The Roaring Twenties

Carlos Chávez was both a rebel and an educator. Born in a Mexico on the brink of revolution, he would go on to single-handedly revolutionise Mexican music and culture, filling his compositions with indigenous Aztec stories and sounds. Many cite Aaron Copland as an influence on Chávez, but the truth may have been the reverse. While Copland was championing American music in the States, Chávez was fighting for it in Mexico, educating the next generation of Mexican composers. He may have shaped American music more than any other - yet his legacy is little known. Odaline de la Martinez joins Donald Macleod to explore his life and work.

In today's programme, Chávez arrives in New York at the height of the Roaring Twenties. Chavez is just another young man with big ideas, making the pilgrimage, in the hope of finding like-minded, daring thinkers. It's here that he met Aaron Copland. Though they made an unlikely pair, they became fast friends. As Chávez wrote to Copland: "You and I see things in the same light."

Poligonos
Hilde Somer, piano

Tres Exagonos
Southwest Chamber Music
Jeff von der Schmidt, conductor

Otros Tres Exagonos
Southwest Chamber Music
Jeff von der Schmidt, conductor

Energia:
Southwest Chamber Music
Jeff von der Schmidt, conductor

Suite de Caballos de Vapor: I. Danza del hombre, II. El barco, III. El tropico
Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra
Eduardo Mata, conductor

Produced by Alice McKee for BBC Audio Wales and West