edition of Sonata III. This research also includes a comprehensive analysis of Compeán’s solo guitar music to provide context for guitarists so that they can better understand the composer’s style.

Le compositeur mexicain Mario Ruiz Armengol (1914-2002) a écrit plus de deux-cents œuvres pour piano d’une grande qualité. Même si son œuvre fait partie du répertoire des pianistes mexicains, a été enregistrée, publiée et a fait l’objet de trois travaux universitaires et d’une biographie, la musicologie mexicaine a négligé son œuvre. C’est pour cela que j’ai décidé de me centrer sur l’analyse musicale de ses œuvres pour piano afin de les situer dans le contexte de la musique et des compositeurs de musique de concert du XXème siècle. Dans l’introduction je souligne divers aspects biographiques, ses facettes de compositeur ainsi qu’une brève présentation de ses œuvres pour piano. Dans les trois principaux chapitres : Analyse, Style et Influences je démontre à partir d’exemples musicaux comment ont été construites ses œuvres pour piano, quelle a été son évolution, quels ont été ses apports à la musique mexicaine pour piano et aux divers genres qu’il a exploré, comment peut-on définir son style et quelles influences apparaissent dans ses œuvres. Finalement, la conclusion me permet de situer son œuvre dans le contexte de la musique du XXème siècle. D’autre part, dans les annexes, je présente une série d’entretiens inédits avec différents musiciens mexicains qui l’ont connu ou qui diffusent actuellement son œuvre. Cette recherche prétend non seulement faire connaître son œuvre à l’étranger mais aussi motiver d’autres musicologues mexicains à étudier son œuvre ; enfin, elle marque aussi le début de la célébration du centenaire de sa naissance en 2014. / The Mexican composer, Mario Ruiz Armengol (1914-2002), wrote more than two hundred excellent compositions for the piano. Although his work is part of the Mexican pianists’ repertoire, has been recorded, published and studied in three university researches as well as in a biography, Mexican musicology has tendered not to focus on his work. It is for this reason that I decided to focus on the musical analysis of his piano works in order to situate him in the musical context of the twentieth century concert composers. The introduction apart from highlighting the biographical aspects surrounding his career including the different facets he demonstrated as a composer, also gives a brief summary of his works. In the three main chapters: Analysis, Style and Influences, I demonstrate with musical examples how he composed his piano works, his development, the contributions he made to Mexican piano music, the different genres that he explored, how his style may be defined, as well as the influences on his work. Finally, in the conclusion I situate his work in the twentieth century musical context. In addition, I included in the Appendix a series of unpublished interviews with different Mexican musicians who knew him or continue to present his work. In sum, the main aim of this thesis is not only to introduce this composer and his work to other countries, but also to motivate other Mexican musicologists to study his work. Finally, this thesis also marks the beginning of the centenary celebrations of his birth in 2014.

Mario Lavista (b. 1943) is a dominant figure in Mexican classical music. In the second half of the twentieth century, he promoted the use of contemporary techniques, leading to a series of collaborations with expert instrumentalists to explore extended techniques. Marsias for Oboe and Crystal Glasses is one of those pieces. Due to the nature of contemporary techniques, different oboes and reed styles produce different effects with the same fingerings. This document analyzes the contemporary fingerings in the two published editions of the work in consideration of the long-scrape reed style and oboes commonly used in the United States. The contemporary techniques were played on twelve professional oboe models as a way to collect data on how the printed fingerings work. The data is the foundation for the performance guide, which details every contemporary technique in the work. The performance guide also provides comprehensive information about the crystal glass logistics. The document also presents an electronic accompaniment created with Max/MSP in the event that the crystal glasses or crystal glass players are unavailable.

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