Identification of Traditional Music of Nonoava, Chihuahua

Introduction

The 19th century was a century with constant wars, both internal and with foreigners. This caused that new musical styles were imported to the Mexican repertoire. The wars of The Independence brought with them the triumphant reappearance of outlawed rhythms and the appearance of European rhythms. This gives an idea of how music can be modified or merged as those involved change or are modified. It also clarifies how a musical expression, which at first can become uncomfortable for a certain society, for various reasons can adapt after a certain time. Something similar happened with European dance rhythms, since, depending on the time, they were discarded and later adopted, depending on who or what social class they represented.

Mexican music in the 19th century is influenced by the echo of European trends. Estrada clarifies and mentions that “a subtle conquest of the sentimental surface then arises” [1]. In this way, the foreigner, in addition to conquering us physically or territorially, also does so in a psychological and cultural way. A clear example is through their imported cultures. The colonist or conqueror imposes the dominant aesthetic through his art. In addition, the winner stamped the expressions of the lower social classes, in this case, those of the indigenous and black people. It is then that it can be understood that European music was first imposed, and then assimilated and adopted by the Mexican people. From this European music certain aesthetic elements will be taken, such as the rhythm in Chihuahua´s dance music at the beginning of the 20th century.

Music in Chihuahua before the Mexican Revolution

During the 19th century in Mexico, the government that had recently been created worked on the first attempt to integrate its culture and with it its music. The military band was promoter of nationalism with works dedicated to heroes, by playing medleys and suites of sones and songs [2]. A well-articulated institution, the military brass band began to perform in city centers. This resulted in the creation of a musical culture throughout the country. How this musical influence was affecting the existing musical traditions, and how gradually they were mixed with the new imported musical aesthetics will be exposed as well.

Various European musical styles were adapted over time to Mexican culture. The conflicts during The Independence war brought with them European rhythms such as Mazurkas, Polkas, Cracovianas and Redovas, in addition to Italian opera [3]. In the north, these rhythms were gradually adapted into the people popular repertoire. These types of rhythms were fused with the regional music, such as popular song, the huapango, the waltz, among others, resulting in a new way of making music. Mexico´s musical heritage was vast. Estrada explains the musical influence of other regions that the American continent had in the 19th century Popular music and colonial religious music of Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian origin, which covers almost the entire continent; the black music of the West of Africa, mainly, also extended in the north, center, and a part of the south of America; music from Holland, Ireland, England and France located in the north of the continent; French, Austrian, and Polish music, which came with Napoleon III’s invasion of Mexico; Italian operatic music and European hall music; imported by the 19th century bourgeoisie ... [4].

This quote gives us a more accurate idea of how great the musical influence is in Mexico. However, trends were very different in the various regions of the country. This was due to the fact that in some areas they already had an established musical tradition that was shaped since the conquest; consequently European musical influence of the 19th century had perhaps a not so prominent effect on them. On the contrary, in regions where a style and identity had not yet been defined, were these European imported music styles that had the greatest importance in their culture. In northern regions for example, where the conquest was a longer process than in the south, and which perhaps for that reason did not adopt a strong musical tradition, the influence of European rhythms and pieces had a predominant weight in its regional musical expression during this time. This musical influence would not have been possible without the help of the trending musical ensemble in the19th century: the wind brass band. Military music and its bands had a great development in the 19th century thanks to nationalism and new instruments. To a large extent, it was the wind band that helped the first attempt at national identity. Thanks to its sound and versatility, the military band was in constant contact with the Mexican people. Another important point is that due to the emerging technologies in that century; the construction of wind instruments was easier, becoming popular throughout Europe.

During the19th century there was a great development in the brass and wood wind instruments and how this impacted the military band [2]. The military band became the preferred format for military, popular, and not-so-popular music. It did not take long for this group to have repercussions in Mexican culture. In the 19th century, these bands were groups of musical dissemination in all societies. In that century, it was difficult to listen to music, since it could only be heard in live performances through musical instruments, which were rare. An essential part of the military bands functions was the serenade, also known as retreta, which were offered in squares, walks and public gardens.

The band was of great importance in the dissemination of music, both cultured and popular. In Chihuahua there were already such presentations called serenades. Chávez UI [5] comments that during the 19th century, Chihuahua had a considerable number of military bands whose most important participation, in addition to serenades, were in important events, on significant or official dates at the national level. With this we can get an idea of how people adopted their taste for the wind band. This musical organization represented the sounds and important celebrations at that time. It did not take long for the same people to start creating their popular bands, taking the military band as a model.

During the Reformation, the people began to express themselves musically through the sound of wind music. Already in the time of Benito Juárez, the formation of civilian wind bands began, which were relatively much smaller [6]. It is easy to think that the people were acquiring a taste for this band sound. The army was made up of the same people, which make us speculate that if a musician deserted from the military band, he could get a job in the small popular wind-style groups. However, at that time there were already musical expressions and characteristic sounds from the 18th century and earlier, which had been formed in the center of the country, mainly with string instruments.

In Chihuahua, during President Juárez term, the existence of wind music groups was still scarce or did not have great importance. For example, Torres RA [2] gives us a piece of information: the independence ceremony for President Juárez, cornered in the north of the country, was the most austere, on that occasion the most that could be obtained was a drum and a violin. From what we can understand that in Chihuahua, at least at this time, music was somewhat limited and lagged behind other places in the south of the country. Even so, music was important both in social celebrations and in civic events. Before wind music, there was music with string instruments.

In the mid-19th century, it was common in Chihuahua to use stringed instruments, such as the violin, the guitar, and the harp, in dances and performances of all kinds. In the interview with the historian Jesús Vargas in 2016, he tells us that “… in Tomochi, Jesús María, Parral, in Guerrero, we had very nice photos of musical groups that have different instruments. They can be guitars, they can be mandolins and guitars, a harp can appear there. This observation gives us an idea of what musical life was like at that time in Chihuahua: reduced, with handmade instruments, especially stringed ones, which occur mainly in mining towns, and whose social function was still moderate.

Before the Porfiriato, it can be understood that in Chihuahua there was no characteristic musical expression of the region. Vargas himself tells us that dances in Chihuahua were done with a guitar and a harp: “If someone knew how to play the guitar and the harp, they would be a dance, even with a single instrument, the people were not so demanding”. The state of Chihuahua, being far from the capital of the country, in the nineteenth century lagged behind in artistic expressions, because the towns were small and distant. In the communities of this state, people were mainly engaged in mining, ranching and agriculture. Only the mining towns and their main routes, having more circulation, would have the possibility of acquiring certain luxuries, such as the aforementioned musical instruments. This artistic expression was carried out mainly with string instruments. This would change a few years later, with the beginning of the Porfiriato.

Already in the stage of the Porfiriato, from 1877, the musical expression in Chihuahua changed. During this regime, the military band had a preponderant role in the musical culture of Mexico. Torres RA [2] comments that the golden age of the military bands in Mexico was during the Porfiriato. In this period, a certain sense of calm flourished. The peace that was achieved and the climate of optimism during the last quarter of a century and the first decade of the next one, was a propitious ground for military musical activity. Some of that flourished in the state of Chihuahua.

In this period, in Chihuahua, wind music begins to flourish little by little. Around 1886 there are records of what can be considered the first music band that depended on the municipality, led by Professor Perches y Porras. They were required to play Thursday and Sunday afternoons and evenings on the Paseo de Santa Rita, as well as in the main square [5]. These first approaches to music in strategic areas of the city, led the people to have a taste for this aesthetic of wind music.

Another important event, without a doubt, was the construction of kiosks in the country. In them, popular music performances begin, such as wind bands, in addition to promoting the dance of this music. In Mexico kiosks began to be built around the 70´s of the 19th century. The one in Lerdo Park, for example, in the capital of the state of Chihuahua was installed in 1894. This park, located in the center of the city, was used as a cultural forum for a society in need of art. Something important to mention is that these presentations were made without social distinctions of any kind. For this reason, this musical expression was taking root in Chihuahua´s community, and not only in a certain social sector, reaching the point of obtaining a high cultural value for society. Gradually a taste for wind music was created.

Towards the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, musical activity in Chihuahua became of vitally importance. In various forums dedicated to entertainment, music was part of the daily life of the population. The military bands were in charge of culturing in Chihuahua. The bands that played in Chihuahua were the 13th Regiment and the 5th Battalion bands. The groups that performed in Lerdo Park and Plaza de la Constitución were the 3rd Cavalry Regiment and the 12th Infantry Battalion band. To complement this, the Guarnición band also contributed to the musical work of that year, as well as the Band of the 18th Battalion in 1908 [5]. With these data, it can be understood that wind music was a very dynamic activity, with a taste weighted in the common and social life of Chihuahua´s people. In addition, the performances were always outdoors, it was for the general public, causing to influence in a collective and general way. Another issue that is interesting to mention is that Chihuahua, not having a musical tradition as deeply rooted as other regions of the country, made possible that wind music was adopted in a more natural way and without many complications. Unlike the feeling of loss that accompanies the one of feeling Mexican, the north-central zone suffers less conflict to identify with this musical expression, due to the collective reminiscence of mestizo traditions of Mexico after the Conquest and before the Revolution. The north, being very far from the center of the country, remains distant from the important events of Spanish conquest and multiculturalism. Already in the 19th century, it is when these expressions of wind music began to become popular, so that when it arose in Chihuahua, wind music obtained a certain predilection, adapting easily in the social life of Chihuahua´s population. Certain elements of this music are being adapted to a new and representative style.

Band music is popularized in all social classes, which is why it becomes the identity of the Chihuahua´s community. The military band made available to the population a musical repertoire, which otherwise would have been impossible to hear. Over the years, the musical band, being consumed by society in general, began to form an important part in people life, an image of their identity and an important part of their culture [6].

With all this information, it is possible to understand how band music takes on an important role in culturalization in Chihuahua. This region, not having cultural expressions with great weight in its past, could create from the wind music a form of expression that would identify them. Another factor that could help is that the state of Chihuahua is characterized by its extensive plains, where wind music can travel great distances, attracting more listeners from nearby towns and ranches. This is how the wind band gains strength in this region of the north of the country. With this antecedent, it will be possible to problematize how wind music was of vital importance in the social life of the revolutionary soldier in the Mexican Revolution. The music bands will have a new value within society, as they will be in charge of giving the revolutionary a complementary force. This expression is transformed into moral, spiritual, identity help, as well as entertainment within the war of 1910.

Music during the Mexican Revolution in Chihuahua

The Mexican Revolution was marked by identity events of the oppressed people. In this social conflict, art did not take long to manifest itself. The new music springs from its roots in pre-Hispanic music, popular song and folklore. The Revolution inherits from the Restoration, the sense of collective identity in the social and cultural aspect. The old creole minority makes way to the mestizo and indigenous majority that predominates in the country, a transition that goes from colonial Indianism to revolutionary indigenousism. For the first time in the history of Mexico, the indigenous people gain voice after centuries of having their rights and freedoms violated. From this humanization, new multicultural aesthetic expressions will emerge, based on several centuries of miscegenation.

Starting in 1910, the Mexican nation will defend a specific culture. Mexicans will promote a way of being and thinking that will contribute to reconstitute the country from a new perception of its reality [7]. With this, a new national project will begin, in which the ways of seeing Mexican culture will be altered. The wind band will travel alongside the armies, singing their battles, helping the spirit of the soldiers and immortalizing an entire era. With this, the revolutionary era will overcome the barrier of time. It is at this stage that the assumption is made that a predilection for a type of music could arise in Chihuahua: the wind band. After the revolutionary war is over, the development of media, such as cinema and radio, will make the military band give way to other genres that will take their place as spokesmen for the Mexican nation.

The Mexican bands continued taking the aesthetic models of the European ones. Like them, they offered auditions in parks, squares and gardens. The bands played a repertoire that consisted on opera and symphonic music arrangements, waltzes, cuadrillas and other danceable genres, popular pieces, marches, hymns and other martial music [2]. We can have an idea of the extensive musical repertoire they performed. Wind music gave society a true acculturation, which was beginning to form part of their daily life. But in addition, the repertoire began to merge: the Mexican popular, with European rhythms and melodies, which provided a new musical expression, which will come to represent an entire era.

During the Mexican Revolution, and because it was a war event, some of the songs composed tell of the exploits of great revolutionaries. The corrido underlines the qualities of war incitement, making evident the correspondences between this chant of deed and the military realities. But there were also musical pieces that served different uses: for parties, for funerals, and above all, to provide courage to the soldiers who were on the battlefield. It is owed to The Revolution the irruption of musical nationalism and the vernacular song [3]. It is in this period, where Mexican popular music begins its expansion throughout the country; band music exposes the expression of the repressed people.

The music of the military band began to be of daily use in the life of the Chihuahua´s people. Despite the restrictions due to the hectic times, the city of Chihuahua had five wind bands of up to 30 or 40 elements, which remained active. Music operated as a cohesive element of identity, making military life more bearable. In addition to the importance of the existence of this music, we can understand the great activity of wind music in Chihuahua´s capital. The military band was synonymous of identity within the town. This group represented them through their repertoire. However, the military bands will serve as a supply for the bands that would emerge within the revolutionary ranks.

The revolutionary music will serve as an identity among the soldiers, both on the military and the revolutionary side. The chiefs were well aware of the importance of music for the morale of their people, and of the role that the band played in the traditional town´s life. Being a musician in revolutionary times had its advantages and disadvantages. The musicians begin a stage of danger, since they will find themselves strongly linked to the troops, with their wars and their conquests. The musician begins to be an object of war, because he could be taken prisoner to follow the victorious troops, and accompany them wherever they go. Such is the case of one Nonoava´s musician Eliseo Lozano Sandoval, as told by his great-grandson Urbano Fuentes. In 1913, his great-grandfather was captured by the villistas to shoot him, but since they learned that he was a musician they forced him to play for three days and nights. For his good luck, he could be rescued by two of his brothers and a son of his, fleeing the place.

Once a revolutionary leader already had a more respectable number of soldiers, it was necessary that the force also had its band music. The method of recruiting musicians was simple: they passed through a town, and if the chief liked the group or knew it was prestigious, they could join his forces. The easiest way to get a set of musicians was to simply take the enemy’s. Thus, in 1913, the Villista general Maclovio Herrera when defeating the 3rd Cavalry Regiment of the Federal Army in Santa Rosalía, today Ciudad Camargo, made the members of the band join his forces [2]. The musicians began to mix both military and popular, which caused a musical mixture where the most important thing was to relate what happened and of course, stay alive.

In particular, the Northern Division was always characterized by its magnificent bands, since great musicians of national and international recognition passed through them. It is said that General Villa liked music, so he began to require bands for his army. The general gave the order to not shot and protect musicians. This placed musicians in a kind of salvation state, as long as they agreed to play for the new winning troop. Don Salomé organized the Band of the Northern Division; For this, General Villa assigned him $ 15,000 and sent him to New York to buy instruments necessaries for the purpose [5]. This data is interesting because it shows us the real importance that Francisco Villa gave to his bands. Villa did not skimp on money, regardless of the trip that Don Salomé made to buy the instruments. Villa will seek the best possible quality in musical instruments, musicians, conductors and composers. That’s when the bands start to multiply.

Throughout the entire period of the Revolution, numerous bands formed among the revolutionaries. One of the most famous was that of the Northern Division, which was directed by Rafael Ordóñez [6]. These mentioned characters were known as musicians of great quality. Although there are no recordings of those bands, it can be understood from the above, the great musical quality that this bands had. As well its directors, there were also various musicians who transcended their time. Musicians that played in revolutionary bands had a reputation for their high artistic quality during and after the Revolution. Torres RA [2] tells us of Genaro Vázquez, born in Chihuahua in 1897, who joined Francisco Villa›s General Mayor State Band in 1914, and became director of the General Mayor State Band of General Álvaro Obregón. Another was the Zacatecan Candelario Huízar who got his position in 1892 in the Municipal Band of Jerez, where he learned to play the saxophone. In 1914, when Villa´s forces took the city of Zacatecas, Huízar joined the ranks of Pánfilo Natera as a soldier and later as a musician in the Northern Division Band led by maestro Carlos Withman. Here Torres RA [2] gives us other interesting names, one of them with a foreign surname. Unfortunately, like the other characters mentioned, there are no well-founded documents or of any other nature that help us to know more about these important characters in revolutionary music.

What we can understand with all of this is that excellent musicians with national recognition were found in the bands of Villa´s forces. Vargas tells us “Villa always brought military bands with his armies; they played in the central squares wherever they went. So I can think that those bands brought saxophones, they brought tubas, they brought flutes, they brought clarinets”. Over time, this instrumentation used was marking the taste of Chihuahua´s people for certain instruments. Villa continued with the process of acculturation through music, but this time with a message modified towards the revolutionary movement.

The music that was being forged, in addition to being created within a transcendent social historical period, was under the supervision of professional and renowned musicians. Many times, Villa´s forces practically kidnapped these musicians. Let´s remember that the Revolution, as it was a war conflict, had all of society under an imminent danger.

However, it was advantageous to know how to play a musical instrument. Even if you won’t find total freedom, you could at least stay alive longer. Such is the aforementioned case of Eliseo Lozano, who was apprehended for several days, but instead of being shot, they forced him to play day and night, and who by chance of fate, manages to escape from Villa´s forces. Even with all the grievances committed with the musicians, they were able to capture the revolutionary social movement in their music, recreating new aesthetic and artistic elements. In the Northern Division, some of the pieces that the bands played were marches composed for the brigades, the generals, and the rising heroes of the Revolution; others were simply songs of the region. Torres [2] gives us a series of songs of the best known at this stage: Villa Brigade, Prieto Brigade, General Agustín Estrada, Carabineros de Coahuila, Officers, Mariel. But in addition, the Villa´s bands helped popularize waltzes and songs such as Luz, Recuerdo, Alejandra, El Rebelde, La Adelita, Valentina, La Cucaracha, La Soldadera, La Pajarera, El Quelite, El Sauce and La Palma, Ya son las dos, Vida Mía, the Goodbye of Carrasco. Many of these pieces are still current in the popular repertoire, remaining in the collective unconscious of Mexican society, especially in northern Mexico.

With the end of the war, many musicians began looking for jobs in military, popular or formal government bands. For Torres RA [2], the best artistic period for military music bands in Mexico was the period from 1917 to 1920. Mexican art began to flourish like no other time. Nationalism feeds on all the traditional and folkloric currents of the peoples, to turn them into national identity. Bands continue to play across the country with a certain new repertoire.

However, within a few years there is a sudden stop in Mexican culture. The new government begins with the manipulation of the arts, leading to a broken and disturbed culture. In the new culture, expressions will be chosen to provide control over the masses and to help exalt the new government. Over the years, the military band lost its presence in musical life.

However, what is redeemable is that at this stage a predilection for a certain type of music arises in Chihuahua. Vargas tells us that it was after the Revolution that groups that use the saxophone began to appear. The saxophone is popularized, launching the hypothesis that the military bands left an influence on the use of wind instruments. Nowhere else, perhaps throughout the country, were there so many military bands as in Chihuahua at this time, so their influence on the tastes of the Chihuahua´s population had to be representative? However, these expressions were pushed aside by the newly formed hegemonic political current.

Once the war conflict was over, the country began its reconstruction phase. With this, what will represent the New Mexico to the world will be selected. The music made during the Revolution is outside this selection. At the cultural level, populism and nationalism prevail. The composer with Porfiriato´s influences will be seen as Europeanizing by the spokesmen of the new academic musical nationalism. Let us remember that much of Revolution´s music was based on European rhythms. These in a certain way, evoked the time of the Porfiriato, so they were condemned as such, forgotten by nationalist composers. In some way, it is as if the government wanted to erase any expression that represents the Revolution. It is then that wind music ensembles begin to be forgotten to make way to the creation of other musical groups, which although they were part of popular culture, these were modified for the convenience of some in power, such as the mariachi.

During the first half of the 20th century, the interpretation of what was Mexican was rarefied by an official nationalism and a sacralization of the revolutionary feat that distorted the vision of Mexico. Culture was now subdued by the new government, with the help of the media. The development of media such as film and radio made the military band give way to other genres that would take their place as spokesmen for the Mexican nation. These representations were expressions that emerged in Mexican folklore, but were also manipulated by the media at will. This brought with it a deformation of the primary message of traditional music. Such misrepresentation would have great effects on popular culture, as well as the way Mexico is viewed from abroad. However, in Chihuahua, especially in the ranches and towns, the taste for wind music there remains. This expression manages to survive in some mountain regions of the state, despite the fact that the media proposed a general aesthetic for the entire country.

It is in the town of Nonoava where the musical aesthetics formed during Mexican Revolution somehow manages to subsist. Known as the Nonoava style, musical elements similar to those of the Mexican Revolution still prevail in this type of music today. This style is mainly made up of wind instruments. At the same time, in their traditional repertoire they continue to use European rhythms such as the polka, the redova, the chotis, and the waltz, among others. It is for this reason that the Nonoava style is the object of study.

Nonoava, Preserver of the Revolutionary Musical Aesthetics

Being a town without communication routes for the bordering regions until the last quarter of the 20th century, Nonoava has kept an interesting and unique musical aesthetic. The style generated by the musicians of that town did not acquire great contamination from other trending musical genres, so it managed to survive almost intact for more than a century. This has made the Nonoava style an element of artistic export. This style has unique musical aesthetic elements, such as its instrumentation, its repertoire, and its phrasing, which makes it culturally valuable.

In the state of Chihuahua, the life situation in the municipality of Nonoava at the beginning of the 20th century is described as a peasant population held by the Mexican Revolution. This section aims to establish an idea of the rural lifestyle in Nonoava, Chihuahua at the beginning of the 20th century. The objective is to discover the elements that led to the creation of the original musical style of the region.

In peasant towns, subsistence needs override personal possibilities of success in other areas, which causes inertia in cultural expressions [8]. Rural communities over the years have maintained their customs and traditions with very little modification. This is because these towns have had stagnation in their communications and roads, unlike more industrial cities. The inhabitants of rural communities do not have a consuming mindset or aspire to materialism like most people in the metropolis. Their ideology is to have a simple life, work and health. It is then that these pure cultural expressions emerge without further additions. Artists want to express their experiences through art, and they do not seek profit, recognition or other purposes. It can be said that traditional music arises from the village communities, where art has the opportunity to germinate taking its own time, finding the purity of expression and tradition of its community. Nonoava is a clear example.

Nonoava is located in the Sierra Madre of the state of Chihuahua. Its territory is made up of mountains cut by ravines of rivers and streams. It was founded as a Jesuit mission in 1676 by Father Francisco Arteaga under the name of Nuestra Señora de Monserrete de Nonohaba. For hundreds of years the place had no contact with other populations, due to the lack of communication routes and public services. Electricity was introduced to the town approximately between 1989 and 1990. The construction of the bridge that crosses the river was between 1987 and 1988. Quezada HP [8], a historian from Nonoava, clarifies that his town is nestled in a small valley between mountains and hills. For many years this town was considered the end of the road: you reached the town and returned by the same road, with no other variants than the paths and roads that were difficult to travel through. First by donkey, mule or horse and then in trucks.

Former Jesuit mission from the third quarter of the 17th century, the word Nonoava suffers from not knowing its origin. It is between the Concho and Rarámuri languages where its meaning will have to be rescued before, this dispute of grammatical entanglements, disappears. This place can be found in the southwest of the state of Chihuahua and is particularly unique for the reason of having a unique music style that located between the ranchero and the norteño [8]. Dozens of people from Nonoava have emigrated to dedicate themselves to music as an alternative option to their profession. In turn, an equal number of locals have provided other activities for their survival.

The historical context, in which its musical spectrum is generated, must have been decisive in the constitution of its characteristic style. The situation of the people of Nonoava in the first quarter of the 20th century is described as an eminently peasant population subjected, before, during and until its culmination to the Mexican Revolution [8]. Chihuahua´s society was prone to ups and downs and social uncertainty in a time of war.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a musical practice began in Nonoava that would eventually become what today is an ingrained tradition and its own musical style. The musical education that took place in the town of Nonoava, began thanks to the arrival of some actors who knew how to play wind instruments, and how to read sheet music. Moncayo CE [9] tells us that one of them is Professor Jesús José Bustillos. The teacher began teaching music in the way that is known as ¨by note¨ to some families in the community. Soon the families began to have a musical root that continues to prevail to this day. Three family orchestras of musical tradition were formed: Los Lozano, Los Ochoa and Los Tabachines, which became known by the disclosure of the same public. Thanks to this, a style of making music that was different from any other northern group from any region began to germinate. With instruments such as the saxophone, banjo, euphonium and flute, his music began to be heard in a unique way. On the other hand, Quezada HP [10], in an interview in 2016, tells us that there are those who comment that around 1900 or shortly before, a man named Eliseo Lozano Sandoval enters the city through Humariza, carrying a saxophone: “I don’t know if it was a saxophone or was it some other instrument ”. What is certain is that it was a wind instrument. Eliseo Lozano began to convince the people of forming a musical group. There is evidence that in the year 1933 or 1934 a musical group was formed, of which he has a photograph and talks about it. Of five or six people, whose names were: Inocencio, Inocente, Eliseo and Teófilo Lozano Molina, all four brothers, and then a fifth who was Cristín Díaz. Humberto met this last one in town: “I did know Mr. Cristín Díaz, he died in town, I don›t remember the others, I don’t remember meeting them”. Of these two stories, the names of the initiators in music teaching in Nonoava are different. However, it is agreed that the Lozano family was a pioneer among Nonoava´s musical groups.

From 1936 to 1937 there was a musical suspension due to the so-called Cristero War, which was a Christian movement, this period being its second stage. At that time there was no musical movement. The instruments seen in a photo owned by Professor Quezada are a saxophone, apparently an alto saxophone, a transverse flute, a clarinet, a sixth bass and a tololoche. In addition, there is a character that does not have any instrument. With the arrival of musicians to the town, at the beginning of the previous century, Nonoava´s music history begins. The teachers begin with teaching wind music by note in the village, forming the first groups. It is probable that the new teachers who arrived in town had a musical career. They knew the most popular of wind music. Various musical instruments, some rhythms and popular repertoire are taken from it.

One of the traditions of the town of Nonoava was the dances, of a very ceremonial character. They were celebrated in the dance hall since approximately 1900. The practice known as tanda was used; it consisted of the development of the dance taking place in function of the music, which was executed in groups of musical pieces. We can see how the music of Nonoava, through the dances, begins to become a town´s tradition. It is even said that there were two types of tandas that alternated: one for young people and another for adults. These were differentiated by the musical genres that were performed in them: polkas and corridos were played for the young people, and chotis, waltzes and redovas for adults. With this, generational differences in musical tastes became evident, although everything was done in relative harmony. Music was not exclusive to the dance halls, it was enjoyed in every event that took place in the town; such as weddings, fifteen-year parties, baptisms, birthdays, serenades and the popular parties, this last one held in the main square [9]. In the kiosk the musical group was located and people dispersed around it, all of them enjoying the music, many accompanied by their beer cartons, which were transported in the saddles of the horses. With this peculiar quality in music and with families initiated into musical practice, Nonoava, by creating a strong tradition, would soon become known as ¨land of musicians¨. The conditions of Nonoava as a town at the end of the road prevented it from having media contamination for many years, which made possible the consolidation and protection of its own style. In 2015, the city was named by the State Congress as “Nonoava, land of musicians”, becoming a cultural heritage of the state of Chihuahua. However, the diffusion of Nonoava’s music has been scarce. More detailed research and dissemination work is necessary so that with this music is valued. It is for these reasons that it is pertinent to work on the rescue and revaluation of this music, for the growth and development of the Chihuahua´s culture. This work tries to find key pieces of this music.

Identification of Nonoava’s Music

Traditional music is a concept that is linked to the use of musical expressions in a social context, which has to do with a community and non-commercial use. Mexico´s traditional music is the product of a process of interculturality that occurs in a context of constant migrations, which have a direct impact on the creation of various popular expressions and which over time becomes tradition. In the north of the country, musical expressions are the product of its own historical and cultural experiences that distinguish it from other regional traditional music in the Mexican territory. The north is not a specific cultural region, but several sub regions with a particular historical and cultural development.

Chihuahua´s traditional mestizo music has its origins in the music used since the19th century in rural and urban areas, and this remained in the taste of Chihuahua´s people until the 20th century. In Nonoava a certain aesthetic of that time was preserved. Already in the 1980s, the first melodies of Chihuahua´s music began to become popular on radio stations in the north of the country.

The Czechoslovak polka, the Polish mazurka and redova, the Scottish chotis, the English cuadrillas, and the Austrian waltz were imported into Mexico as ballroom dances and in the repertoire of both national and foreign military bands. By the time Porfirio Díaz took power, there were a large number of local compositions, inspired by these rhythms. People imitated the dances of their oppressors, giving them a comic and political twist, creating the peculiar Mexican polka, the famous corrido, among others. As the revolutionary flame spread throughout the north, both the polka and the corrido became effective musical newspapers, since the majority of society was illiterate, could be informed more through songs than through the written media. Likewise, the couple dance took local characteristics and the 19th century´s trends of the American Southwest, which led to the popularization of these rhythms. However, the Nonoava style was generating a special and different character, also thanks to the people who began to migrate to the United States.

Nonoava’s music has continued to have musical influences from elsewhere, which have endured in style and in the families of musicians. From the 1950s and on, many people from Nonoava, especially men, went to the United States to work as braseros. These people return to their land with certain influences, including certain musical instruments. The clearest example is the incorporation of the banjo, an instrument native to the southern United States, used in the harmonic accompaniment of Nonoava’s music. This caused the music to be different and revitalizing. Music has been performed in Nonoava as a source of survival and a source of employment for families. They were families that for practical reasons form musical groups. A clear example is the case of the Lozano family.

The Nonoava style can be distinguished from the other northern styles by certain musical elements, such as its instrumentation, its rhythms and its original compositions. The instrumentation of a musical group is the main element that produces the color of the music generated. During the second half of the last century, the formation of a musical group in Nonoava had to contain: an alto saxophone as the main singing voice and one more for the second voice tones, this one replaced in a few groups by the trumpet; transverse flute and at one time the clarinet; on the strings the guitar or the banjo; and an instrument for the bass, the tololoche or a guitarrón, replaced in some groups by a tuba, sousaphone, saxor or euphonium; and in the percussions the snare.

The most used dance rhythms in the Nonoava style are: the polka, the chotis, the redova and the waltz, all of them of European influence that in turn were adapted to the needs and tastes of its people. Some of the original musical pieces that are still current in the public’s taste are: Aguas del Río Nonoava, Por Mi y Por Mi Novia, among others. Such compositions are native to the town and remain to this day. Due to the musical composition, it can be said that the Nonoava style is an original musical expression and differs from the other musical styles called norteños. A way of making music that is a synthesis of the music that emerged in the revolutionary conflict [11, 12, 13].

Although it is not exclusive to Nonoava´s musicians, it is common that before starting a piece or between one and the next, notes of some of the instruments can be heard in isolation, without concert or order. Various meaningless saxophone notes are heard. As proving that the reed has been placed perfectly and is not damaged or simply to stand out, understanding within the group that the next piece is going to begin [8, 14]. After a previous musical call, the piece begins with the saxophone´s voice, immediately pulling the notes of the instrument in the second voice and so on; the other instruments begin to integrate. This is an important quality of the style, since the saxophone in addition to commonly have the first melodic voice, at the same time acts as the director of the group in a natural way.

There are other characteristic elements in musical interpretation; two of them are the strumming of the harmony and the first voice instrument end marking. Playing the guitar in the accompaniment of a polka or a four-beat piece entails the obligation to drag the strum [8]. It is possible to understand that this strumming is used to fill the void left by the lack of a complete drum set of percussions. The harmony´s peculiar strumming does not always go offbeat, but tries to fill musical gaps, with tremolos or musical scales. Also, as will be discussed in the next chapter, the accompaniment of the guitar or banjo is influenced by the feel of the rhythm of American music, known as swing. Another interpretive component is the behavior of the ensemble´s director, which is always the one who plays one of the saxophones [15, 16]. To do this, Quezada HP [8] tells us that: “… when a melody that has the same singsong has been given enough laps, whoever carries the singing note addresses the other musicians and with their gaze indicates that they are at the last chords, to finish with the piece then he adorns with the well-known and repetitive garigoleo closing” [8]. All these calls, exist in many other popular music, they direct the path of the piece being played. However, the garigoleos used in this music are original, they have been forged over the years and have been transmitted from generation to generation, becoming a standard. These style´s musical peculiarities make it different to the other musical manifestations of the north.

The elements described give us an identification of original and unique character within the northern music. The most important is the identification of a specific musical genre, which society manages to recognize with respect to the entire range of existing northern music [17, 18, 19]. The characteristic rhythms of European origin, the adapted and original post-revolutionary repertoire, a pair of saxophones with their garigoleos or calls, a transverse flute or other high-pitched instrument producing second voices, the drawn style of the harmonies unequivocally and adorning between the main melodies, among others, become characteristic elements of Nonoava´s music.

Main Instrumentation

Due to the variety of instruments used in the Nonoava region, it is difficult to close a few main ones. However, Quezada HP [8] helps us by proposing that at least during the second half of the last century the formation of a musical group in Nonoava should contain: an alto saxophone as the singing voice and one more for the second voice, substituted this one in a few groups by the trumpet; transverse flute and at one time the clarinet; on the strings the guitar or the banjo; some to mark the bass, in most cases the tololoche or the guitarrón, replaced in some groups by a tuba, sousaphone, saxor or euphonium; lastly for the percussions, the snare.

The main voice, main instrument and commonly the group´s director in Nonoava´s music, is the alto saxophone that is already a tradition in Chihuahua´s groups. Saxophone contains a number of elements that will help become favorite in this style [20]. In the first instance it has a great sound that competes with any other wind instrument. Secondly, is designed to have the dexterity and speed of its predecessor, the clarinet. It can be used to play long phrases very quickly and fluently. However, the greatest quality of this instrument is that it produces a lamenting sound. It is not harsh, like the sound of the trumpet or the trombone. Rather, it can play with certain detunings and attacks, producing a rich performance, even reaching sounds similar to those of the human voice. Jesús Vargas tells us about the saxophone: According to what I have been able to study and experience in a certain way, the saxophone was very attractive to Chihuahua´s population. It caused them a lot of pleasure for a simple reason: because people lived scattered, people lived in the ranches, they lived in the plains, and the sound produced by the saxophone is a very evocative sound, it is a very strong sound, which expands in the wide spaces, and that is transmitted in a very… emotional way. Then the pieces that were adapted to the saxophone became popular and the people in Chihuahua focused their taste towards certain interpretations.

The saxophone´s sound makes its expression to be quite rich, that it can interpret pieces both slow and emotional, and fast and vertiginous. Chihuahua´s open spaces allow the saxophone´s sound to reach very great distances, and is very pleasant to the ear. Jesús Vargas believes that it is very evocative for Chihuahua´s people to listen to a saxophone, although they do not know how to define why. These aspects produce a true artistic expression. In music, they produce emotions and feelings that no other life experience can give you [21, 22, 23]. The sound of the saxophone has produced some of those emotions in Chihuahua´s people. In summary, due to its sound and performance characteristics, the saxophone has become a favorite in Chihuahua´s identity.

Saxophone´s inseparable instrument, the one in charge of the second voice in Nonoava’s music is the transverse flute. This instrument works as an ornament for the first voice. Being the highest-pitched instrument of the group, manages to compete in loudness with the other instruments. It is very common for the flute to be found making second voices, a third or sixth above the saxophone. It can also be played an octave above the saxophone. It is said that if you listen to the music of a Nonoava group from afar, it is the flute and the banjo that can be distinguished with more detail. The flute contains the same agility as the saxophone, allowing it to make a successful dumbbell. Although it has a less loud volume than the saxophone, the flute compensates by using the higher register of its tessitura, which produces a brilliant sound. In harmonic accompaniment, there are several stringed instruments that a Nonoava´s musician prefers. The most used are the guitar, the sixth bass and the banjo. Guitar has been one of the favorite instruments of Mexicans. It was a pioneering instrument in Nonoava´s groups. However, its lack of sound power led to other stringed instruments to be used. Sixth bass is a Mexican instrument created in the bajío, uses double strings, which makes it louder than the guitar [24, 25, 26, 27]. It is preferred by northern musicians for its great versatility. In addition it produces a hit and dry sound, suitable in the northern style. However, it is interesting that the banjo is the most used instrument in Nonoava´s style and not those mentioned above. The banjo is an instrument that has its origins from the southern states of the United States. It was developed in the 19th century by black musicians, who used it for rhythmic and accompaniment purposes. This instrument is part of the American music Dixieland and Bluegrass. It is a musical instrument representative of American traditional music. Quezada HP [8] proposes that this instrument was possibly brought by a man from Nonoava´s who ventured as a worker, either in cattle ranches in Texas or New Mexico, or in the central and northern parts of the American union. Similarly, it is not ruled out that it has arrived from the capital of Chihuahua or from the center of the country. It is feasible to think that someone from all the great population that went to work in the United State brought this American instrument. The exact date of the banjo´s importation to Nonoava is unknown, but it is believed that it was around 1950. The banjo was easily adopted in Nonoava´s music, because of its great sound with greater force than the other string instruments, the guitar and the sixth bass.

The banjo functions as a voiced clef in the Nonoava style. It is probable that this music is the only one that uses this instrument in all of Mexico. Banjo brings a new and unique sound to this musical expression. On one side, the use of woodwind instruments is the backbone. On the other, the element of surprise and originality, of using the banjo in harmony. The only thing missing from this mixture of sounds is an instrument for the lower sounds.

For the low register, the most used instruments are the tololoche, the guitarrón or some type of tuba. Undoubtedly, the most traditional instrument used in Nonoava’s music has been the double bass or tololoche. During parades, this instrument will be dragged through the streets. If for some reason musicians had to go to other ranches, it would be carried tied to a horse or mule. On the other hand, it is known that priests of the town’s church brought the guitarrón from some part of Jalisco. This instrument, in the same way, became popular among the musicians of Nonoava, due to the ease of transporting it [28]. The sound produced by the guitarrón is a sweet sound that does not have great sonorous force. Another weakness of this instrument comparing it to the tololoche is that it cannot be played easily; it requires a technique widely used by bassists to add percussive notes. The last of the bass instruments used in Nonoava, would be a brass-breath instrument.

The tuba, euphonium or saxor began to be used in the same way in the music of Nonoava. The manner in which this brass instrument was introduced is unknown. However, its use was very successful among musicians due to its great sound, in addition to the fact that its transportation is more practical than the tololoche´s. With the tuba, the Nonoava´s musician can parade without problems, providing great rhythm and support by competing with the sound of the saxophones. Today, many of the more traditional Nonoava groups still use some kind of tuba among their instruments.

With slight appearances over time, various musical instruments have been incorporated and expired in the groups from Nonoava. Among the most outstanding are the accordion, the violin, the redova and the clarinet. All of them disappearing quickly mainly due to sound issues. The accordion is rather peculiar in northern music, mainly from Nuevo León and Tamaulipas [29].

The accordion has been the most emblematic instrument in northern Mexico´s culture. In the last fifty years, this instrument had become exponentially popular throughout northern Mexico and the southern United States. Jesús Vargas comments that the accordion in Chihuahua´s culture is a recent instrument. It is an instrument that became popular in the state approximately in the 70s. In Mexico, particularly in the northeast region, it began to become popular between the 1940 and the1950. It made its entrance through Tamaulipas and Nuevo León, brought from the state of Texas. From there it expanded to the rest of the country. However, in Chihuahua the saxophone is more used. The accordion has a sound that does not have much projection, like other wind instruments. It is due to this issue that the accordion was not present in most of the groups from Nonoava. The sound projection of the accordion could not compete with the other wind instruments, especially that of the saxophone [30].

Another instrument that was forgotten is the violin. This instrument was one of the first used by indigenous people and mestizos since the time of the Conquest. For example, the Rarámuris use a derivative of this instrument in their music. However, like the accordion, the violin was displaced by other instruments, mainly because of its limited sound projection. It must be taken into account that electrification was scarce in the times; therefore sound amplification equipment was unthinkable. Silent auditoriums are required, so that these instruments can be heard.

A woodwind instrument that has been characteristic of both military and popular bands is the clarinet. It disappeared over the years, leaving its place for the transverse flute or a second alto saxophone. Vargas tells us that from 1940 until a few years ago, music ensembles that used saxophone, sometimes clarinet and flute predominated among the rural people and among the towns. This instrumentation of woodwinds, in charge of the melodies in the pieces, is most interesting. First, because they are instruments with a high register, so the voices between them could be handled brilliantly and captivatingly in the audience [31]. Second, as they belong to the wood family, all three instruments are agile, which allows melodies to be played at high speed without serious problems like in polkas, for example. Finally, this type of wind instrumentation, together with the tuba, gives us an idea of the rapprochement that the groups had with the military bands. It could be said that this type of groupings would be a synthesis of what a great revolutionary band is.

The trumpet, also an instrument of the brass family, of military character, with a strong sound that stands out and matches the saxophone´s, has been lagged behind by the woodwind instruments. However, it is still used by a group of Nonoava´s musicians based in the capital city of the state [8]. It is likely that the trumpet has become almost obsolete, due to the difficulty of playing quickly compared to the saxophone. It must be remembered that a large part of the Nonoava´s repertoire are their polkas. These are played at fast speeds, with elusive passages for most instruments. It is then explainable why the trumpet has lagged behind in the music of New Orleans with the passage of time. In the case of this instrument, its causes are not of a sound nature, but of technical difficulties [32, 33]. Nonoava’s instrumentation was mainly selected due to its practicality, its wide sound and the listeners’ taste. Nonoava, lacking good communication routes, forced the musical groups to travel on horseback if they were hired in other towns, so they needed instruments that ease their mobility [34, 35]. In addition, since there is no audio amplification equipment, the instruments would have to be mainly wind instruments, which by their nature have more loudness. Adding to this the banjo, which is the string instrument that can somehow compete with wind instruments. It was easy to carry a flute, a saxophone, a snare, a banjo, and a tuba, instruments that would also provide the necessary sound for the dance or celebration.

Conclusion

Nonoava’s instrumentation was mainly selected due to its practicality, its wide sound and the listeners’ taste. Nonoava, lacking good communication routes, forced the groups from Nonoava to travel on horseback if they were hired in other towns, so they needed instruments to ease their mobility. The instruments would have to be mainly wind instruments, which by their nature were the loudest. Adding to this the banjo, which is the string instrument that can somehow compete with wind instruments. It was easy to carry a flute, a saxophone, a snare, a banjo, and a tuba, instruments that would also provide the necessary sound for the dance or celebration.

In Chihuahua in the 19th century, there were no musical expressions of identity. The emergence of wind music came to fill this gap, as it was adopted by Chihuahua´s society. This is how the wind band gains strength in this region of the north of the country. Music bands had a new valuation within society. They were in charge of giving a complementary force to the revolutionary soldier. It is in the period of the Revolution when a predilection for this certain type of music arises in Chihuahua. Nowhere else, perhaps throughout the country, were there so many military musical bands as in Chihuahua at this time, so their influence on the tastes of Chihuahua´s people had to be representative?

It is in the town of Nonoava where the musical aesthetics formed during Mexican Revolution somehow manages to subsist. Known as the Nonoava style, musical elements similar to those of the Mexican Revolution still prevail in this type of music today. This style is mainly made up of wind instruments. In turn, in their traditional repertoire, they continue to use European rhythms such as the polka, the redova, the chotis, the waltz, among others. The conditions of Nonoava as a town at the end of the road prevented it from having media contamination for many years, which helped consolidate and protect its own style.

The Nonoava style can be identified from the other northern styles by certain musical elements. The conformation of a musical group in Nonoava must contain: an alto saxophone as the main singing voice, and one more for the second voice tones; transverse flute; guitar or banjo; tololoche, substituted in some groups by tuba or euphonium; in the percussions the snare.

Nonoava´s music is characterized for the use of Europeans dance rhythms of European, the adapted and original post-revolutionary repertoire, a pair of saxophones with their garigoleos or calls, a transverse flute or other high-pitched instrument producing second voices or in the form of an octave, the dragged style of the harmonies unequivocally and adorning between the main melodies. It can be concluded that the Nonoava style is a different and original musical expression from the other northern musical styles. A way of making music that keeps aesthetic elements of the revolutionary conflict.