Ponce (Cullar), Manuel (Mara)(b Fresnillo, Zacatecas, 8 Dec 1882; d Mexico City, 24 April 1948). Mexican pianist and composer. He was the leading Mexican musician of his time, and made a primary contribution to the development of a Mexican national style a style that could embrace, in succession, impressionist and neo-classical influences.1. Life.Born into a musical family, Ponce began his studies with his sister Josefna and went on to study with Cipriano vila. Around 1893 he joined the choir at S Diego, Aguascalientes, where he later became assistant organist (1895) and organist (1898). Between 1900 and 1901 he studied in Mexico City with Vicente Maas (piano) and Eduardo Gabrielli (harmony). The latter encouraged him to continue his studies in Europe and offered to introduce him to Marco Enrico Bossi, director of the Liceo Musicale in Bologna, where he duly arrived in 1904 with the intention of studying composition. Bossi introduced him to Cesare Dall'Olio (Puccini's teacher) who became his teacher for a few months. Also in Bologna he met Torchi, whose friendship and lessons undoubtedly determined Ponce's subsequent career as an editor and musicologist. In December 1905, following the death of Dall'Olio, he moved to Berlin, where he decided to continue studying the piano with Martin Krause. However, financial circumstances forced him to return to Mexico in January 1907.Back in Aguascalientes he taught the piano and at the end of that year moved to Mexico City to take up a post teaching the piano at the Conservatorio Nacional. In 1910 he formed part of a prestigious panel of judges, also including Pedrell, Faur and Saint-Sans, in a composing competition marking the centenary of Mexican independence. Among the numerous recitals given by his pupils was one in 1912 dedicated to the music of Debussy (the first public performance of Debussy's music in Mexico); the recital was opened by the 11-year-old Carlos Chvez. Also in 1912 Ponce gave a concert of his own works, including the premire of his Piano Concerto, which confirmed him as the most important figure in Mexican music at the time. In 1913 he gave a lecture entitled, La musica y la cancin mexicana, which was immediately published and formed the catalyst for the Mexican nationalist school. Ponce's prominence in Mexican intellectual life was assured.However, political and social difficulties arising from the Mexican Revolution (191020) forced him to vacate the country from 1915 to 1917. Like other Mexican artists and intellectuals, he went to Havana, where he gave concerts, lectures and classes and wrote music reviews for El heraldo de Cuba and La reforma social. In March 1916 he gave a recital of his works which went virtually unnoticed, coinciding with the attack on the frontier town of Columbus by Francisco Villa.Returning to Mexico, he took up his piano teaching post at the conservatory again (1917). He also conducted the National SO (191719), which accompanied soloists such as Rubinstein and Casals, and gave numerous Mexican premires. From 1919 to 1920 he directed the first of his many publishing enterprises, the magazine Revista musical de Mxico. In 1925, feeling the need to update his idiom, and conscious of the rapid transformations taking place in music at that time, he returned to Europe and settled in Paris, where he studied with Dukas until 1933 and also founded the Gaceta musical, a Spanish-language magazine which numbered Villa-Lobos, Alejo Carpentier, Dukas and Milhaud among its contributors. During this period he worked closely with Segovia, whom he had met in Mexico (1923) and with whom he remained friends until his death. Also during this period, on the recommendation of Dukas, Albniz's family commissioned him to finish the score of the opera Merln, on the basis of which he wrote a symphonic suite.Back again in Mexico in 1933, he concentrated on teaching and composing. He was director of the National Conservatory (1933), founded the chair in folklore at the National School of Music (1934) and edited a third magazine, Cultura musical (19367). A prolific writer, he published numerous articles and features on musical topics ranging from piano technique to issues surrounding the media. The 1930s and 40s saw the most important premires and performances of his works, including Chapultepec (Philadelphia Orchestra under Stokowski, 1934), Poemaelegaco (Mexico SO under Chvez, 1935), Suite en estilo antiguo (Mexico SO under Ansermet, 1935), Merln (Mexico SO under Revuletas, 1938), Ferial (Mexico SO under Kleiber, 1943) and the Violin Concerto (Szeryng and the Mexico SO under Chvez, 1943). During a tour of South America in 1941 he attended the premire in Montevideo of his Concierto del sur with Segovia as soloist. In 1945 he was appointed director of the National Music School. He died having received numerous prizes and distinctions, including the Premio Nacional de Artes (1947).2. Works.Although he is best known internationally for his song Estrellita, Ponce's work embraces a whole spectrum of genres and styles. An obviously eclectic composer, he could integrate a variety of tendencies and styles, ranging from the Romanticism of his first piano works to the almost atonal language of his Sonata for violin and viola or the bitonality of his Quatre pices for piano. At the same time he was Mexico's first nationalist composer, though his musical language later evolved away from Romanticism, nationalism and the use of popular Mexican themes towards a more personal and contemporary style. He wrote a large number of works reflecting his preoccupations with style, such as his six guitar sonatas (Clsica, Romntica, de Paganini, Mexicana etc.), his preludes and fugues on themes by Bach and Handel (which fall within the neo-classical tradition), his works in Spanish style (Diferencias sobre las fola de Espaa) or his works inspired by Cuban music (Suite cubana, Elega de la ausencia). The influence of the impressionists is also evident, especially in Chapultepec, a symphonic poem which marked him as one of the most important exponents of American impressionism.According to Segovia, Ponce was the composer who had the greatest influence on the revival of the guitar repertory and the reinstatement of the guitar as a concerto instrument. Indeed his sonatas, preludes and other works form a corpus of guitar music rivalled in the 20th century only by the works of Villa-Lobos or Brouwer, and his Concierto del sur is unequalled in its balance of soloist with orchestra. Notwithstanding, Ponce was also a consummate pianist and wrote a large number of piano works which combine a profound knowledge of the instrument with his Romantic heritage and, in many cases, nationalist tendencies. His works display a happy combination of Lisztian virtuosity, Romantic genre (ballade, rhapsody, barcarolle, albumleaf, mazurka) and popular Mexican tunes or melodic turns of phrase inspired by Mexican songs. He also transcribed and edited a large quantity of Mexican songs, the recovery and preservation of which put him on a par with such as Bartk or Grieg, and his interest in his Mexican musical heritage is also given didactic expression in his Veinte piezas fciles, which offer the young Mexican pianist a representative selection of traditional Mexican music.The transformation of the Mexican idiom in Ponce's hands had great significance: heir to a rich and well-established Romantic tradition, he passed through nationalism and Impressionism before producing, in his late works, some of the most significant works of Latin American modernism. These late, lesser known works include some of his best moments. Particularly fine examples are his Violin Concerto, in which he seems to synthesize the whole of his musical evolution, his sonatas for harpsichord and guitar or cello and piano, and the symphonic poem Ferial, which uses indigenous Spanish and Mexican melodies for the first time, and in an all-embracing sense, to portray the cultural mosaic of a typical Mexican village. His high place in musical history will be due as much to these works as to his more popular output.WORKSdramaticEl patio florido (op, 2, C. Gonzlez Pea), 1913, inc.; La verdad sospechosa (incid. music, J. Ruiz de Alarcn), 1934

orchestralPf Conc., 1912; Interludio elegaco, 1919; Estampas nocturnas, 1923; Merln, [suite after Albniz' opera], 1929; Danse des anciens mexicains, 1930; Suite en estilo antiguo, 1933; Poema elegaco, 1934; Chapultepec, sym. poem, 1934; Ferial, sym. poem, 1940; Concierto del sur, gui, orch, 1941; Vn Conc., 1943; Instantneas mexicanas, 1947

chamberAndante, str qt, 1902; Pf Trio, 1912; Sonata, vc, pf, 1922; Sonata, gui, hpd, 1926; Str Qt, 1929; 3 preludios, vc, pf, 1930; Sonata breve, vn, pf, 1932; Preludio, gui, hpd, 1936; Sonata, vn, va, 1939; Str Trio, 1943; Cancin de otoo, vn, pf

songsForse, 1905; Ho bisogno, 1905; Romanzetta, 1905; Sperando, sognando, 1905; Dos poemas alemanes, 1906; Toi, 1909; Ultimo ensueo (L.G. Urbina), 1909; So mi mente loca (Urbina), 1909; Estrellita, 1912, also arr. 1v, chbr orch; Por t mi corazn (Urbina), 1912; Serenata mexicana, 1v, chbr orch, 1915, also arr. 2vv, chbr orch; Ofrenda, 1916; Aleluya (L. Espinoza), c1921, also arr. 1v, chbr orch

3 poemas de R. Tagore, 1921; 3 poemas de Lermontow, 1925; 5 poemas chinos (F. Toussaint), 1934, also arr. 1v, chbr orch; 3 poemas de M. Brull, 1934, also arr. 1v, chbr orch; 3 poemas franceses, c1934; 4 poemas de F.A. de Icaza, 1936; 3 poemas de E. Gonzlez Martnez, 1938; Acurdate de m; Adis mi bien; 2 poemas de B. Dvalos; Insomnio; Poema de primavera; 6 poemas arcaicos, also arr. 1v, chbr orch

Folksong arr.: A la orilla de un palmar, A ti va, Acurdate de m, Adis mi bien, Ah, que bonito, Cerca de m, Cielito lindo, Cuiden su vida, China de mi alma, De tres flores, Dolores hay, Dos seres hay, El bracero, El desterrado, Estrella del norte, Hace ocho meses, La barca del marino, La despedida, La ola, Palomita, La palma, La pea, La visita, Nunca, nunca, Ojitos aceitunados, Oye la voz, Para amar sin consuelo, Para qu quiero la vida, Perd un amor, Perdida ya toda esperanza, Pobre del hombre pobre, Por esas calles, Por t mujer, Que chulos ojos, Que lejos ando, Que pronto, Quisiera morir, Si algna vez, Si eres recuerdo, Si algn ser, Son las horas, Soy paloma errante, Te amo, Todo pas, Triguea hermosa, Valentina, Ven oh luna, Vengo a saber si tu me amas, Voy a partir, Ya sin tu amor, Yo me propuse, Yo mismo no comprendo, Yo te quiero

pianoMarcha del sarampin, 1891; Malgr tout, 1900; Gavota, 1901; Bersagliera, 1903; 11 miniaturas, 1903; 3 preludios, 1905; Arrulladora mexicana [II], 1905; 4 fugas, 1906; Nocturno, 1906; Arrulladora mexicana, 1909; Primer amor, 1909; Scherzino mexicano, 1909; 13 romnticos, 1910; Mayo (1910); Rapsodia mexicana I, 1911; Album de amor, 1912; 2 nocturnos, 1912; Leyenda, 1912; Preludio y fuga sobre un tema de Bach, 1912; Scherzino (Homenaje a Debussy), 1912; Tema variado mexicano, 1912; A la memoria de un artista, 1913; En una desolacin, 1913; Sonata no.1, 1913; Rapsodia cubana I, 1914; Rapsodia cubana II, 1914

Rapsodia cubana III, 1914; Rapsodia mexicana II; 1914; Balada mexicana, 1915; Barcarola mexicana (Xochimilco), 1915; Romanza, 1915; Serenata mexicana, 1915; Guateque, 1916; Morire habemus, 1916; Preludio cubano, 1916; Preludio y fuga sobre un tema de Haendel, 1916; Sonata no.2, 1916; Suite cubana, 1916; Hojas de lbum, 1917; Elega de la ausencia, 1918; Canon, 1919; Glosario ntimo, 1919; Momento doloroso, 1919; Preludio mexicano, 1919; Rapsodia mexicana III (yucateca), 1919; Scherzino maya, 1919; La vida sonre (1919); Minueto (1919); Gavota y mussette, 1920; Evocaciones, 1921; Hacia la cima, 1921; Preludios encadenados, 1927

4 piezas, 1929; Sonatina, 1932; Preludio romntico, 1934; Danza de la pascola, 1937; Idilio mexicano, 2 pf, 1939; 20 piezas fciles, 1939; 4 danzas mexicanas (1941); 2 tudes (1942); Estrellita (Metamorfsis de concierto), 1943; 20 mazurkas; Alma en primavera; Apasionadamente; Bocetos nocturnos; Cadenza for J.C. Bach: Sinfonia concertante; Cancin del martirio; 5 hojas de Album; 2 cadenzas for Beethoven: Pf Conc. no.4; 2 danzas (mexicana y cubana); 2 danzas (sobre temas de J. Gilbert); Horas augustas; Intermezzos) nos.1 and 2; Jarabe; Juventud; Nocturno II; Preludio trgico; Preludio y fuga, left hand; Rapsodia cubana; Serenata arcaica

guitarSonata mexicana, 1923; 3 canciones mexicanas, 19237; 24 preludios, 192630; Tema variado y final, 1926; Alborada, 1927; Sonata III, 1927; Sonata clsica, 1928; Sonata romntica, 1929; Diferencias sobre la fola de Espaa y fuga, 1930; Estudio, 1930; Sonata de Paganini, 1930; Suite, A, 1930 [orig. attrib. S.L. Weiss]; Homenaje a Trrega, 1932; Mazurca, 1932; Sonatina meridional, 1932; Rumba, 1932; Trpico, 1932; Vals, 1932; Variaciones sobre un tema de A. de Cabezn, 1948

MSS in US-NYp, PHff

Principal publishers: Peer, Schott

WRITINGSselectedEscritos y composiciones musicales, Cultura, iv/4 (Mexico, 1917) Nuevos escritos musicales (Mexico City, 1948) La msica despus de la guerra, Revista musical de Mxico, i/1 (1919), 59 La msica norteamericana, Revista musical de Mxico i/2 (1919), 223 Apuntes sobre msica mexicana, Boletn latinoamericano de msca, iii/3 (1937), 3742 BIBLIOGRAPHYA. Segovia: Manuel M. Ponce: Notas y Recuerdos, Guitar Review, no.7 (1948), 1516 M. Pincherle: A la memoria de Manuel M. Ponce, Nuestra msica, v/18 (1950), 16063 J.C. Romero: Efemrides de Manuel (Mara) Ponce, Nuestra msica, v/2 (1950), 164202 [incl. work-list] P. Castellanos: Manuel M. Ponce: ensayo (Mexico City, 1982) C. Sordo Sodi, ed.: Centenario Manuel M. Ponce 18821982 (Aguascalientes, 1982) C. Otero: Manuel M. Ponce y la guitarra (Mexico City, 1981; Eng. trans., 1983) M. Alczar, ed.: The SegoviaPonce Letters (Columbus, OH, 1989) [Eng. and Sp.] RICARDO MIRANDA PREZ