An integral part of the Catholic mass during the 1500s, the dulcian or bajón became one of the first Western European instruments to reach the western hemisphere. Replaced by the bassoon in the 19th century, the instrument remained in use as Spaniards living in Mexico emulated the entertainment and fashions of Europe and it appeared in many symphonies and operas. Following an upsurge in nationalism after the Revolution of 1910, a plethora of works exhibiting a truly Mexican style of composition developed, fueled by government money for the arts. Currently, Mexican composers enjoy success within the Western classical music community, and the bassoon continues to appear in symphonic, solo and chamber works. This paper briefly examines the history of the bassoon in Mexico and later analyzes the current state of the genre, with some general information and commentary on classical music in that country.
This discussion is supported by the examination of several recent pieces of solo bassoon music and chamber music with ensembles of ten or less that include the bassoon. The genre currently suffers from a lack of scholarly resources documenting the most recent developments in Mexican composition. As a result, numerous print and internet sources were consulted to provide a well-rounded discussion of this topic.
The composers discussed in this analysis are divided into two categories: prominent composers and those who are lesser-known or underperformed. This project provides biographical and stylistic information for each composer as well as the background and musical characteristics of each composition examined. The paper concludes with a list of Mexican solo and chamber works featuring the bassoon as well as a selected discography to facilitate further research of the bassoon music from this country.