Jiménez-Mabarak, Carlos

Jiménez-Mabarak, Carlos, Mexican composer and pedagogue; b. Tacuba, Jan. 31, 1916; d. Cuautla, Morelos, June 21, 1994. He studied piano with Jesús Castillo in Guatemala (1923–27), and then continued his piano training at the Cons, in Santiago, Chile (1928–29), where he then attended the Liceo de Aplicación (1930–33). In 1933 he went to Brussels, where he received instruction in piano and harmony at the Inst. of Advanced Studies in Music and Drama, in harmony, counterpoint, and analysis with Wouters at the Cons., and in musicology with Van den Borren at the Univ. Returning to his homeland, he studied orchestration with Revueltas at the Cons. (1938), and still later (1953–56), he studied composition with Turchi at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome and dodecaphonic techniques with Leibowitz in Paris. From 1942 to 1965 he was prof, of music education, harmony, and composition at the National Cons, of Music in Mexico City. After serving as a prof, at the Villahermosa School of the Arts in Tabasco (1965–68), he was the cultural attaché of the Mexican Embassy in Vienna (1972–74). He first composed in a neo-Classical style but later became an accomplished dodecaphonist. He was one of the first Mexican composers to utilize electronics and to experiment with “musique concrète/’

Works

dramatic: Opera: Mzsfl de sets (1960; Mexico City, June 21, 1962); La guerra (1980; Mexico City, Sept. 26, 1982). Ballet: Perifonema (Mexico City, March 9, 1940); El amor del agua (1945); Balada del pajaro y las doncellas (1947); Balada del venado y la luna (1948); Danza fùnebre (1949); Recuerdo a zapata, ballet-cantata (1950); Balada màgico o danza de las cuatro estaciones (1951); Retablo de la annunciación (1951); El nanual herido (1952); La maestra rural (1952); Balada de los quetzales (1953); El paraiso de los Ahogados (1960); La llorona (1961); La portentosa vida de la muerte (1964); Pitagoras dijo…(1966); Balada de los nos de Tabasco (1990). OTHER: Incidental music to several plays, including Camus’s Caligula (1947), and various film scores. ORCH.: 2 syms.: No. 1 (Mexico City, July 6, 1945) and No. 2, Symphony in 1 Movement (Mexico City, Aug. 1962); Concerto for Piano and Chamber Orch. (1945; Mexico City, Nov. 8, 1946); Obertura para orquesta de arcos (Mexico City, Sept. 2, 1963); Sinfonia concertante for Piano and Orch. (1968; Mexico City, March 11, 1977). CHAMBER: Preludio y fuga for Clarinet and Piano (1937); Concierto del abuelo for Piano and String Quartet (1938); Quartet (1947); El retrato de lupe for Violin and Piano (1953); Concerto for Piano, Timpani, Bells, Xylophone, and Percussion (1961); 5 Pieces for Flute and Piano (1965); La ronda junto a la fuente for Flute, Oboe, Violin, Viola, and Cello (1965); 2 Pieces for Cello and Piano (1966); Invention for Clarinet and Trumpet (1970); Invention for Oboe, Tenor Trombone, and Piano (1971). Piano: Allegro romantico (1935); Pequeno preludio (1935); Danza espanola I and II (1936); Sonata del map enamorado (1936); Retrato de Mariana Sanchez (1952); Variaciones sobre la alegna for 2 Pianos (1952); La fuente armoniosa (1957). VOCAL: Los ninos heroes for Chorus and Orch. (1947); Traspié entre dos estrellas for Reciter and 6 Instruments (1957); Homenaje a Juarez for Soloists, Chorus, and Orch. (1958); Simon Bolivar for Soloists, Chorus, and Orch. (1983); many choruses; songs.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire